EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #FRANCE: Nicolas Sarkozy’s chances of retaining the top job in France were dealt a major blow yesterday as he lost the first round of the presidential election to Socialist rival Francois Hollande. The pair will now go head-to-head at the polls on 6 May.
2. #BAHRAIN: A Channel 4 news team arrested in Bahrain yesterday for trying to film anti-government protests has been deported from the Gulf kingdom this morning. British Airways refused the three men permission to board an airplane but they were eventually flown back to the UK on another aircraft.
3. #PLANNING: A man described as a ‘serial planning objector’ has been appointed to the board of An Bord Pleanála, raising concerns among local councillors. However, a spokesperson for Phil Hogan said the Minister is “more than happy” with the appointment of Dr Gabriel Dennison who has a background in civil engineering.
4. #UNITED NATIONS: Joanne O’Riordan, a 15-year-old from Cork, is to give the key note address at a United Nation’s conference today. The teenager who was born with no limbs will talk about how technology has helped her advance her life, reports RTÉ.
5. #BAD ECONOMY: An Iceland court will give its decision today on whether Geir Haarde, the former Prime Minister of Iceland, will be convicted of criminal culpability for the economic crisis, reports BusinessWeek. If he is found guilty of negligence, he could become the first government leader to face jail time over the global financial meltdown.
6. #ABUSED: According to the Irish Examiner, a Californian diocese has agreed to pay $3.75 million to a man allegedly abused as a child by Fr Michael Kelly, a Tipperary priest who fled the US last week before giving evidence in a civil trial over the sex abuse allegations. Fr Kelly, who has now returned to Ireland, denies all accusations.
7. #ROAD DEATH: A 41-year-old man has died following a road crash in Wexford last night. A second man involved in the two-van collision was taken to St Vincent’s hospital in Dublin where he is being treated for serious injuries.
8. #TAX BILL: An unidentified landlord in Ireland paid more than €80,000 to the Exchequer last year to cover the non-principal residence charge due on over 400 housing units he or she owned. The Government collected a total of €67.8 million from 180,389 people who had more than one property in 2011.
9. #PEACHES: Peaches Geldof, the 23-year-old daughter of Bob Geldof and the late Paula Yates, has announced the birth of her baby boy. His name? Astala.
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