EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you begin your day.
1. #EUROZONE: An extraordinary cabinet meeting has been called by the Portuguese Prime Minister this morning, in order to discuss a ruling by the country’s Constitutional Court which declared nine austerity measures contained in its 2013 budget “unconstitutional”, RTÉ News reports. The decision will deprive the state of €1.5bn in savings earmarked by the government to meet the terms of the eurozone bailout.
2. #KOREAN PENINSULA: US officials are seeking to play down the threat of war on the Korean peninsula, after mounting tensions in the region exploded into explicit threats of nuclear strikes last week, the BBC reports. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the US would “not be surprised” if North Korea launched a missile. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has advised embassies to consider moving staff out of the country – saying it could not guarantee their safety after 10 April.
3. #SYRIA: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the fall of his regime would cause a “domino effect” that would lead to years of instability in the Middle East. In an interview with two Turkish media outlets, Assad said: “The whole world knows that if Syria is partitioned, or if terrorist forces take control of the country, there will be direct contagion of the surrounding countries.”
4. #TRAGEDY: Efforts to recover the body of a Tipperary mine worker who was buried in a rock fall on Thursday will continue today. Mario Francis, a married father-of-two, had worked at the Lisheen Mine for over twelve years having come to Ireland from the Philippines. An investigation has begun and the mine will be closed until further notice.
5. #ROBBERY: Three men aged in their 20s have been arrested and a sawn-off shotgun recovered by gardaí following an armed robbery in Co Meath yesterday. Two males armed with a sawn-off shotgun and a screw driver held up staff at a commercial premises in Bracetown, Clonee and made off with a sum of cash. No one was injured in the incident.
6. #SEX ABUSE: A grassroots network has been set up by survivors of sexual abuse to demand urgent action on the “epidemic” of sex abuse in the country, the Irish Examiner reports. The ANU Campaign for Truth is calling for a range of changes relating to legal proceedings, including compulsory education for judges about sex crimes and separate seating in courts for a victim and the accused.
7. #FIREARM: A male in his mid-teens has been released without charge after being detained at Tallaght Garda Station since Thursday in relation to the seizure of a firearm and drugs. During the raid in the Jobstown area of Tallaght, gardaí recovered a sawn-off shotgun, a number of cartridges, and herion and cannabis with an estimated street value of €200,000.
8. #EARTHQUAKE: A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake has hit off the coast of eastern Indonesia, according to the US Geological Survey. No tsunami warning has been issued and there have been no immediate reports of injuries, reports the Jakarta Post.
9. # HEY, GOOD LOOKING: US President Barack Obama has apologised to the California attorney general for making a comment about her appearance at a fundraiser, describing Kamala Harris as “the best-looking attorney general in the country”. The White House has issued a statement saying the president “did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general’s professional accomplishments and her capabilities” by the remark. A spokesperson for Harris said she strongly supported Obama – but did not comment on whether the attorney general had accepted the apology.
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