EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #RESCUE: A newly-wed South Korean couple has been rescued from the ill-fated Costa Concordia cruise liner which is lying half-submerged off the coast of Italy after running aground yesterday. Firefighters have also located a third passenger in the overturned ship. Rescuers have spoken to the man and are getting ready to remove him.
2. #ROADS: An 83-year-old man has died after the car he was travelling in hit a wall in Fermoy in Cork. The driver of the car, a woman in her 60s, has been taken to hospital but her injuries are not life threatening.
3. #HOUSES: A new Sunday Times survey has shown that the average price of Irish homes dropped a further 17 per cent in 2011. However, some areas saw much greater declines with prices in Wexford falling by as much as 34 per cent. Properties bought at the market peak in 2006 and 2007 are now worth about 55 per cent less than what was paid at the time.
4. #EUROZONE: Standard & Poor’s has defended Friday’s mass European downgrade, turning the blame back onto eurozone leaders who they say are not doing enough to solve their debt crises.
5. #OIL: Threatened strikes by oil workers in Nigeria could begin to impact global oil prices, it has been warned this morning. The BBC reports that trade union leaders in the African country have said they will resume a nationwide strike on Monday if a compromise is not reached on petrol prices. The government removed a subsidy a fortnight ago, leading to a doubling of fuel prices and fierce protests. Oil workers had stated they would not join in with the strike immediately but talks have now stalled.
6. #QUINN: Seán Quinn’s family ran up annual expense bills of more than €1 million which were footed by their business empire, Tom Lyons reports on the front page of the Sunday Independent. Mortgages, TV packages, utility bills, meals and designer clothes were all paid for by the Quinn Group.
7. #ADOPTION: Four Mexican women are being held by police in Guadalajara on suspicion of organising a child-trafficking ring which aimed to supply babies to Irish couples. Authorities are trying to figure out if the Irish couples were tricked into believing it was a legitimate adoption route. At least seven children have been taken into care, reports the Daily Mail.
8. #DON’T LOOK UP: We may all need to take shelter tonight as Russian authorities have warned the Irish government that a 14.5 ton space probe stuck in Earth’s orbit could plummet back to land this evening. It’s possible destination? Ireland. Well, the authorities said it could land anywhere between here and Argentina. You have been warned.
9. #FOREIGN GAMES: This week we heard that Ross O’Carroll Kelly creator Paul Howard had signed up to write a book from the perspective of Roy Keane’s famous dog Trigg. And now the Sunday Times reports that Howard is to take another break from his rugby-loving, D4 alter-ego to write his first screenplay for a film about a boy who loves cricket.
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