EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #DAY TWO: More medals (14 golds, silvers and bronzes to be exact) are up for grabs in London today with a number of athletes flying the Irish flag in swimming, equestrian, canoe slalom, sailing, badminton and boxing. TheScore.ie has all the details, including times, so you won’t miss a beat.
2. #EMPTY SEATS: Sticking with the Olympic Games, organisers in London have launched an investigation into why there were so many empty seats across multiple venues on opening day. According to Sky News, the majority of vacant pews belonged to accredited groups such as governing bodies and sponsors.
Meanwhile, 16 people have been arrested over alleged illegal reselling of tickets over the past two days, reports BBC News.
3. #COLORADO: Ashley Moser, the mother of six-year-old Veronica who was the youngest victim of the Aurora cinema massacre, has suffered a miscarriage. The 25-year-old had to undergo surgery yesterday after receiving wounds to the neck and abdomen during the shooting.
4. #NEIGHBOURS: Jordan has opened its first official refugee camp for Syrians who are fleeing escalating violence in their own country. The camp could eventually house more than 100,000 people. Fierce fighting continues in the city of Aleppo with rebels calling on international powers to provide arms to enable them to continue to fend off security forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.
5. #THE QUINNS: The bank formerly known as Anglo Irish has received a boost in its attempts to retrieve assets which Seán Quinn and his family had put beyond its reach after a Russian court revoked a Belize company’s legal claim to ownership of the 20-storey Kutuzoff Tower in Moscow. The Sunday Times reports that the property is worth about €127 million and IBRC is now first in line to benefit from any sale.
6. #ROBBERY: Gardaí in Dublin have arrested a man in his 30s following a robbery at a shop on James Street last night. The suspect entered the store just before 10pm and threatened staff members with a syringe. One man remains in a serious condition in hospital after collapsing at the scene.
7. #CIE: The Sunday Business Post has spoken to Transport Minister Leo Varadkar who has revealed that the CIE group was rescued to ensure that public transport continues. However, he said the firm cannot keep returning for more monetary support. Cost-cutting measures, including redundancies, and the sale of assets are expected.
8. #PILGRIMAGE: Up to 20,000 people are expected to climb the 765-metre-high Croagh Patrick today in the annual Reek Sunday pilgrimage. Starting at 8am, mass will be celebrated on the Holy Mountain every half hour and, according to the RTÉ News, pilgrims will be led by Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary.
9. #DRINKING: The average Irish person drank about nine pints of beer less in 2011 than they did the previous year, according to new research. But that figure still means that as a country, we consumed 694 million pints in 12 months.
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