EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really ought to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #RIOTING Twenty-two PSNI officers were injured in rioting in Belfast last night, which saw nationalist protesters hurling petrol bombs and debris at police. The city is preparing for the Twelfth of July parades, with a heavy police presence expected in the Ardoyne area. Last year’s violence was some of the worst in recent years.
2. #BAILOUT The finance minister Michael Noonan has welcomed a decision by his Eurozone counterparts to make the EU bailout fund more flexible. Greece was at the centre of discussions yesterday, along with the risk of contagion and the vulnerability of countries like Italy and Spain. Noonan says that if the measures to make the fund more flexible are approved, it could mean a lower interest rate for Ireland.
3. #NOTW Serving and former police officers will be questioned in public today over inquiries into phone hacking at the News of the World. They’ll appear before MPs at a Home Affairs Committee and will be asked why the investigation into hacking was closed in 2007. News International has said that it will investigate claims that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown had financial, legal and medical records compromised by journalists.
4. #LEGAL HIGHS The EU is to propose tighter rules on the use of ‘designer drugs’ . It’s emerged that, among the member states, Ireland has the highest proportion of young people who’ve tried that likes of ‘Spice’, which is a synthetic form of cannabis. The European Union Justice Commissioner has said that new ways of detecting synthetic drugs on the market need to be introduced.
5. #SLIGO A human resources consultant has been paid around €26,000 to observe meetings of Sligo Borough Council after bullying claims, according to the Irish Independent. Sligo county manager Hubert Kearns has said the costs are ‘regrettable’ but that legal requirements dictate that a safe place for council employees to work must be provided.
6. #DOCTORS The Irish Medical Council has agreed on draft rules which will allow non-EU doctors to work in Ireland in an effort to plug the hole left by the shortage in junior doctors. The rules will allow for the registration of the non-EU doctors, who will be entitled to around €1,500 each in financial assistance from the HSE to help with flight and accommodation costs.
7. #ANONYMOUS The hacker group Anonymous says it has infiltrated the network of a US defence contractor. The group says it has retrieved information which could help it to attack US government systems. Anonymous stole more than 90,000 military passwords in the attack on Booz Allen.Yesterday the group warned that it was preparing for two of its biggest releases in the past four years.
8. #ASSANGE Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will be back in court in London today to appeal his extradition from Britain to Sweden to face allegations of sexual assault. He’s challenging a ruling that the extradition would not breach his human rights. Assange claims that the assault allegations were politically motivated. He’s been living under house arrest since December.
9. #ROAD TO ROMANCE The Skoda car company thinks it’s found the key to true love, and it involves music and cars. It’s launched a dating service which asks people to enter their Facebook and Spotify information. Skoda will then find the ideal matches and set up a test-driving date for the pair, presumably hoping that they will then start a family and buy Skoda cars for the rest of their days. Well, the campaign is called The Family Composer after all.
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