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Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland
Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott died 26 years ago today, January 4, 1986.
# Daily Fix
The Daily Fix: Wednesday
In tonight’s Fix: Tax income behind target, health insurers to absorb higher levies (for now), Michele Bachmann pulls out, and what’s it like to be young and feel old?
EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a roundup of the day’s main news – plus any bits and pieces you may have missed:
- Final details of government income for 2011 have revealed that the government’s tax income was 2.5 per cent less than had been expected. The tax income has risen, however, for the first time in three years.
- The government has increased its levy on health insurance policies – but the main insurers say they’re not going to pass it on (yet). The increased levy is required to cover the cost of increased tax subsidies for older customers whose policies cost more.
- Michele Bachmann has pulled out of the campaign to become the Republican nominee for US president, after a disappointing performance in last night’s caucuses in Iowa, won (just about) by Mitt Romney. Here we’ve previewed what comes next in the race to face Obama.
- You’ll never think of being ‘called to the bar’ in the same way again. A court in Tipperary is sitting in a bar and restaurant for the next three months.
- The two men convicted of murdering black teenager Stephen Lawrence in an unprovoked racial attack in 1993 have been sentenced to a minimum of 14 and 15 years in prison. The fact that Gary Dobson and David Norris were both under 18 at the time of the murder was a key factor in their sentencing.
- Consumers trying to lose weight after the holiday excesses have been urged not to buy slimming pills online. The Irish Medicines Board issued the warning as some illicit medicines contain a substance linked to heart attacks and strokes.
- The government has faced criticism for its decision to shelve plans for a new National Children’s Detention Facility – with groups like the National Children’s Alliance complaining that the current system of housing young offenders in adult accommodation is a breach of UN conventions.
- A surge of patriotism? Registrations of .ie domain names grew by 12 per cent last year.
- Wikipedia users breathe a sigh of relief – those massive banners of Jimmy Wales’ face will be disappearing for a few months. It’s raised €15m in a new fundraising drive.
- The euro came close to a 12-month low today after investors baulked at the prospect of investing in Germany. The country completed a €5bn bond sale with interest rates of just 1.93 per cent.
Artist Rachel Egan leaves some flowers at the Phil Lynott statue on Harry Street in Dublin. Lynott died 26 years ago today. (Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)
- Italian politicians are facing fresh pressure to cut their own wages as part of the next austerity drive – after a state report revealed them as having the highest wages of any European parliamentarian.
- David Hasselhoff is an illustrious man – but even he could never have expected to have a breed of crab named after him. ‘The Hoff’ has been so named because of its unusually hairy chest.
- Have you been nominated for an Oscar? Have you written a novel? Do you have an inferiority complex? Better not click here then.
- Have you ever used your iPad to get across an international border, in lieu of your own passport? Do you, too, have an inferiority complex? Ignore this link so.
- Do you have an iPad or iPad 2? Do you groan when you hear about the potential release of a new version that renders your tablet behind-the-times? If that sounds like you, do not click here.
- Police in China think the sudden death of a billionaire was caused by eating contaminated cat meat. Foul play may be involved.
- Rupert Murdoch was so impressed with the iPad that he created his own newspaper for it. But even still, he’s having teething trouble…
- Have you ever wondered what age feels like – what it would be like for you to temporarily see what it was like to suffer the impaired mobility of an older person? MIT has an Age Lab, and they’ve developed a suit to soothe that curiosity:
