Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really, really need to know with your morning coffee.
1. #SNOWATCH: The big freeze, which Met Eireann has warned will last til next Wednesday, is continuing to cause chaos for commuters. Temperatures at Dublin airport fell to minus 14 overnight, causing flights to be suspended – the airport has now reopened. But check with your airline if you’re flying to Britain: Gatwick is closed all day, London City Airport is closed until 9am. More sleet and snow are forecast in eastern counties and in parts of the northwest today; daytime temps will be minus 2 to plus 3 degrees. Night-time temperatures will fall to between minus 5 and minus 12 degrees. Public transport is operating around the country, but with delays and some restrictions.
2. #EURO CRISIS: The ECB is expected to announce new measures to tackle the euro crisis, as commentators warn there’s a risk of a speculative attack on Spain and Italy.
3. #BAILOUT: Details of Ireland’s memorandum of understanding – what’s being called the MOU – with the EU/IMF were published yesterday, and it became clear that the state’s lenders are leaving nothing to chance. Under the deal, the public sector could face further pay cuts if productivity increases are not delivered, the Examiner reports.
4. #BANKERS: A Central bank review has found that banks are still paying generous bonuses to their staff. In 2007, one bank chief executive earned over €4m in pay and bonuses.
5. #FAIR PLAY, PAT: The former financial regulation, Patrick Neary, has told one of the investigations into Anglo Irish it’s not surprising that banks would put a “gloss” on their published accounts, the Irish Times reports. An investigation by Anglo’s lawyers previously claimed that the bank’s finance director Willie McAteer told the former regulator in mid-September 2008 that it was planning to “manage” its balance sheet before the end of its financial year, to which Neary is claimed to have replied: “Fair play to you, Willie.”
6. #LENIHAN: Minister for Finance moved to reassure the public about his health last night. However, his aunt has told RTE radio that while his treatment has finished, his cancer remains but has not worsened, she said.
7. #SOLD AT LAST: A house in Ballsbridge which was valued at €7 million in 2007 has just been sold after being on the market for 8 years for €2.4 million, the Irish Times Property supplement reveals.
8. #MILE HIGH PUSH: A transatlantic jet from Frankfurt to Montreal had to divert and land at Dublin Airport on Tuesday after a 25-year-old passenger on board suddenly went into labour, three weeks early. The Examiner adds that the woman gave birth in Holles Street later, and that mother and baby are doing well.
9. #GOOGLE EARTH: The weird sightings uncovered by Google Earth keep on getting weirder. Iranian authorities have just spotted the, er, Star of David at Tehran airport. Officials are reportedly convinced that a pattern on top of an airport building visible on Google Earth – but not, it has to be said, immediately apparent to the casual eye – was deliberately placed there by Israeli engineers, who designed the complex before the Islamic revolution. They’ve ordered it removed, the Jerusalem Post reports.
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