7 is the magic number. Catch up on all of today’s top news every night at 7pm on TheLiberal.ie
#1 Pistorius: Oscar Pistorius has been cleared of the Reeva Steenkamp murder charge. In a dramatic day in court, the judge deemed the athlete’s actions “hasty” and “negligent”, but cleared him of murder and then adjourned proceedings until tomorrow. It is likely that Pistorius will receive a lesser charge of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
#2 September 11 remembrance: The city of New York stood solemnly still today as it commemorated the 13th anniversary of the September 11 2001 terrorist atrocity. Family members of the victims gathered at the September 11 Memorial for a remembrance ceremony to honour the men and women who perished in the attack.
#3 Junior Cert celebrations: Scenes of drunken debauchery reported across the country after a night of teenage celebrations. At least two revelers were hurt, one seriously and in hospital with a suspected ecstasy overdose.
#4 Varadkar: Health Minister Leo Varadkar remains defiant after being harshly told to keep quiet about upcoming budgetary decisions. Yet, after a very public scolding by the Taoiseach, Varadkar insisted he would continue to defend the need for health service spending and longer-term investment.
#5 Lotto: Couple scoops a €250,000 surprise prize after returning home from a sun holiday. The lucky €4 Quick Pick ticket was bought in Dublin 3.
#6 Google hacking: Five million Gmail addresses and passwords were posted to a public online forum. Google claimed however that its systems were not hacked, yet it contacted about 2% of users affected to advise their accounts may be compromised.
#7 Savita: A number of staff at University Hospital Galway have been disciplined over the care of Savita Halappanavar, who tragically passed away at the hospital after a number of errors and misdiagnoses. The 31-year-old died at the hospital in 2012 after suffering a miscarriage.