7 is the magic number. Catch up on all of today’s top news every night at 7pm on TheLiberal.ie
#1 Storm damage: ESB crews continue working on restoring power to more than 6,500 homes and businesses after high winds caused widespread blackouts.
Most of the damage took place in the southern half of the country as an Atlantic storm swept in yesterday and overnight. Several areas of Co. Donegal were also badly affected.
Wild weather has subdued for now, but very unsettled conditions will prevail most of the week.
#2 Islamic State: There are reports that IS forces have captured at least parts of the town of Kobani.
The IS flag has been raised within the confines of the besieged town.
This town is strategically important, as it stands close to the Syrian border with Turkey. If controlled by IS, it would provide the extremist organization with an important staging point from where to launch further attacks across the border.
IS began its advance on Kobani on September 16. Kurdish fighters have been battling IS militants for the past few days, aided by coalition airstrikes. US aircraft dropped munitions on known IS positions on Sunday, and British Tornados carried out an attack mission on nearby sites on the evening of that same day.
#3 Grisly murder: Australian chef murdered and cooked girlfriend before killing himself.
Marcus Volke, aged 28 at the time of his death, killed, dismembered, and cooked parts of his girlfriend, named locally as Indonesian citizen Mayang Prasetyo.
The couple had recently moved into an apartment in a wealthy Brisbane suburb. Neighbors then complained about a foul smell emanating from the apartment. Police attending to search the premises made the grim discovery.
Volke fled the apartment, hid in an alley, and slit his own throat.
#4 McCanns: Woman accused of “trolling” the McCanns over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine has been found dead.
63-year-old Brenda Leyland, who was confronted on camera by Sky News reporter Martin Brunt for her “trolling” on the McCann family, has reportedly been found dead at a hotel room in Leicestershire. According to sources, the death is not treated as suspicious, and nobody else is being sought in connection with the incident.
#5 Nobel prize: Three neuroscientists, including a Norwegian husband and wife team, have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine 2014.
Scientists John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser have won this year’s top medical prize “for their discoveries that constitute a positioning system in the brain”.
May-Britt and Edvard are the fifth married couple to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
#6 Pub closure: Clohessy’s, one of Limerick and Munster’s best known rugby pubs has ceased trading with immediate effect. Up to 60 staff may be affected by the closure.
The annex nightclub, the Sin Bin, is also to close immediately.
Management of the bar posted a message in their Facebook page saying “Thank you for your business for more than 13 years.”
#7 Love/Hate: Almost one million viewers tuned in last night for the first episode of the new series of the popular TV show.
This figure represented 56 percent of the available audience share.