Enjoy your coffee break by catching up on all the morning’s top news, every morning at 10:30am on TheLiberal.ie
#1 Budget: Advisors warn Minister for Finance Michael Noonan that another tough budget is needed. The Government’s independent advisory body for budgetary matters, chaired by Professor John McHale of NUI Galway, has voiced its concerns against any measures that may lead to a return of boom and bust economic cycle. ‘A prudent budgetary stance’ is their advice to Government in relation to any decisions yet to be taken for the upcoming Budget.
#2 Islamic State: More than 130,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed the border into Turkey, fleeing from IS extremists, who have seized dozens of Syrian villages in the past week on their way to the country’s border.
IS forces have so far made huge territorial gains both in Iraq and Syria, and their seemingly unstoppable advance is relentless. They now have a firm grip on about a third of the countries of Iraq and Syria. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the IS threat thus far.
#3 Profit blunder: Four senior executives at Tesco UK have been suspended after they admitted a £250m accounting “mistake” in the company’s first-half profits. According to Tesco sources, the half-yearly profit estimation for 2014 was overstated by an estimated £250m. The group’s shares plunged by more than 11 percent after the blunder.
#4 Road death: A 27-year-old motorcyclist died last night after a collision with a construction vehicle. The accident happened shortly before 21:00 last night on the R724 at Ballymoon, near Muine Bheag, Co. Carlow. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the construction vehicle was uninjured.
#5 Clamping: At least 21 vehicles were clamped around Croke Park during the All-Ireland game. Authorities had warned before the match that “The area is monitored by Dublin City Council Parking Enforcement and illegally parked cars may be clamped or towed away.”