Your Thursday morning catch-up

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

IRELAND

There were more than 2,500 reported crimes affecting farm families  in the first half of last year, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association.

The daughter of sports presenter Bill O’Herlihy has slammed robbers  who stole money from his widow while she was visiting his grave.

Schools should be legally prevented from refusing admission on the basis of a child’s religion,  the State’s rights watchdog has said.

If the Government believed it could spin the scrapping of—  universal health insurance (UHI)  as anything but an embarrassing and damaging U-turn, in the Dáil yesterday it was told in no uncertain terms the PR strategy had failed.

WORLD

There were claims last night that the IS member who masterminded last Friday’s attack on Paris leaving 129 dead, was himself killed in a shootout at a suburb where a terrorist cell was planning a new attack on the city’s business district.

In a striking shift, US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are embarking on a tentative path  toward closer ties and possible military cooperation, as the bitter rift over Ukraine gives way to common cause against the Islamic State group.

SPORT

As luck would have it, the All Blacks chose to unleash Jonah Lomu  late one Saturday night 20 years ago against an Ireland team captained by a hooker from Cork. Here’s a tribute from Peter Jackson.

Richie McCaw has announced his retirement from rugby after leading New Zealand to their second   successive World Cup triumph.

BUSINESS

Calls from one of the country’s leading estate agency groups for the Central Bank’s mortgage rules  to be revisited are likely to fall on deaf ears after the finance minister signalled his support for the lending restrictions.

Danone, the world’s biggest yoghurt maker, gave a higher sales goal for the first time in four years yesterday as it pledged to boost profitability at its fresh-dairy business, which represents more than half of the French company’s revenue.

ANALYSIS

Where would we be now if British prime ministers had conflated Irishness with terrorism,  asks Victoria White

LIFESTYLE

Should women be taking HRT in later life?  Two experts, Sue Leonard and Margaret Carragher  debate the pros and cons of chemical intervention.

VIDEO

Discrimination and prejudice against Travellers and Roma is racism,  it must be named as racism and tackled as racism, President Michael D Higgins has insisted.

VIRAL

If you have ever found ironing a shirt a practically difficult task this video might just be a lifesaver.

Freddy Cabrales shared some screenshots of his nine-year-old brother, Damion’s text exchange with a young lady on Twitter. And poeple love how cute they are.

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TECHNOW

GAMING: THEY might not admit it now, but a lot of gamers fell for Lara Croft when she first appeared on our living room screens, backflipping her way through the 1990s.

MOVIES: The Hallow director Corin Hardy prides himself on making a gorgeous looking horror and talks about found footage films

TECH: It looks like Samsung is set to take us on a bit of a nostalgia trip, as photos of a flip-phone from the company have emerged online.

SHOWBIZ

Niall Horan has admitted to accidentally sending sexy texts to the wrong person.Partaking in a game of Never Have I Ever,  the singer also revealed that he used to pretend to be Nick Carter from American boyband the Backstreet Boys when people recognised him.

MOST READ RIGHT NOW

As luck would have it, the All Blacks chose to unleash Jonah Lomu  late one Saturday night 20 years ago against an Ireland team captained by a hooker from Cork. Here’s a tribute from Peter Jackson.