Catch-up with what you've missed with our morning briefing
IRELAND
The executive council of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) will meet this morning to discuss planned strike action at seven hospitals next week. The meeting comes on a week when at one point almost 560 people were on trolleys in emergency departments and wards at hospitals around the country.
Despite the damage caused by the latest floods to hit Ireland, the country is unlikely to qualify for aid under EU rules.
A number of flood alerts remain in place following heavy rain overnight. Up to 25 millimetres was forecast across the country, with counties Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and Meath the worst affected. A total of 2,158 homes and businesses are without electricity this morning, after heavy rain last night.
The family of missing Cork man Diarmuid Twomey have been dealt yet another blow after his mother passed away in hospital last night.
Irish producers are hoping that an unlikely addition to 2016’s must-eat healthy foods will pay dividends for a key part of the Irish cooked breakfast. Reports claiming that black pudding has been added to a list of superfoods has seen widespread media coverage of the foodstuff.
WORLD
More women have claimed they were sexually assaulted and robbed during New Year’s Eve celebrations in the German city Cologne, as police faced criticism for their handling of the incident.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles declined to charge Bill Cosby with sexually abusing two teenagers in 1965 and 2008, citing time limits and a lack of evidence.
SPORT
One of the biggest stars of Irish golf, Christy O’Connor Jnr, has been remembered as a gentleman and sporting inspiration after he died on holiday in Tenerife.
BUSINESS
US stocks tumbled to two-month lows as fears about China's economy slowing down led to more widespread selling. The price of oil plunged to its lowest level since 2008 on the prospect that global demand could fall further.
Profits at the UK arm of Sean Mulryan’s Ballymore Developments last year increased almost threefold to £154.9m (€217.6m).
ANALYSIS
The circumstances of a baby’s birth should have absolutely nothing to do with its human rights, writes
initially dismissed Ella Woodward’s clean eating cookbook as another genetically blessed rich kid hitching herself to the foodie bandwagon. After eating her recipes for three weeks, she changed her mind
VIDEO
Having whittled down the entries for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition from 2,048 to 550, judges will find it difficult to crown the overall winner as the standard is very high.
VIRAL
While readers are still wading through the nightstand’s worth of books they received for Christmas, we couldn’t help but look as to what new novels could be coming our way in 2016. Here’s our pick of the best.
Wednesday January 6 2016 was the day the internet stood still to watch a puddle in Newcastle. Now a small portion of the world’s most famous puddle can be yours, as an aspiring entrepreneur managed to bottle just under 600ml of the water, and is flogging the stuff on eBay.
TECHNOW
: Square Enix announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider will be released on Windows 10 and Steam on January 28th.
Daredevil will be returning in 2016 and we've got the first official batch of images to get you back in the Murdoch mood
We don't know a lot about Sony Mobile's official plans for 2016 but the rumour mill is in high gear with possible news.
SHOWBIZ
It was a night of emotional tributes, dancing, and, erm, Jack Black taking his trousers off on stage. But de-robing aside, there were smiles galore as famous folk took home awards at this year’s People’s Choice Awards.
MOST READ RIGHT NOW
Unsure if your symptoms really warrant a trip to A&E? Here are five examples of when it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
