An Focal Five – News you need to know

Published on June 29, 2012 at 10:49 am by Darragh Roche, Editor

Friday, 29 June

An Focal brings you the top five news stories you should know today

 

1. New EU debt plan wins praise

EU leaders have agreed on a new plan to separate as far as possible national debt and banking debt. In what some are calling a German compromise, the EU will allow the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to lend directly to troubled Spanish banks rather than through Spain’s government. It is possible this concession will be good news for Ireland, which assumed large banking debts as part of its sovereign debt in 2008. The EU will also begin to put in place common supervision of the banking sector, though there will be no debt sharing.

 

2. Limerick city has the nation’s highest unemployment

LIMERICK city has the highest unemployment in the country and the most unemployment ‘black spots’, according to the recent census. Average unemployment in Limerick city is at 42.9%, followed by Cork city at 39.8%. Some parts of Limerick city have unemployment rates as high as 57% and has 18 so-called black spots.

 

3. Obama wins Supreme Court case – but there’s no time for celebration

THE US Supreme Court yesterday upheld President Barack Obama‘s healthcare reforms. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts provided the deciding vote by siding with four liberal judges against four other conservative judges. This is seen as an important victory for President Obama but the healthcare reforms will now be a major issue in November’s presidential election, as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pledged to repeal the act. Governor Romney finds himself in an awkward position, however, having introduced an almost identical piece of legislation while he was governor of Massachusetts.

 

4. Number of students increases significantly

THERE are 408,838 students over 15 in Ireland, according to the census. This is an increase of 16.9%. This rise may be due to the lack of jobs for young people since the beginning of the Recession. The level of youth unemployment is comparatively low in Ireland but many observers claim this is because of youth emigration.

 

5. Chinese space woman returns

CHINA’S first female astronaut has safely returned to Earth following China’s first manual docking in orbit. This is part of China’s efforts to build a space station and possibly even land on the Moon. Though they are some 40 years behind the US and Russia (formerly the USSR), the Chinese desire to go into space is very real.

 

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