Five things you need to know today

Trevor Deely disappearance; Bus Éireann insolvency; Orkambi negotiations; Indonesian earthquake

Little Angels from St Joseph’s pre-school, Maryland at the Mansion House, Dublin at the opening of the IFA Live Animal Crib and Christmas Winter Wonderland. Photograph: Eric Luke
Little Angels from St Joseph’s pre-school, Maryland at the Mansion House, Dublin at the opening of the IFA Live Animal Crib and Christmas Winter Wonderland. Photograph: Eric Luke

1. Gardaí tackle cold-case mystery of Trevor Deely's disappearance
Gardaí have opened a new investigation into the disappearance of Trevor Deely, who went missing in Dublin following a Christmas party in December 2000.
A newly established team of six officers in Pearse Street Garda station has been conducting a "cold case review" into the unsolved mystery for the past two months.
Deely was 22 at the time of his disappearance. He went missing on the night of December 7th after his office Christmas party. Family, friends and colleagues are being re-interviewed, in a bid to unearth new information.

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2.  Bus Éireann could be insolvent in two years, warns Ross
Minister for Transport Shane Ross has warned that Bus Éireann is facing insolvency within two years unless difficult decisions are made.
Mr Ross told his Cabinet colleagues between six and eight of the least profitable routes may have to be axed to bridge the funding gap at the company.
The Minister said the firm has reached a critical state in its financial situation and a number of unpopular decisions may have to be made.
Bus Éireann reported losses of up to €5.6 million last year and has projected a €6 million loss this year.

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3. Minister refuses to negotiate directly over cost of CF treatment
Plans by Minister for Health Simon Harris to join up with other countries in seeking price reductions for Orkambi will take years to realise, according the manufacturer of the cystic fibrosis drug.
Mr Harris said he plans to seek international cooperation on securing access for patients to new treatments where "exorbitant" prices are being sought when he attends a meeting of EU health ministers and pharma companies in Lisbon on Wednesday.
Mr Harris has rejected a call by Vertex to become directly involved in price talks on the cystic fibrosis drug.

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4. At least 54 dead in Indonesian earthquake
At least 54 people have been killed by a powerful 6.5 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia's Aceh province, according to the military.
Scores more were injured and dozens of buildings collapsed, and a frantic rescue effort involving dozens of villagers, soldiers and police is under way in Meureudu, a severely affected town in Pidie Jaya district, which was closest to the epicentre. The quake struck just after 5am local time (10pm Irish time on Tuesday) at a depth of 17 km (11 miles) on Aceh's northeastern coast. No tsunami warning was issued.

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5. Ocean tides trigger longer day by putting brake on Earth
If you keep thinking there is a stretch in the evenings these days, it isn't your imagination, our days are getting progressively longer, by almost two thousandths of a second per century.
Another way to look at this is that the Earth is slowing down resulting in longer days. The world's oceans are responsible, with the drag of the tides effectively putting the brakes on in a slow and relentless way.
The calculations that revealed the slowdown were achieved by looking at records of past total solar eclipses, said Catherine Hohenkerk, Leslie Morrison and FR Stephenson, who publish their findings on Wednesday morning in the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal.

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And finally: Ukrainians fear being forgotten in third winter of war
Daniel McLaughlin reports from Mykolaivka in Ukraine as the world's interest in its war wanes and agencies scramble to help 3.7m around the eastern war zone.

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