1. Britain united in shock after killing of Labour MP
Britain's politicians united in shock and outrage last night, suspending the Brexit referendum campaign, following the death of Labour MP Jo Cox after she was shot and stabbed in her West Yorkshire constituency. Both sides in the campaign suspended activities shortly after the attack by a lone gunman outside the MP's weekly advice clinic. The Taoiseach, who was visiting Liverpool and Manchester to campaign for Britain to remain in the EU, condemned the attack as "an appalling crime on a public representative going about her duty, a mother of two children".
Brexit: Full coverage of in/out referendum
2. Over 50 PSNI students to resit course after cheating in exams
A suspected case of concerted cheating in exams by more than 50 trainee police officers in Northern Ireland has resulted in them being ordered to do their 22-week training programme all over again. PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton said he was "deeply disappointed" after student officers at the Police College at Garnerville, Belfast were allegedly caught cheating in the exams. The PSNI said the "allegations of impropriety" came to light the day before before last Friday's graduation ceremony. Mr Hamilton considered student suspensions and the complete cancellation of the graduation, but opted for giving written warnings to all involved.
Examwatch 2016: Full coverage of the 2016 Junior and Leaving Certificate examinations including analysis, exam paper reports and student diary
3. Sons of Ulster make history in the hail
A lone piper led a troop of ecstatic Northern Ireland supporters out of the Olympique Lyonnais stadium last night after a famous victory. The 2-0 win over Ukraine – the North's first ever in a European Championships – leaves Michael O'Neill's side in with a fighting chance of exiting Group C and reaching the last 16 of the competition. A weather delay brought about by a combination of lightning and exceptionally large hailstones stopped proceedings briefly during the second half but the excitement generated by man of the match Gareth McAuley's opening goal moments earlier kept the travelling fans ticking over. After coming under a sustained period of pressure from their opponents, a late Niall McGinn goal put the North on three points ahead of their final group game against Germany in Paris on Tuesday.
Euro 2016: Full coverage including reports, analysis and much more
4. Casualisation and outsourcing taking toll on workforce
Employment policy is steering our workers into dangerous financial and social waters, writes James Wickham. Unemployment is falling, more people are at work. Surely that is good news enough? To accept that any job is better than no job is to avoid looking at what sort of jobs actually exist in Ireland today. Furthermore, what sort of jobs are created has consequences for the overall structure of society. And most fundamentally of all, the social benefits of employment depend on the quality as well as the quantity of jobs. In countries like the UK and the US and even Germany, in-work poverty was growing even before the recent economic crisis. Some people had jobs but were still in poverty. The OECD defines "low pay" as less than two-thirds of (national) median earnings. As Tasc's submission to the Low Pay Commission 2016 showed, on this basis the incidence of low pay in Ireland is one of the highest of all OECD countries.
5. Are you being ripped off for news on social media?
Some 45 per cent of Irish people now access news through Facebook, according to a survey published this week by the Reuters Institute. There is no charge, but is it really free? And are we as consumers getting a good deal? In the online world, various services are offered to users for free. At least, that is the common perception. For example, email accounts, maps, social media are provided without monetary remuneration. Instead of our money, service providers collect, analyse and store data related to how we use such services. Sometimes, especially in case of social media platforms, this also includes our personal data. Typically the collected data is used to improve the service and for advertising purposes. The latter is the key to the business model. These "free" services are financed through advertising. The more the service providers know about you, your preferences and needs, the better they can target ads at you. Moreover, sometimes services providers also sell the collected data to third parties.
Misc
Ten acts to see at Body & Soul: Our selection of the bands to see and the times to see them over the weekend.
Orange is the New Black: Cast talks to Una Mullally
Self-driving cars: Rolls-Royce's vision of a self-driving future includes bespoke cars built to order
