At least 31 dead following floods and landslides in south Philippines
At least 31 people have died and five others are missing following flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains swamped a southern Philippine province. In the neighbouring towns of Datu Odin Sinsuat and Datu Blah Sinsuat, at least 26 have been confirmed dead, while five others have died in Upi town. The floods started to recede when the rains eased this morning.
Extension given to preserve the site of the Creeslough explosion
A court extension has been given to Gardaí in order to preserve the scene where 10 people died following an explosion in Creeslough, Co Donegal. A road closure will remain in place in the village as it continues investigations. In a statement, the Gardaí said: “The purpose for the preservation of the scene is to preserve, search for and collect evidence to facilitate the ongoing investigation.”
Average monthly rent jumps 84% between 2012 and 2021
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) have found that average private rents rose from €589 to €1,084 per month between 2012 and 2021. The increase of 84% has led to a substantial decline in the affordability of housing for young and low-income private renters. Average housing cost-to-income ratios rose from 0.226 to 0.304 for private renters in the lowest income quintile between 2007 and 2021.
Elon Musk completes Twitter takeover, fires top executives
Elon Musk is now the owner of Twitter following his $44 billion takeover, and has fired top executives. “The bird is freed,” he tweeted, referencing his ambition to see the company have fewer limits on content that can be posted. The Tesla CEO also wants to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division, “defeat” spam bots, and make the algorithms that determine how content is presented to its users publicly available.