Five things you need to know today

1. Up to 400,000 commuters face disruption as two day Dublin Bus strike begins
Up to 400,000 commuters face disruption to their travel plans this morning as staff at Dublin Bus begin a two-day strike.

The industrial action, which will last until midnight on Friday, will see all Dublin Bus, Airlink, Nitelink and Ghostbus Tour services cancelled.

Drivers represented by the National Bus and Rail Union are looking for pay parity with Luas drivers. This would involve increases of up to 31 per cent.

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2. Fine Gael patience for 'difficult' John Halligan wears thin
Fine Gael is unwilling to grant Minister of State for Training and Skills John Halligan any major concessions on his local hospital in Waterford over and above what is recommended in a clinical review.

The Irish Times yesterday reported that services at Waterford hospital could be reduced as a result of the clinical review which recommends against the expansion of cardiac care services.

Fine Gael sources say they want to draw a line under continuous bargaining with Mr Halligan on services at his local hospital

Independent Alliance sources believe Mr Halligan will resign over the issue.

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[ 3. Government wins Dáil debate over appeal on  ]

The Government had a comfortable 93 votes to 36 victory on a motion endorsing its decision to appeal the European Commission ruling that Ireland provided unlawful State aid to Apple.

A series of votes lasting almost one hour and 40 minutes followed the 10-hour debate and 30-minute question and answer session on Wednesday as most political groupings introduced amendments to the Government’s motion.

Fianna Fáil and Labour supported the appeal while Sinn Féin opposed it.

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4. Finance watchdog warns budget plan is close to 'prudent' limit
The State's fiscal watchdog has warned that the Government's planned budgetary adjustment this year will end up being substantially larger than the €1 billion previously flagged.

In a pre-budget statement, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council claimed that when added to new spending commitments in health and education, the total package of measures earmarked for Budget 2017 would, in fact, amount to a €2.4 billion adjustment.

Hence, the Government’s fiscal stance was considerably more expansionary than signalled in its recent Summer Economic Statement, the council said.

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[ 5. Opening ceremony marks beginning of Paralympic Games ]

The Paralympic Games has opened with 4,350 athletes demonstrating first-hand their creed: “The heart knows no limits; everybody has a heart.”

Organisers say tickets sales have been booming. Only 200,000 had been sold a few weeks ago, but they have now sold 1.6 million. The goal is 2.4 million. This is partly a result of the reasonable prices for many tickets.

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And finally: The new IPhone: Review, full specs and Irish release date
Apple have unveiled the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which feature a redesigned case, improved camera technology and ditched the ubiquitous headphone jack in favour of using the "lightning connector" and is waterproof. Tim Cook also launched the second version of the Apple watch along with their new wireless headphones, AirPods.

Ciara O'Brien reviews the new products from Apple's launch in San Francisco.

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