A glance at the week that was
The numbers
€41.96mThe cost of the Moriarty Tribunal, according to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
250The number of products Tesco increased the price of this year before reducing them for a campaign launched on Monday.
32The percentage of incorrectly labelled fish sold in Irish chippers, according to the Food Safety Authority.
90The percentage of drivers breaking the speed limit along Dublin's quays, according to research by Continental Tyres.
£ 20mThe amount tour operator Thomas Cook estimates it lost because of political unrest in Egypt and Tunisia.
20
The number of years for which Google will face privacy audits after a ruling that Google Buzz wrongly used users’ information.
We now know
Alain “Spiderman” Robert has scaled the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.
Liam Neeson has become the first Irish person to be appointed a Unicef goodwill ambassador.
John le Carré has asked to be withdrawn from the Man Booker International Prize, saying he doesn’t compete for literary awards.
England' sweethearts
Pez, the Austrian confectionery company, has created candy dispensers in the likeness of Prince William and Kate Middleton ahead of their royal wedding next month. Fans can bid on the figurines on eBay from next Thursday until April 17th, with proceeds going to a charity supported by the couple. Unlike other Pez models, they will not dispense sweets through their mouths. “The whole head bends back,” a spokeswoman said.
Follow that snake
As keepers at the Bronx Zoo’s reptile house continue to search for a missing venomous Egyptian cobra, a tongue-in-cheek Twitter user posing as the snake has amassed more than 220,000 followers. Citing the cast of the film Madagascar as inspiration, BronxZoosCobra takes its audience on a virtual tour of New York, providing updates such as: “Leaving Wall Street. These guys make my skin crawl.” The snake was also quoted as saying: “I just want Justin Bieber to follow me.”
