Five things you need to know today

Universal childcare payment; Note 7 users warned over fire risk; Republicans in further crisis

A woman looks at her mobile phone as she rides an escalator past an advertisement for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 device at a Samsung store in the Gangnam district of Seoul on October 11th, 2016. Samsung told customers worldwide to stop using their Galaxy Note 7 smartphones as it struggled to contain a snowballing safety crisis that threatens to derail the powerhouse global brand. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
A woman looks at her mobile phone as she rides an escalator past an advertisement for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 device at a Samsung store in the Gangnam district of Seoul on October 11th, 2016. Samsung told customers worldwide to stop using their Galaxy Note 7 smartphones as it struggled to contain a snowballing safety crisis that threatens to derail the powerhouse global brand. Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

1. Universal childcare payment to be unveiled in today's budget
All parents with children aged between six months and three years in childcare will be entitled to up to €900 in State subsidies a year, in budget measures to be announced today.

Other measures include:
-A reduction in prescription charges for the over 70s
-A packet of cigarettes is due to go up by 50 cent
-A 0.5 per cent cut in the 1 per cent, 3 per cent and 5.5 per cent rates of USC
-An increase in the inheritance tax threshold from €280,000 to €310,000 for gifts between parents and children.
-A €100 increase in the home carer's tax credit
-A €400 increase in the earned income tax credit for the self-employed

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2.Samsung warns Note 7 owners: stop using your phone
Samsung halted sales of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones and asked consumers to stop using the ones they've already purchased, another blow to South Korea's largest company as it struggles with a crisis over exploding batteries.
The firm has already recalled the Note 7 once and the latest move comes after customers reported that replacement phones were also catching fire.

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3. Top Republican Paul Ryan shies away from Donald Trump
The Republican Party plunged deeper into internal crisis yesterday after party leader Paul Ryan declared he could no longer defend Donald Trump, just hours after a vicious second presidential debate.
Mr Ryan, the party's highest-elected official and speaker of the House of Representatives, told Republicans he would not campaign for the party's presidential candidate and would instead concentrate on trying to retain the party's majorities in Congress. The Wisconsin representative stopped short of rescinding his endorsement of Mr Trump, though he has all but abandoned the businessman.

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4. Fianna Fáil says idea of State policing UK border 'implausible'
The idea of Irish ports of entry being used as proxy frontline border posts for the UK, after it leaves the EU, has met with scepticism from the Opposition.
Yesterday, Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald effectively confirmed the Government was agreeable to Irish ports and airports being used as a frontline to control immigration to Britain.
However Fianna Fáil spokesman on foreign affairs Darragh O'Brien said it should be a non-runner.
"The idea that the land border between the EU and the UK could be dealt with by giving Ireland responsibility for policing the UK border seems highly implausible," he said.

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5. Waste from fireworks factory adds to cost of regenerating St Teresa's Gardens
Hazardous waste discovered at St Teresa's Gardens in Dolphin's Barn, Dublin, has been linked to a former fireworks factory on the site.
Dublin City Council said the discovery of the waste will add to the cost of the regeneration of the dilapidated 1950s complex, which was due to be rebuilt with almost 500 new homes.

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And finally: 'Rosenburg File' exposes Nazi influence in postwar Germany
Derek Scally reports from Berlin on a study which shows West German judiciary was saturated by Nazi officials after the war.

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