Newsround: what Wednesday's papers say

UK government plans to fast track Brexit bill and Irish ticket wins €88.5 million Euro lottery

Wednesday's papers

The top stories in Wednesday's newspapers:

THE IRISH TIMES

- The British government will introduce legislation tomorrow formally authorising Brexit negotiations after the supreme court in London ruled it cannot invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty without parliamentary approval, the paper reports on its front page.

- It also carries a story on asylum claims, reporting that more than half of all marriages in the Republic between men from outside the EU and non-Irish EU women in recent years are believed by gardaí to have been bogus.

- A political earthquake hit Germany yesterday with Sigmar Gabriel's resignation as leader of the Social Democratic Party and his proposal of ex-European Parliament president Martin Schulz as his successor - and de facto challenger to chancellor Angela Merkel in the autumn election.

- In its business supplement, the paper reports that the EU commissioner for economic and financial affairs, taxation and customs Pierre Mocovici, has rejected the government's claim that plans to consolidate corporate taxation across the EU would diminish our tax base.

FINANCIAL TIMES

- The paper also leads with Theresa May's plan to table fast-track legislation this week to keep her Brexit plan on track after suffering a defeat in the Supreme Court that ruled she could not trigger an exit from the EU without the consent of parliament.

- It also reports that a UK parliamentary report published today has found that forcing women to wear high heels at work remains a "widespread" practice in Britain and it called for a change in the law governing what employees wear in the office.

- US President Donald Trump has quickly moved to reverse another of Barack Obama's signature policies, backing two multi-billion dollar oil pipeline projects that became test cases for Washington's commitment to addressing climate change.

- In its Companies & Markets section, the paper reports that Etihad Airways chief executive, James Hogan, is to resign this year as the Abu Dhabi state airline acknowledged it needed to review its strategy of expanding its reach by buying minority stakes in airlines around the globe.

IRISH INDEPENDENT

- The paper reports than an Irish ticket was the winner of the €88.5 million Euro lottery, prompting such a frenzy after the announcement that the National Lottery's EuroMillions website crashed for a time last night.

- Unions at Bus Éireann will demand a 21 per cent pay rise for 400 school bus drivers at talks this morning but it remains unclear how the company will deal with the claim after ruling out the same pay rise for other staff.

- Plans for a new town with 3,000 homes in blocks of up to 50 metres high and office, commercial and retail space for 8,000 workers have been unveiled by Dublin City Council. The Poolbeg West planning scheme incorporates some 34 hectares of land south of the Dublin docklands beside Ringsend in Dublin.

- In its business section, the paper reports that singer Adele was the biggest draw at the Live Nation-owned 3Arena in Dublin last year as the venue clocked up €28.2 million in box office sales for the year.

IRISH EXAMINER

- Gardaí have been set targets this year to cut crime, increase victim satisfaction and improve public ratings in the first such policing demands on the organisation. The move comes as a Garda operation yesterday prevented an "imminent attack" after up to 20 firearms linked to the Kinahan crime cartel were seized.

- A nationwide security review of all airports is set to be launched amid concerns the alleged people smuggling at Dublin Airport means Ireland is "wide open to a terrorist attack", the paper reports on its front page.

- Banks should be punished for their "disgraceful" treatment of tracker mortgage customers, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said, as he told the Dáil that many borrowers had incurred considerable loss with some losing their homes as a result of the scandal.

- The slump in the value of sterling following the Brexit vote will hit the number of visitors arriving here from Britain, according to new research. The survey, for Tourism Ireland, was carried out in the UK last week and showed many Britons planning a holiday will reduce their spending or not travel at all outside the UK following the Brexit vote.