Don’t look down… French base jumper Florian Pays leaps from Malaysia’s 421-metre high KL Tower in Kuala Lumpur today. (Photo: AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

HERE ARE THE things you need to know as we round off the day in three easy steps.

THINGS WE LEARNED

#HEALTH: Former Minister of State Róisín Shortall has accused Health Minister James Reilly of stroke politics by including two primary healthcare centres in his own constituency. In her first interview since her resignation, Shortall said Eamon Gilmore had ultimately backed James Reilly over her and said she had not been supported by the Labour party.

#NORTHERN IRELAND: A major parade by up to 30,000 unionists in Northern Ireland to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Ulster Covenant has passed off peacefully, despite fears before the event that tensions could flare along the route. The head of the PSNI said the event had been marked by “respect, enjoyment and mutual co-operation”.

#ABORTION: Up to 3,000 people are believed to have attended a pro-choice march in Dublin city centre today which called for a change to Ireland’s abortion laws. You can see photographs and video of the event here.

#DEATH: Gardaí are appealing for information after the body of a man in his 40s was discovered on a road in Donegal at around 4 o’clock this morning. A preliminary examination suggests that the man was struck by a passing car.

#RETURNED: Jeremy Forrest, a 30-year-old British  maths teacher who ran away to France with 15-year-old schoolgirl Megan Stammers, has been arrested and is being held in prison in southwest France where he is awaiting extradition. Megan Stammers is expected to be returned home today.

THINGS WE LOVED:

• Some people say that men have it easy. These people have obviously never been hit by manflu. Here, we list 13 reasons why manflu is THE WORST ILLNESS EVER AND DEFINITELY NOT MADE UP AT ALL. And if you still need a laugh after reading that – what are you, some kind of laughing addict? – the comments from readers, in which they share their own horrific stories about overcoming manflu – are definitely worth a read.
• It can be so difficult to get a good family photograph – trying to get everyone together at the same time, making sure everyone is looking at the camera, etc. Happily, these pandas from a zoo in China seem to have it completely sorted:

(Photo: ChinaFotoPress)

THINGS WE SHARED

• Oops. Iran’s official news agency today ran a story about a poll which found that Americans prefer Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Obama. Sounds strange? That’s because the agency got the information from The Onion and thought it was a real story. Doh.
• If these 18 Pictures of a Kid’s Dream Coming True from Buzzfeed don’t warm the cockles of your heart then, frankly, we don’t know what will.
• Finally, someone thought it would be a good idea to give their dog its first taste of a bitter lemon. The dog was not impressed:

(Video: brianph25/YouTube)

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