A police officer walks past a graffiti during a police operation in the Nova Holanda slum, part of the Complexo da Mare, in Rio de Janeiro. The police operation aimed to capture an alleged looter, who according to police killed an officer after a peaceful protest Monday night. At least seven people died and two suspects were captured during Tuesday’s operation, according to the police. Pic: AP Photo/Felipe Dana

HERE ARE THE things we learned, loved and shared today as we round off the day in three easy steps.

THINGS WE LEARNED

#ANGLO The gardaí have had the Anglo tapes for over four years, said Taoiseach Enda Kenny today, adding that forthcoming laws setting up an Oireachtas inquiry system would be adequate to deal with an investigation into the affairs of Anglo. Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said he is “shocked” by the tapes, while Minister Brendan Howlin is “personally sickened”. Meanwhile, an Irish MEP said his Twitter account was hacked, leading to a tweet telling Anglo to ‘f**k off’, while we looked at how the world has covered the Anglo Tapes story.

#SPECIAL NEEDS Education Minister Ruairí Quinn announced today that special needs education cuts are to be reversed, while a working group will be established to review the provision of special education. Also today, agreement was secured to release 500 additional teaching posts to schools in September to deal with the demand for extra resource hours.

#INVESTIGATION A garda investigation has been opened after a man in his early 50s was found dead inside a car after it went on fire in the eastbound lane of the M4 motorway in Westmeath, around one kilometre from Kinnegad. The incident occurred on Monday afternoon, gardaí said.

#SEX There has been a ‘dramatic’ increase in STIs in Dublin in just 12 months, the Dublin Well Woman Centre has said. It has seen a 72 per cent increase in the number of cases of genital herpes diagnosed at its centre. Over the same period cases of chlamydia jumped by more than one third, and it is now at its second highest rate in the past ten years.

#SNOWDEN The latest on Edward Snowden is that he is in the transit area of Moscow Airport – and Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the sooner he leaves Moscow, the better for all. He also said that Russia has no extradition agreement with the US in Snowden’s case, and that Snowden did not cross state borders so does not need a visa.

#INDIA An Indian journalist has defended the fact he filed a TV report while sitting on the shoulders of a flood survivor. Narayan Pargaien of News Express said that the criticism he has faced is unfair, and that the man had hoisted him onto his shoulders as a sign of respect. Around 1,000 people have died and tens of thousands of people have had to flee due to intense flooding in India’s Uttarakhand state.

THINGS WE LOVED

• Want to meet a guinea pig who makes stew, lifts weights and mows the lawn? Here he is.
• Aodhán Ó Ríordáin was very proud of his first Oireachtas Committee report, which was published today. We’re sure his Mammy was too.
  

• Who doesn’t love Stephen Fry? The actor, comic and writer has written another searingly honest blogpost about his mental health, and the impact it has on his life.
• Did you see the video of this Egyptian statue that mysteriously started spinning… inside a class case at a museum? We love a good mystery.

(Luke Lovelock/YouTube)

THINGS WE SHARED

• These totally fantastical television sets make us wish the penchant for flatscreen TVs was over.
• When shoppers are outraged about working conditions abroad, do they actually do something – like boycott certain stores – or is it just  talk? This BBC article finds out.
• This fascinating video of a racism experiment carried out with children in an American school is most certainly worth a watch. (Via Upworthy)

(LudwingMedia/YouTube)

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