Jason Lamy Chappuis of France soars through the air during his training jump at the Nordic Combined World Cup competition in Seefeld, Austria earlier today. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

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

THINGS WE LEARNED

#ALGERIA: The hostage crisis in Algeria appears to have come to a conclusion with 18 people said to have been killed in a final battle between Islamist militants and the Algerian army. The number includes seven hostages with British Foreign Secretary William Hague saying this evening that five Britons are unaccounted for.

#ABORTION: An estimated 25,000 have attended a pro-life rally in Dublin today with the Vigil for Life hearing from, among others, the Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte. A smaller, counter demonstration also took place today.

#LABOUR: It appears the internal strife in Labour is over after the party chairman Colm Keaveney declared himself satisfied with the outcome of a meeting of the party’s executive board today. He is to remain as party chair despite voting against the Budget last month.

#BORDER POLL: Sinn Féin has called on governments here and in the North to set a date for a so-called border poll to determine the status of Northern Ireland. Party president Gerry Adams said that in the event of a united Ireland those who class themselves as British would not be affected.

#HMV: Sit-ins at HMV stores in Limerick have come to an end this evening as staff expect to be paid next week following an agreement with the receiver. Earlier sit-in protests began in stores in Cork and Tallaght.

#LANCE: The fallout from Lance Armstrong’s two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey this week continued today as the journalist who pursued him for many years, David Walsh, said he’d accept an apology from the disgraced former cyclist while Armstrong’s former masseuse, Dubliner Emma O’Reilly, says she would be prepared to meet him.

THINGS WE LOVED

• These actors who could play the main characters in the Lance Armstrong movie.
• We love and admire the sterling work of the Wicklow Mountain Rescue who got five cars out of difficulties in the Sally Gap and surrounding areas overnight. Here are some more pictures of the recovery operations.
• This timely and powerful ad from the ISPCA that was in today’s Irish Examiner:

Pic: @gavreilly

THINGS WE SHARED

• This interesting article in the New York Times which details how President Barack Obama might go about picking his next ambassadors, featuring Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
• This dramatic video of a botched assassination attempt on a Turkish-Bulgarian politician earlier today.
• This inevitable video of a ‘horse’ going to Tesco:

YouTube: motodeemer

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