An Indian potter makes earthen lamps for the upcoming Diwali festival in Allahabad, India, Friday, Nov. 9, 2012. During the festival, Hindus light lamps to signify the victory of good over evil, wear new clothes, give gifts, and sweets and offer prayers to goddess Lakshmi. Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights which will be celebrated on Nov. 13. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

THINGS WE LEARNED:

#AOIFE PHELAN: Portlaoise local Robert Corbet, 24, has been charged with the murder of Aoife Phelan – the 30-year-old au pair who had been missing since 25 October. She was four months pregnant at the time of her disappearance.

#INVESTIGATION: An investigation has been launched following the discovery of a man’s body in Cavan today. The deceased, who suffered gunshot wounds, is a former member of An Garda Síochána, according to reports.

#CHILDREN’S REFERENDUM: The Government’s website for the Children’s Referendum,ChildrensReferendum.ie, is now completely offline. A spokesperson for the Department of Children toldTheJournal.ie that the decision was made not to have the site online following yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that the site, which was published by the government in September, was in breach of the terms of the 1995 McKenna ruling.

#CYSTIC FIBROSIS: The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland has welcomed news that two clinics – the Beacon CARE Fertility Clinic in Dublin and the Cork Fertility Clinic - have been granted licences by the Irish Medicines Board to allow testing of embryos for genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis.

#PSYCHICS LIVE: Four out of five complaints upheld by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland were made against the TV3 show, ‘Psychics Reading Live’, according to details that the authority has published online.

Setting sun over Swellan Cavan. Image courtesy of Christine and Peter.

THINGS WE LOVED:

• Nate Silver is the undisputed King of Statisticians following his incredible predictions during this year’s US presidential elections… now, it’s time to meet the “Drunk Nate Silver” (via Buzzfeed).
• Someone in Dublin City Council has a cracking vocabulary and a cracking sense of humour. And they’re not afraid to use them.
• Meet three-month old Joey, who has became an internet celebrity today after this picture of him – taken just hours after open-heart surgery – went viral after being posted on Reddit. His ridiculously adorable grin has sparked a deluge of memes already, including ‘Major surgery at 3 months… Tis but a flesh wound”.

Image: goingTofu via Reddit

THINGS WE SHARED:

• How should women be looked at? Why are women’s magazines obsessed with only portraying young females, just like men’s magazine – and which does more harm? The Guardian’s Deborah Orr explores the ‘weird, fundamental’ question of female stereotypes.
• The Mayans survived a lot of things, asteroid strikes and planet-wide earthquakes among them, so what finished them off? Writing in Time magazine, Jeffery Kluger argues it something very to modern societies familiar: climate change.

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