A Belarusian snowboarder takes part in the comic competition ‘Californication 6.0′ as part of winter-end celebrations in Silichi. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

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

THINGS WE LEARNED

#LABOUR PAINS: Cork deputy Seán Sherlock has denied a crisis in the Labour party despite a grassroots meeting today which saw members call for an immediate change in policy and a renegotiation of the coalition’s Programme for Government.

#MADIBA: After a 10-night stay, Nelson Mandela has been discharged from hospital.

#IRAN: Another round of talks between the world’s greatest powers and Iran have ended without agreement on how to approach Tehran’s nuclear programme. Russia said the two sides had failed to find “mutual understanding” or even a time and place for further negotiations.

#DOCTORS: The Irish Medical Organisation has refused to rule out industrial action if Croke Park II proposals are implemented. The body’s members also pledged support for non-consultant hospital doctors as they fight against “deplorable conditions” in the workplace.

Speaking to the controversy which has marred the IMO over recent months, new president Dr Matt Sadlier said he is determined to learn from the mistakes of the past so they cannot happen again. He has put on hold his stipend pending an internal governance review.

#MUGGINGS: Police in Northern Ireland are investigating two separate robberies today after a new mum and an elderly woman were mugged in broad daylight.

#WINNER: The Grand National at Aintree was won by 66-1 shot Auroras Encore. All horses and riders came in safe and well after the race.

THINGS WE LOVED

(Image: STR/AP/Press Association Images)

• This man, Matt Silver-Vallance, who used 160 ordinary helium-filled party balloons to fly 3.7 miles across the Atlantic Ocean – from Nelson Mandela’s apartheid island prison to the mainland – to raise funds for a South African children’s hospital. It took the 37-year-old about an hour to complete the journey. He then took a much-deserved, five-hour recovery sleep. Go say well done to him on Twitter, you’ll find him at @BalloonBloke.

(Image: Matt Dunham/AP/Press Association Images)

• PILLOW FIGHT! A coordinated set of pillow fights took place across the world’s biggest cities today. The organisers of the London event (above) said there were only two rules: Don’t hit anyone with a camera and don’t hit anyone without a pillow.

• Real-life Corrie weddings! Helen Worth, who plays Gail Platt in the British soap, was greeted by well-wishers at St James Church in London today before her wedding to Trevor Dawson.

THINGS WE SHARED

• Did you know the winner of this year’s BBC Mastermind quiz is Irish?
• Grace Dent’s column in The Independent yesterday says Mrs Justice Thirlwall was one woman Mick Philpott could not control, impregnate, strike – or defeat.
• Enjoy these 18 breathtaking shots of Cork and Kerry by landscape photographer Norman McCloskey. We did.
• Darren Mooney’s examination of Hollywood’s treatment of mental illness in film got us thinking.
• More amazing insights from Astronaut Chris Hadfield: Tears don’t fall in space.

(YouTube: Canadian Space Agency)

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