Sunset seen over mountains in Sochi, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. Temperatures in the mountains on Sunday is 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit). (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

HERE ARE THE things we learned, loved and shared today.

THINGS WE LEARNED:

#GARDA STATIONS: At least 1,500 people gathered to demonstrated against the closure of Stepaside Garda Station in south Dublin today. The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter released a statement in response, reiterating his assurance that the closure of the station would not result in fewer Gardaí on patrol in the area.

#HOSPITALS: The Health Minister Dr James Reilly has been called upon to explain why Wexford General Hospital was recently granted an upgrade despite it not being listed as a “priority” facility in the HSE Capital Plan. Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on Health, Billy Kelleher TD, said Reilly needed to make an “immediate statement to clarify why Wexford General Hospital was fast-tracked for upgrade”.

#INVESTIGATION: Gardaí in Gort are continuing to investigate the alleged abduction of property developer Kevin Michael McGeever, following the bizarre disappearance and reappearance of the 68-year-old. The businessman, who had been reported missing in May last year, was found on a Leitrim roadside on Tuesday in ill-health, with no shoes, and the word ‘thief’ etched into his forehead.

#TASERED: A man was tasered by police outside Buckingham Palace in London today, after he began shouting and brandishing a knives –  holding one to this own throat – during the Changing of the Guard.

#INDIA: India’s President today approved harsher punishments for rapists, including the death penalty, after a brutal gang-rape in New Delhi sparked national outrage and triggered demands for tougher laws. Under the changes, the minimum sentence for gang-rape, rape of a minor, rape by policemen or a person in authority will be doubled to 20 years from 10 and can be extended to life without parole.

Spring is here: a chicken rummages for food amongst snowdrop and aconite flowers at Hopton Hall, Derbyshire. (Rui Vieira/PA Wire)

THINGS WE LOVED:

• Check out Twitter activity all over the world – in real time – with global dashboard Tweetping.  (Note: it’s a little bit mind-blowing.)
• We can’t stop looking at these beautiful hyper-realistic portraits by Spanish artist Rubén Belloso Adorna.
• There are 17 amazing things that we wouldn’t have without the internet. Thank you, internet. (We can’t live without existential cat videos – don’t try to make us.)

THINGS WE SHARED:

• The daughter of a woman who was taken into the Magdalene Laundries system when she was just two years ago – and died in the institution 49 years later – has told her birth mother’s story on Twitter, saying: “Margaret died in July 2003, one day before her 51st birthday. She died of her slave related injuries”. The publication of a report into the level of State involvement at the now-infamous institutions is due this Tuesday.
• In Maryland, USA, the Prince George’s County Board of Education is proposing a copyright policy that would see the school system take ownership of staff and student work. There has been some criticism of the idea, which could mean that anything from drawings by primary school pupils, to apps created by teenagers, to lesson plans made by teachers become the intellectual property of the school.
• Ever wondered why they took the cocaine out of Coke? It’s not the reason you might expect.

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