A satellite image of Sandy is shown at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012. Picture by: Alan Diaz/AP/Press Association Images.

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

THINGS WE LEARNED:

#RED C: Fine Gael are enjoying a rise in support, according to a Red C poll to be published in tomorrow’s Sunday Business Post. However, the party’s coalition partner Labour has seen a drop off in support – with one third of Labour voters saying they were “losing faith” with the party.

#HOUSEHOLD CHARGE: Mayo Country Council has come under fire today after becoming the first local authority to issue court summonses over the non-payment of the household charge. A number of court dates have been set for the coming weeks, according to the Irish Daily Star, which Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley has condemned as “bully boy tactics” by the council.

#SAVLIE: As the Catholic Church looks to strip Jimmy Savile of his papal knighthood and the first anniversary of the late TV presenter’s death approaches, his family have issued a statement addressing the recent “firestorm” of allegations against him. Savile’s nephew Roger Foster said the family’s despair “does not compare to that felt by the victims” and the family’s sympathy and understanding was with them. “We can understand their reluctance to say anything earlier and can appreciate the courage it has taken to speak out now,” he added.

#SYRIA: Hopes for a halt to violence in Syria over the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha lay in tatters today as fighting raged, war planes targeted Aleppo and some 146 people were reported killed on one of the most sacred holidays in Islam.

#REWIND: Prepare yourselves for an extra-long morning lie-in: the clocks go back an hour at 2am on Sunday morning, when “Winter Time” commences.

THINGS WE LOVED:

• Anyone who’s ever played peek-a-boo with a child will understand that adorable, illogical notion all children seem to reach: if I cover my eyes, you can’t see me. Researchers at the University of Cambridge decided to dig a little deeper into why – almost universally – children believe this. They found that even very young children draw a distinction between the ‘body’ and the ‘self‘ – and think that unless two people’s eyes actually meet, they haven’t really “seen” each other. Deep.
• Being brought back to those golden Saturday mornings of our childhood – aka ‘two-bowls-of-cereal-in-pyjamas-and-cartoon-time’.
• Jiff , the happiest dog ever… because there’s something wrong with you if you don’t love him. Seriously.

Via Jiff’s Facebook page

THINGS WE SHARED:

• Alice Dreger, a professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, asks why the sex lives of conjoined twins seems to fascinate the ‘single’ world so thoroughly.
• Richard Herman from Middlesex was fed up getting cold called by marketing companies – in that he’s no different to the rest of us. However, he did something very special – and very unusual: he successfully claimed back the cost of his time from a firm that refused to leave him alone, according to the BBC. He’s officially our new hero.
• While the rest of her friends are busy getting married or having babies, Laura Price frankly describes how it feels to be battling breast cancer as she turns 30 – and the curious positivity it’s instilled inside her.

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