A Bosun known as ‘Pirate’ Jezz adjusts rigging on the main mast of the Tall Ship ‘Pelican’ of London, on the River Liffey in Dublin during the Tall Ship’s Race 2012 Festival stopover. Pic: Julien Behal/PA Wire/Press Association Images

THINGS WE LEARNED

#ARKLOW A body has been found by gardaí in the Avoca River during a search for missing 18-year-old Arklow man, James Sheehan. Gardaí thanked Boyne Fishermen River Rescue, who located the body, as well as the Garda Water Unit, Civil Defence and the local community for their assistance. The body has yet to be identified.

#SOUTH AFRICA A memorial service has taken place for the South African miners who were killed while on strike last week. A widow of one of the men collapsed during the service, which remembered the 34 miners killed.

#FARMERS One-in-three Irish farmers doesn’t share their problems, a new study by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy says. It said that Irish farmers hide mental health problems from their friends, which can make a bad situation worse.

#BACK TO SCHOOL An online company that sells school books has said that its backlog will be cleared by tomorrow. Schoolbooks.ie made a statement today saying that the company has hired 30 extra staff and is working 24 hours a day to deal with the problem, which was caused by a technical issue at its warehouse.

#SYRIA The UK government has warned that if Syria uses chemical weapons it would be forced to “revisit” its stance towards the country. It made the statement a day after the United States issued a similar warning to Bashar al-Assad’s government. Meanwhile, a new report from Amnesty International looks at violence, life and death in Aleppo during the current unrest.

THINGS WE LOVED

Two endangered Morelet’s crocodiles hatch from their eggs at the Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford, Oxfordshire. Pic: Tim Ireland/PA Wire/Press Association Images

• Track cycling looks a bit scary, doesn’t it? Here’s a look at what it’s like to try the high-speed sport for the first time, which handily lists out some beginners’ mistakes to avoid – such as stopping pedalling.
• David Burnett is the famed photographer behind large format shots of the Olympics. He brought his 4×5 camera to the London 2012 Olympics, where he was probably the only photographer there not working with digital. In a new blog entry, he gives a fascinating insight into being a photographer in the modern world, and whether there are limits to technology.
• Dublin-based musician and former Choice Music Prize winner Adrian Crowley has released his new single, and it’s a tearjerker. Called The Saddest Song, it had us claiming: ‘It’s just a bit of dust in my eye…’ by half way through. Sniff.

(Chemikal/Youtube)

THINGS WE SHARED

• The story of the elderly woman who decided to restore a 19th century Spanish fresco (with, er, interesting results) has gone viral – and has already become a meme. We received this image above, of a re-worked Last Supper, from reader John Murphy, with the tongue-in-cheek line “She’s at it again!”
• In 2010, Michael D Higgins went head-to-head with Tea Party supporter Michael Graham – and didn’t pull any punches when it came to giving his opinion. The clip, which went viral here in Ireland when first released, has resurfaced on an American site, Upworthy, getting a whole new set of admirers for our current President (who may have to be a little more careful with his words these days). He’s not the only one who has slammed the Tea Party, however, as we also found out.
• Are parents ever not embarrassing to their offspring? We had to chuckle when we saw this cute video of a dad ‘getting down’ to electronic music. Luckily for this hip cat, his son doesn’t seem too bothered yet. Give him a few years…
• Call us animal-mad, but there’s something a little special about this video of a deer grooming a lemur. Awww. (Via Buzzfeed)

(4u2roos/Youtube)

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