MILDLY SPICY: The Spice Girls in London today. Don’t worry, they haven’t reformed – they were promoting a new musical, Viva Forever, featuring their old hits. Pic: Ian West/PA Wire.

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

THINGS WE LEARNED

#RECORD SEIZURE: This is what 350kg – or €20m (conservative estimate) – of cocaine looks like. Its discovery in two locations in Kildare and Dublin makes it the largest-ever on-land seizure of cocaine in the history of the State.

#NO COMMENT: The Government has said it won’t comment on any possible tax changes or cutbacks ahead of the Budget. Unless it is to confirm that they won’t personally be taking a pay cut it seems, looking at these parliamentary questions. Then again, says a message to FG TDs seen by TheJournal.ie, it’s only the media who like to speculate on the contents of the Budget…

#QUINN VERSUS ANGLO: Seán Quinn – once the richest man in Ireland – has been found guilty of contempt of court for his “evasive and uncooperative” evidence and will be sentenced on Friday along with his son Seán Quinn Jnr and nephew Peter Quinn.

#EXPLOSION: A child died, one man is unaccounted for and another man is lying injured in hospital after a gas explosion in Oldham, Manchester. These pictures show how the blast decimated an entire house in the middle of a terrace.

#FIGHT CLUB: Well, not exactly. But Mick Wallace’s parliamentary assistant, who also happens to be a Wexford senior footballer, has been telling our pals at TheScore.ie about the last few weeks in the day job: “There were people threatening to fight me at times, loads of crazy stuff.”

THINGS WE LOVED

• Here’s at least one thing to love about Ireland: we have some of the cleanest air in Europe. (Do try to refrain from any comments along the lines of ‘They’ll be taxing the air next…’)
• Ever daydream about being one of those JK Rowling types who bashes out a bestselling novel in your local coffee shop? You’ll like a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research which claims that ambient noise, like that in a café, can help boost creativity. The Atlantic has broken down the study into an easy-to-read guide here. Cappuccino please, garçon.
• The title says it all: “Baby Bear cub trapped in house garage waits for Momma Bear rescue.” Also: The baby bear uses a ladder to climb down.

via RONspareAcct/Youtube

THINGS WE SHARED

This is something we’d like to share with Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness ahead of his meeting with Queen Elizabeth II tomorrow: scientists have come up with a formula for the perfect handshake. It’s used to train Chevrolet staff to deal with customers. Or random passing members of British royalty.

via ChevroletUK/Flickr

This video which shows a wedding party fall into a lake has been doing the rounds since the Huffington Post pointed out that the bridegroom immediately saves himself and leaves a bridesmaid to rescue his new wife. Good after-dinner speech material for the best man though.

via inspirationvideollc/Youtube