A man jumps from a diving board into a swimming pool on a hill overlooking Kabul in Afghanistan today. The swimming pool built by the Soviets more than 30 years ago has rarely been used. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

HERE ARE THE things we learned, loved and shared today as we round off the day in three easy steps.

THINGS WE LEARNED

#ABORTION: Ireland can expect roughly 100 maternal deaths over the next decade and of these, just two or three could be affected by the proposed abortion legislation – that’s according to a doctor from a Limerick hospital who was speaking at the first day of the Oireachtas hearings on the planned new laws. We’ve been liveblogging the hearings all day and you can catch up here.

#PENALTY POINTS: Independent TD Mick Wallace says allegations made against him by justice minister Alan Shatter on live television last night are a “serious abuse of the Minister’s powers” and that he is lodging a formal complaint. Shatter alleged that Wallace had been cautioned for driving while using a mobile phone but had avoided penalty points – but Wallace says he has no idea what Shatter was referring to. The TD says Shatter’s comments were in breach of the legally binding code of conduct for public representatives.

#TEACHERS: Primary school teachers have voted to go on strike if the government decides to make cuts to their pay. The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation said its members had not taken the action lightly. The union also agreed to accept an invitation to attend talks at the Labour Relations Commission over pay.

#MADELEINE MCCANN: British police have identified a handful of “people of interest” as part of the investigation into the disappearance of 3-year-old Madeleine McCann from Portugal in May 2007. Scotland Yard said a review of the case had brought up new leads which will be explored further.

#SEXUAL ASSAULT: A man in his 60s has been arrested in Waterford over allegations of sexual assaults which took place in the 1980s.

#MAGDALENES: The Justice for Magdalenes group has announced it is to end its political campaign, saying it believes it has achieved all it can by way of political advocacy. The group, which began in 2009, had campaigned for an apology from the Irish State and a compensation scheme for survivors.

THINGS WE LOVED

(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

• This looks inexplicably appealing. People stick their heads out from holes in a large piece of fabric as part of an exhibition in Hong Kong today. Hopefully no-one farted.
• Over the course of 10 days in November 1983, the United States and the Soviet Union nearly started a nuclear war over a military exercise – something that was kept quiet for almost 30 years and only came out in newly declassified documents over the past few days. This piece from Wired notes that a single false alarm or miscalculation could easily have brought on Armageddon.
• Not to make you feel like an underachiever or anything, but here’s the story of an 8o-year-old who wants to become the oldest man to climb Mount Everest.

Well that’s… ginormous. The art work, called ‘Untitled’ is on display at a museum in Berlin from today. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber).

THINGS WE SHARED

• You’ve seen Sean Combs (aka P Diddy, aka Puff Daddy) in Downton Abbey, right? RIGHT? Even if you don’t like the period drama, this is still funny. Best bit: when he rejects (and then accepts) the advances of Thomas. Or maybe when he tries to get Lady Grantham and Mrs Crawley to kiss.
• This poor deer crashed through the front window of a city bus in Pennsylvania and then panicked when it couldn’t get out. Don’t worry though: in an article accompanying the piece, a local newspaper quotes a spokesperson for the bus company who said that the deer managed to just walk off the bus after the driver opened the doors. Phew.

(Video: TribuneDemocrat/YouTube)