South Korean mock victims lie on the floor as part of an annual drill preparing for a bio-chemical attack in Seoul today. More than 8,400 people participated in the drill. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

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

THINGS WE LEARNED

#APOLOGY: The Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise has apologised to the parents of an 8-year-old boy who died just 18 hours after being discharged from its Emergency Department suffering from chicken pox. The HSE confirmed today that a settlement has been made with the family of Richard De Souza, who died from toxic shock after developing a secondary streptococcal infection.

#FOUND: Ten years after she disappeared, Ohio kidnap victim Amanda Berry has returned to her family home, as police say they are preparing to charge the men involved in the kidnap of three women. In a brief statement, Amanda Berry’s sister requested privacy and thanked the public for its support over the decade.

#DOCTORS: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has promised that the Government is still going to go ahead with plans to bring in free GP care for everyone, despite reports suggesting otherwise. The Department of Health said legislation to bring in the new scheme had proved more complex than anticipated, and that junior minister Alex White is to carry out a full appraisal of the scheme and report back to Cabinet with his findings.

#GENDER GAP: Boys are more likely than girls to bunk off school and not do their homework, but still significantly out-perform girls when it comes to maths, according to a major ESRI study into children in Ireland. Boys are also far more likely than girls to say that they dislike school which, the ESRI says, raises concern over boys’ engagement with education.

#RENT: A new database will reveal the actual rents being paid for houses and apartments across the country as opposed to the amount of rent being asked for the first time. The ESRI has compiled the database based on information from the Private Residential Tenancies Board.

#FERGIE: Rumours abound about who will take over the position of Manchester United manager after Alex Ferguson announced today that he will bring his 27-year reign at Old Trafford to an end on 19 May.

THINGS WE LOVED

It’s that time of year: reader James Murray of Stilpix.ie sent us in this gorgeous photo of pink blossoms covering the outside area at a pub on Haddington Road in Dublin. (Got any pics you’d like to send our way? Get in touch: tips@thejournal.ie)

• This heartbreaking image from the collapse of the garment factory in Bangladesh has been described by Time Magazine as the most haunting photograph taken from the scene. It’s hard to disagree.
• So this is both awkward and hilarious. Someone has set up this site called Textastrophe on which they publish their text message exchanges with people who have posted their phone number in a public place. Our favourite is the fairly epic exchange with a man who provides Man Caves.

THINGS WE SHARED

• As a dyed-in-the-wool Dubliner I’m almost loathe to link to this, but what the hell: The Daily Edge has managed to somehow come up with 11 reasons why Cork might actually be better than Dublin. Clearly all 11 reasons are entirely bogus and the person who wrote the article is going to be fired shortly.

• So given that you’re on the internet right now, odds are that you’ve spent at least a few minutes flicking through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Wikipedia, YouTube or any of the other many, many sites which you probably end up spending time on during the day. This video takes a look at what exactly the internet is doing to our brains, and how our ability to learn, concentrate and remember things is diminished by the way that we use the internet (and before you ask: don’t worry – it’s a short video, so you can get back to browsing afterwards):

(Video: Epipheo/YouTube)