The team from Belarus performs during the rhythmic gymnastics group all-around final at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull). Picture by: Gregory Bull/AP/Press Association Images.

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

#ROADS: Seven people have been seriously injured in three separate crashes overnight. Three young men, two aged 19 and one aged 20, sustained major injuries in a single vehicle crash in Togher in Cork at around 11.30pm last night; two other men were seriously injured when they car they were in crashed in Holycross Village in Tipperary at around 2.30am; and a man and a woman in their mid 20s were injured in a single vehicle collision in Gorey at around 7.30am this morning.

The AA has warned motorists to take extra care while driving today following three serious crashes in the past 12 hours.

#MARRIAGE EQUALITY: Crowds gathered Dublin’s city centre today to march to the Department of Justice in support of marriage equality. Members of the public marched for marriage equality for members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community, in an event organised by LGBT NOISE, a politically non-affliated protest organisation campaigning for equal rights.

#EBOLA: An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Uganda appears to now be under control, according to the international medical charity Medecines Sans Frontieres. There have been 19 confirmed and probable deaths due to the virus since the outbreak, but the last identified individual with a positive laboratory confirmation was one week ago, according to medical staff. If no further cases are confirmed over the next 42 days, the outbreak could be considered contained.

#CLARE: A teenage boy has been hospitalised in Galway after sustaining head injuries while while diving from a pier at the Co Clare coast. The 17-year-old was injured while diving from the pier at Kilkee, Valentia Coast Guard said.

#IRAN: Rescuers are continuing their search for survivors of two major earthquakes in north-west Iran, which has killed at least 250 people. The 6.4 and 6.3 quakes struck near Tabriz and Ahar on Saturday afternoon, causing damage to more than 100 villages in the region.

Yane Marques, of Brazil, pats her horse Over The Odds after completing the course in the equestrian show jumping stage of the women’s modern pentathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/David Goldman). Picture by: David Goldman/AP/Press Association Images.

THINGS WE LOVED:

• If the most artistic thing you’ve ever done with sand is make a sandcastle, you might want to look away now, because giant sand sculptures have returned to Dublin Castle (photos).
• It’s a weird world we live in, as these 11 bizarre items of Fifty Shades of Grey merchandise demonstrate nicely.
• Chris O’Dowd’s video blog from the set of Cuban Fury, on the Huffington Post. He even explains his method of shaking Catholic guilt for half an hour or so…

THINGS WE SHARED:

• In the USA, 53 per cent of babies born to women aged under 30 are born to single mothers – yet nearly 7 in 10 people think single mothers are a “bad thing for society”. Katie Roiphe issues a defence of single motherhood in the New York Times.
• Tax police in Italy have seen a surge in seizures (up 78 per cent in the past year) in thanks, partly, to the use of labradors trained to sniff out bank notes. The breed is said to be more “meticulous and calmer than the alsatians”… and passengers are less jumpy around them, explains the Guardian.
• This is how not to get a deer out of the house…

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