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1. Chelsea Manning to be released from prison
US president Barack Obama yesterday largely commuted the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the army intelligence analyst convicted of an enormous 2010 leak that revealed American military and diplomatic activities across the world, disrupted the administration, and made WikiLeaks famous.
The decision by Mr Obama rescued Ms Manning, who twice tried to commit suicide last year, from an uncertain future as a transgender woman incarcerated at the male military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
She has been jailed for nearly seven years, and her 35-year sentence was by far the longest punishment ever imposed in the US for a leak conviction.
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[ Elderly left in hospital to shelter inheritance, claims HSE chief ]
Families are leaving elderly relatives in hospital beds rather than sending them to a nursing home in order to protect their inheritance, claims the HSE’s senior legal adviser.
In some cases, according to HSE head of legal services Eunice O’Raw, the wider family wants to avoid having the patient’s assets used to fund a nursing home place through the Fair Deal scheme.
In addition, many farming families keep relatives in hospital in order to avoid financial penalties, she told HSE director general Tony O’Brien in an email last May.
3. Donald Trump fighting all the way to the Oval Office
He has picked fights with a civil rights hero and a Hollywood icon, compared the alleged practices of the US intelligence agencies he will soon command to those of Nazi Germany, described the decades-old Nato security alliance as "obsolete" and criticised a long-time US ally, German chancellor Angela Merkel.
This is all before Donald Trump has sworn the presidential oath and become the 45th president of the United States.
Simon Carswell reports on Mr Trump days before his inauguration.
[ Michelle O’Neill seen as likely successor if McGuinness retires ]
Those interested in Stormont affairs couldn't help but notice the high profile accorded by Sinn Féin to its Minister of Health Michelle O'Neill during the "cash-for-ash" crisis.
It prompted speculation that if Martin McGuinness were to decide not to stand in Foyle because of his illness – or even retire from politics – that she could be a likely successor.
Certainly, people have been talking about how, over recent weeks, the 40-year-old Co Tyrone woman has been to the forefront in arguing and defending Sinn Féin’s position.
[ Irish researchers make stem-cell cancer breakthrough ]
Irish-led researchers have found a way to make it potentially easier to kill off tumour cells and make radiotherapy more effective for people with oesophageal cancer.
There are about 390 new cases of oesophageal cancer in Ireland a year, and a similar number of deaths. It is extremely difficult to treat, as the majority of patients are resistant to treatment.
Incidence of the disease is also soaring worldwide, rising by 600 per cent over the past 30 years.