A glance at the week that was
We now know
The University of South Carolina has developed a sociology course dedicated to the life and work of the pop star Lady Gaga.
Neanderthals were more promiscuous than modern humans, according to a study of fossil finger bones by researchers at the University of Liverpool.
George W Bush regards the moment Kanye West labelled him a racist during a Hurricane Katrina benefit campaign as the lowest point of his presidency.
The numbers
6,600
The number of people who stopped receiving unemployment benefit in October.
69
The number of people Ireland surrendered to other European Union countries on foot of arrest warrants last year.
56
The percentage of voters that rejected a proposition which would have made California the first US state to legalise marijuana for recreational use
Young mum
A 10-year-old girl from Romania has given birth in Spain, posing a dilemma for officials deciding whether the mother can keep custody.
The baby’s grandmother said she was shocked at the attention the case was generating as she and her daughter are Roma gypsies, whose custom is to allow girls to marry young even though it is illegal in Romania.
Having consensual sex with someone under the age of 13 is classified as child abuse under Spanish law. However, officials said this case was complicated as the alleged father is still in Romania and is also a minor.
Electronic eye
A man with an inherited form of blindness has been able to read letters and tell the time after surgeons fitted him with an electronic chip to restore his vision. Miikka Terho, 46, from Finland, had an implant placed behind his retina during a six-hour operation and was able to discern objects within days.
The chip, which is connected to a battery worn as a necklace, works by converting light that enters the eye into electrical impulses which are fed into the optic nerve behind the eye.
The red paint . . . is symbolic of the blood that Harney, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have on their hand
Former Sinn Féin councillor Louise Minihan after dousing the Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, in red paint on Monday
