A riot police officer holds a non-lethal baton gun after Loyalist protesters attacked police lines, in east Belfast. (Photo: Paul Faith/PA Wire)

HERE ARE THE things we learned, loved and shared today.

THINGS WE LEARNED

#NORTHERN IRELAND: Sixteen police officers have been injured today in some of the most serious clashes in Northern Ireland since the outbreak of violence in December. PSNI officers used a water cannon to break up the disorder as loyalists and nationalists held a stand-off in east Belfast.

#EUROLEAKS: The Irish government is worried that there could be a mass boycott of the soon-to-be-introduced water charges, according to a draft document prepared by the European Commission.

#SAVILE: More than 50 victims of Jimmy Savile are to pursue compensation claims against the BBC, the National Health Service and other organisations in Britain after being sexually abused by the late broadcaster, a lawyer representing the victims said today.

#CRASH: A member of An Garda Síochána has been hospitalised after a Garda van collided with a Dublin Bus on the way to an incident in the early hours of this morning.

#RESCUE: Seven people were rescued from Dublin Bay after their yacht caught fire shortly after leaving Dún Laoghaire harbour earlier today. Separately, a kite surfer who became separated from his board was also rescued from the water near the South Bull Wall area of Dublin.

#ENGLAND: Two men who were stabbed to death in a busy city centre in England last night were both Big Issue sellers, the magazine has confirmed. A 23-year-old man was arrested minutes after the fatal attack in Birmingham city centre and remains in custody tonight.

#NICE TRY: So almost 35,000 people signed a petition asking the White House to build a Death Star – but as the White House pointed out, it would cost an estimated $850 quadrillion…

THINGS WE LOVED

• Why are Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams practising their Gangnam Style moves on the court ahead of the Australian Open championships? No idea (you had to be there) but this photo tickled our funny bone.
• Remember Sash, that 1990s DJ who was the creator of such pan-European monosyllabic monster hits as ‘Encore Une Fois’ and ‘Ecuador’? Well, he’s back – and he’s playing in Athlone, Navan AND Tullamore next week. We’re still holding out for the Eiffel 65 reunion, to be honest…
• Araucaria is a 91-year-old crossword setter who has been making puzzles for the Guardian for more than 50 years – so when he wanted to let his readers know that he was dying of cancer, he decided to do it through a crossword.

THINGS WE SHARED

• Hey, what ever happened to Gunther from Friends? And Janice from Friends? And Tag from er, Friends? Prepare to be able to astound your friends, colleagues and victims by telling them where the supporting characters of Friends are now. Thanks for sating a curiosity we didn’t even know we had, Buzzfeed.
• So this happened: Quentin Tarantino was on Graham Norton last night and was shown the Pulp Fiction Kerry Shtyle video where John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson’s characters in Pulp Fiction are dubbed rather amazingly with broad Kerry accents. What did Quentin Tarantino make of it? He liked it a lot:

(Video: Nirzenra/YouTube)

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