Five things you need to know today

1. Former OCI chief Pat Hickey allowed to leave Brazil
A court in Rio de Janeiro has ruled that Pat Hickey's passport should be returned to him and that he can leave Brazil "to treat a health problem" on condition he pay a bond to the court of one and half million Brazilian Reals (some €410,000).
It comes three months after his arrest in Rio for alleged ticket-touting at which point he temporarily stepped aside from his position as president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI).
In her deliberation, the judge said that on the grounds Mr Hickey "has no links with Brazil", she would allow him to leave to receive medical attention. She noted that there was a risk that Mr Hickey may not return to Brazil, although this needed to be balanced with health concerns.
http://iti.ms/2eIzbR2

2. Enda Kenny defends Government's approach to pay talks
Ireland must keep costs down and be competitive to face the uncertainty linked to Brexit and other international issues, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said as he defended the Government's approach to pay talks.
Mr Kenny told Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams that "we need to focus on how as a country we can best move forward" as he repeated the Government's plan to "have a co-ordinated approach by means of a well-managed strategy, to deal with the challenges we face".
http://iti.ms/2fjfjjH

3.Government plays down Brussels call for spending rise
The Government has played down the implications of a European Commission recommendation that EU countries should increase spending next year in a bid to boost the ailing European economy.
The Department of Finance said it was studying the commission's statement, but stressed the Government would continue "prudent management of the public finances . . . particularly in light of emerging challenges arising from specific external developments such as Brexit or emerging domestic pressures".
Senior sources were sceptical that the commission's change of policy would enable an expansion in public spending next year beyond what is already planned.
http://iti.ms/2eIyJSP

4. 'Reviled' priests' morale at all time low, conference hears
The diocesan priest in Ireland today was "often pitied, patronised, reviled, insulted, disrespected, ignored and resented," Fr Brendan Hoban said at the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) annual meeting in Athlone on Wednesday.
"A gale-force wind is now in our faces, it's the middle of the second half and we're 6-0 down," said Fr Hoban, a co-founder of the association.
Priests were "the equivalent of Plymouth Argyle, struggling to stay in the third division."
They were being bullied and were prone to depression with an increase in suicide rates over recent years, he added.
http://iti.ms/2fjgQGN

5. Hillary Clinton reflects on election defeat as she urges supporters to 'stay engaged'
Hillary Clinton has reflected on her US election defeat, speaking in public for the first time since she lost the election last week. She acknowledged the difficulty of the loss for her supporters and urged them to persevere through the Donald Trump era.
Speaking at the annual gala of child advocacy body the Children's Defence Fund - where Mrs Clinton started her legal career — the defeated Democratic presidential candidate encouraged her backers to "never, ever give up".
She told an audience in Washington: "I know this isn't easy. I know that over the past week a lot of people have asked themselves whether America is the country we thought it was.
"But please listen to me when I say this: America is worth it."
http://iti.ms/2fjglw5

And finally: Online reviews: how real are they? 
What you read online isn't always what you get, and while big companies try to prevent them, fake user reviews are still a problem.