Seven days

A glance at the week that was

Need a tissue?

An Italian man has sneezed out a bullet after being shot in the head. Darco Sangermano was taken to hospital in Naples after being hit by a stray bullet during the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. The bullet, which passed behind his right eye and lodged in his nostril, did not cause serious damage and the 28-year-old is expected to make a full recovery. Doctors believe the bullet had sufficiently slowed down upon impact, which saved his life.

Out of their tree

A flock of birds believed to have died from avian flu in Romania had in fact drank themselves to death. When dozens of dead starlings were found on the outskirts of Constanta in eastern Romania last Saturday, locals contacted authorities, fearing the birds had died from avian flu. However, veterinarians determined that the starlings had died from alcohol poisoning as a result of feasting on marc, the leftovers used in the wine-making process.

We now know

Actor Michael Douglas says his tumour is gone, six months after he was diagnosed with throat cancer

Astronomers have discovered the smallest planet outside our solar system, known as Kepler 10b

India’s first fighter jet, the Tejas, has been declared fit to fly 26 years after its conception

1,993

The number of health service personnel who have accepted voluntary redundancy and early retirement packages

15The percentage that tourism in Ireland fell by during 2010

€300,000

The minimum cost of insuring David Beckham’s proposed loan move to Tottenham Hotspur, according to broker CBG Group.

"I'm afraid that when I stop playing, the inner fat person in me will be revealed"

Irish rugby captain Brian O’Driscoll on the subject of retirement