Seven Days

A glance at the week that was

“The Irish government could not conceivably go against the advice of its [eurozone] partners and its central bank" - Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan

We now know

Stephen Fry is to appear in the Irish-language soap opera Ros na Rún.

Overweight people have a better sense of smell than thinner people, according to research at the University of Portsmouth.

An exploding star spotted 30 years ago appears to be a newborn black hole, say astronomers.

The numbers

10,000 - The number of North Koreans who defected to South Korea over the past three years.

€33.85m - The record-breaking price paid for a rare 24.78-carat pink diamond at an auction in Geneva.

5 - The number of Beatles albums in the US top 20 within 24 hours of the band’s catalogue being released on iTunes.

One happy kid

Only children are happier than those with brothers or sisters, according to research showing that sibling rivalry can negatively affect children’s well-being.

The study, conducted by the University of Essex, surveyed 2,500 young people as part of an initiative that tracked 100,000 people in 40,000 homes across the UK.

Researchers found that more than half of children with siblings reported cases of bullying, less privacy and competition for parental attention, suggesting that happiness declines the more siblings there are in a household.

Morrison 'injustice'

Florida governor Charlie Crist wants to pardon Jim Morrison of The Doors for two convictions against which the rock star was appealing when he died, in 1971.

On Tuesday Crist said he would ask the state’s clemency board to pardon Morrison for the profanity and indecent exposure charges following a 1969 concert in Miami. “The more I’ve read about the case, and the more I get briefed on it, the more convinced I am that maybe an injustice has been done.”