Catch-up with what you've missed so far today with our lunchtime briefing

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

IRELAND

The Olympic Council of Ireland says it will defend itself to the hilt in the wake of the Rio ticket touting scandal.Journalist Jamil Chade with the Estado newspaper in Brazil, who broke the story of Mr Hickey's arrest, spoke about how the investigation is proceeding. He said: "The prosecutors just a couple of hours ago, released information pointing that they are investigating all the material they got from Mr Hickey.

The Sports Minister Shane Ross is due to return to Ireland this evening following Pat Hickey's arrest yesterday.

Michael Clifford writes that it is inevitable that the arrest of Pat Hickey in Rio de Janeiro will give rise to schadenfreude among more than a few people.

The father of a 17 year old boy who died after he fell from a bridge claims his son was bullied because he way gay.

Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae has vowed to shoot any intruder who trespasses on his property, if left with no alternative. In an interview with Hot Press magazine, the TD also said he believes that Noah’s Ark is “fact”.

GPs are calling on the HSE to revisit its plans for a roll out of new Primary Care centres.

WORLD

New smart homeshave been created in Singapore to increase the safety, privacy and independence of older people as part of a research project.

A UK student who scored 100% in each of her six mathematics exams will study in her home city - after being turned down by Oxford University.

Syrian opposition activists have released haunting footage showing a young boy rescued from the rubble in the aftermath of a devastating air strike in Aleppo.

RIO OLYMPICS

LATEST: Irish athletes will hope to bring the focus back to sport today - with Thomas Barr gunning for a medal in the 400 metres hurdles final.

LATEST: Michael Conlan was left devastated after losing an Olympic quarter-final that he and most commentators thought he had won by a decent margin. He has recovered his equilibrium in the days since but remains highly critical of the organisation and feels it needs total reform.

ANALYSIS: The charges he faces are notoriously difficult to prove and it may well be the arrests, the leaked footage and police press conference were all for the benefit of the police being seen to be doing something, writes Paul Rouse.

BANTER: Biting the medal is an iconic photo from every Olympics. The gold medal winner, with the flag draped across their shoulders sinking their teeth into the gold medal. But why do they do it?

SPORT

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal can still attract the world's best players and insists he is not scared to spend the money to recruit them.

Primetime news broadcasts busily squawked about the smoke clearing over Las Vegas as Wednesday turned to Thursday. But for Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz the airspace had also apparently cleared.

BUSINESS

The computer networking firm Cisco has confirmed it is cutting up to 5,500 jobs.

US stocks have closed barely higher as big gains for utilities balanced out losses for retailers like Lowe's, Target and Staples.

LIFESTYLE

Back in the day, having an imaginary friend was seen as problematic. Today it is viewed as cute, an imaginative and creative part of normal development, says Gwen Loughman

ANALYSIS

I see parallels between my mother’s experience... and the latest French statements banning women in burkinis, writes Roja Fazaeli

VIDEO

Jessica O’Shea hit a few high notes as she screamed with joy after getting eight higher level A1s.

VIRAL

Dave McGinn’s mother just get a smartphone for her birthday and was promptly added to the family WhatsApp group. And her reply to the cheeky "welcome to the family" message is on point.

Journalist Nader Al-Sarras was on the Berlin U-bahn on Tuesday when a fellow passenger’s tote bag with Arabic script caught his eye.

TECHNOW

GAMING: N++, the third title in the minimalist platforming N series, will be making its way to PC on August 25, more than a year after its release on PlayStation 4.

MOVIES/TV: The Big Lebowski is a classic film and a favourite for folks around the world, which is why it should never have a full on sequel.

TECH: Google recently launched Duo, a video calling app, and say that it will soon give users to ability to make audio-only calls.

SHOWBIZ

TV presenter Charlie Webster has fallen into a coma in a Rio de Janeiro hospital after contracting a rare strain of malaria.

MOST READ RIGHT NOW

The charges he faces are notoriously difficult to prove and it may well be the arrests, the leaked footage and police press conference were all for the benefit of the police being seen to be doing something, writes Paul Rouse.