EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of the day’s biggest news stories, as well as the bits and pieces you may have missed.

• Amid a storm of controversy Senator David Norris announced today that his presidential race is over before it even began. Delivering a statement on the steps of his Dublin home, he said that it had been a “most wonderful experience despite the trauma and energy expended”. He said that the motivation to write a letter pleading clemency for his friend and former partner Ezra Yizhak Nawi was “out of love and concern”, but conceded that his actions were wrong. He has said that he will be staying on as Senator, even if his presidential dream is over.
• Norris’ political colleagues have been giving their reaction today. Presidential hopeful Michael D. Higgins paid tribute to the grace of Norris’ statement, while Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly, who had been supporting the senator’s campaign, said that he agreed it was the right decision to step down. Higgins, along with Senator Mark Daly, earlier moved to clarify that a motion in support if Ezra Nawi which he seconded in 2009 was purely a “human rights issue”. Both men said they had no knowledge of Nawi’s previous conviction for statutory rape.
• You can listen to David Norris’ statement in full here, or read it here. He arrived in a car outside his home to make the statement… here’s the story in pictures.

In today’s other news…

• An An Post official, his partner and his child were abducted from their home last night in a tiger kidnapping. The official was brought to the post office on West Street in Drogheda this morning and then brought a sum of money to a specific location. The man’s partner and child were released without harm.
• A sovereign debt default has been avoided in the US after a hard-fought bill that will raise the country’s debt ceiling was passed today. US president Barack Obama has said that the bill is the first step to ensuring that American lives within its means.
• A woman has been charged and named in connection with a fatal stabbing in Galway last night. The body of a 59-year-old man was found in Salthill last night. Maura Thornton, 30, has been charged with his murder.
• It’s emerged that more the 100 HSE staff are calling in sick every day at University Hospital Galway – that’s almost twice the national average.
• Remember the guy who threw the shaving-foam pie at Rupert Murdoch a couple of weeks back? He’s been sentenced to six weeks in prison.
• The controversial Player’s Lounge pub has been gutted by fire following an armed robbery in the early hours of this morning. The pub, which is in Fairview in Dublin, has been the scene of a shooting in the past.
• “There was no let up as he put me through a gruelling two-and-a-half hours, at one point querying my knowledge of the sex life of my parents”… Read one woman’s account of being told by her husband of 13 years that he wanted their marriage annulled, and being questioned by the Catholic Church’s Tribunal Office.
• Police in Louisiana in the US have arrested a 28-year-old man after he allowed his eight-year-old son to drive him home, because he was drunk. The man’s four-year-old daughter was also in the car.
• Kings of Leon fans will be glad to hear that the band are not splitting up. They’ve pulled their entire North American tour after an onstage meltdown in Dallas at the weekend, but say they just need to regroup. Another band who are a little more together at the moment are the Foo Fighters, who are streaming a feature-length documentary based on a tour they did recently – in their fans’ garages. You can watch the while thing here:

• And finally, what a difference a day makes. The Line Ireland asked people yesterday what they felt about what David Norris should do…

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