EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you our essential roundup of the day’s big stories – plus any other bits and pieces you may have missed…

• Enda Kenny has declined to take part in a live TV debate on the referendum with Gerry Adams, while also playing down expectations for a “growth summit” of EU leaders. You can catch up on all the day’s developments in our full Referendum Roundup, coming in an hour’s time.
• Newly-minted French president Francois Hollande’s plane has been hit by lightning on its way to Berlin. Meanwhile, we’ve been telling you how to become French president in 7 easy steps.
• Former presidential candidate Seán Gallagher has drawn parallels between his treatment by RTÉ in the wake of ‘Twittergate’ and the experience of Fr Kevin Reynolds.
• Greece will hold a second round of elections after last-ditch talks to form a coalition government were abandoned today amid fears over the country’s future in the eurozone.
• After Leo Varadkar criticised signs of ‘Irishness’ on taxis as “inherently racist” in the wake of the green light controversy, this was one taxi driver’s response.

Look, no hands! Mamoru Mohri demonstrates Honda’s new robot UNI-CUB in Tokyo – swaying your body from side to side is all you need to do to turn, rotate full circle and zip around on the Uni-Cub, which looks a bit like a floating car seat. Honda said Uni-Cub is not dangerous to pedestrians even if it crashes. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

• If you were thinking of investing in Facebook, bad news – the social media giant has hiked the price of its shares ahead of its IPO this week.
• Jacob and Sophia are now the most popular baby names in the US. Here’s how they match up to the Irish baby-name rankings.
• Denis O’Brien’s spokesman has hit out at the Sunday Independent – whose parent company he owns a significant stake in – saying it engaged in “one of the most biased campaigns ever waged” against him.
• “What will we dress up as at the Eurovision, John?” “Tubs of popcorn, Edward.”
• Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks will face criminal charges over the phone hacking scandal.
• A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle three kilos of cocaine inside the cushion of his wheelchair.
• And finally: if YOU were a roving gang of puppies, and you ran across a skateboard – wouldn’t you try it out? Rad.

YouTube/amonroy985

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More