EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of the day’s main news as well as the bits and pieces that you may have missed on this bank holiday Saturday…

• With still no resolution in the industrial dispute between Aer Lingus and the pilots’ union IALPA it is now likely that pilot strikes will go ahead on Tuesda y,causing disruption to some 30,000 air passengers.
• A man mooted as a possible replacement for Osama bin Laden at the top of Al Qaeda has been killed by a US drone strike in Pakistan. Ilyas Kashmiri was seen as one of the five most wanted militant leaders who had been hiding out in Pakistan.
• The refusal of well-known Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae to resign from a state board has led to proposals to ban all sitting Oireachtas members from the board of the Citizens Information Board. But this will not apply retrospectively so Healy-Rae will retain his position with the quango.
• It has emerged that the cost of special advisers to cabinet ministers is around €2.5 million per year with it so far confirmed that most advisors earn over €80,000 per year with others on as much as €168,000 a year.
• A former EU delegation leader was employed as an advisor to former Foreign Affairs minister Micheál Martin, despite the fact that Michael Semple had been expelled from Afghanistan over accusations he held direct talks with the Taliban. This is according to new Wikileaks documents published in the Irish Independent today.
• Solicitor Denis McMahon, who allegedly kept the funds from a sex abuse case settlement from his client, has been told to hand over the cheques and the case file to the Law Society. The High Court heard evidence yesterday suggesting that McMahon had told a “positive untruth” to his client who had sought damages from a religious institution for sex abuse when he was a child.
• A boy in China was so desperate to get his hands on an iPad 2 that he sold his kidney in order to buy one and Apple’s iPhone. We wonder what he might be selling in order to get an iPhone 5?
• Gaeltacht areas will be identified by their use of Irish and not geographical location as part of proposals being put forward by the Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs under the implementation of the 20-year strategy for the Irish language.
• U2′s appearance at the Glastonbury festival this month has been targeted by demonstrators complaining about the rock band’s decision to incorporate its publishing business in the Netherlands so as that it minimises Bono and the boys’ tax bill.
• The French proposed peace talks aimed at solving the crisis in the Middle East will involve Palestine but it is not yet clear whether Israel or the USA plans to attend as French president Nicolas Sarkozy looks to break the impassé.
• A busy day of sport with Ireland in action against Macedonia in a crucial Euro 2012 qualifier later. Joy for Ireland already today as boxer Katie Taylor secured her fourth European title. Elsewhere, Pour Moi upset the odds to win the Epsom Derby whilst in tennis Li Na became the first Chinese person to win a Grand Slam with victory in the French Open at Roland Garros.
• Also in the sporting world, more hair-raising revelations from Manchester United players as Wayne Rooney revealed on Twitter this morning that he has undergone a hair transplant in order to counter his premature thinning on top.
• We’re very much in bank holiday mood at TheJournal.ie. We’ve assembled a fine collection of music to help you enjoy the June bank holiday as chosen by you. And with this sunny weather, we’re asking you which is your favourite beach in Ireland? It’s a close run thing at the moment.
• Finally, we’ve been reporting today on the sweet 16th birthday party that wasn’t so sweet when a German girl accidentally invited the whole of Facebook to the festivities. German revellers duly obliged with some 1,600 turning up in the sleepy Hamburg neighbourhood where ‘Thessa’ lived. Here’s one of the many video’s of the event that has appeared on YouTube over the last 24 hours…

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