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

• The Labour Party’s 100th annual conference continued this evening in Galway; Brendan Howlin said the Government will undertake a “root and branch reworking” of the existing ethics legislation in Ireland, and delegates at the conference also voted to totally reject the sale of semi-state assets. Meanwhile, several thousand people gathered outside the meeting to protest against Government policies – like the household charge – and gardaí used pepper spray on some people who were allegedly behaving violently. Eamon Gilmore will also address the 800 delegates during a live televised speech tonight from 8.30pm, which you can watch on our live stream.
• Speaking at the Law Society Annual Conference this morning, the Minister for Justice rejected the “misleading contention” that the Legal Services Regulation Bill is a sudden, opportunistic and malevolent ambush on the legal sector – comparing the lack of regulation in the sector to the failures of the financial world.
• The Minister for Communications has announced the roll-out of high-speed broadband for 200 secondary schools in Galway and in 12 rural counties will be complete by the beginning of this year’s school term.
• Two South African men are in Gardaí custody tonight in connection with a seizure of €12,000 worth of cannabis in Blanchardstown earlier today.
• Delegates at the Irish Medical Organisation’s annual conference have called on the Minister for Heath to investigate delays in medical cards being issued, with former IMO president Dr Martin Daly said it was “unacceptable” that people who had paid tax all their lives could be left in vulnerable  situations when they were in need of healthcare.
• At least 17 people are dead after Syrian government troops allegedly broke a ceasefire and shelled two neighbourhoods in the city of Homs. The reported bombardment came as the UN prepared to vote on a resolution authorising the deployment of the first wave of military observers to monitor the ceasefire.
• A 77-year-old man has been arrested by Gardaí investigating the circumstances of a stabbing that took place in county Limerick yesterday evening.

Protest outside the Labour Party conference in Galway today. Image: Boyd Challenger

• Baboons have been fond to be able to identify recurring patterns and determine which four-letter combinations are real words – and which are nonsensical -  according to new research.
• Heidi Hankins, from Winchester in England, has been accepted into Mensa with an IQ of 159 – a single IQ point below Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. She is just four years old.
• Wanna flash the cash? Here are 5 iPad accessories that will blow the bank (… and one for the shy iPad owner with label guilt).
• Think Silicon Valley will shape the future? You’re looking in the wrong place: kids are going to destroy the internet, and here’s how it will happen, tech entrepreneur Dylan Collins writes in TheJournal.ie today.
• News bringing you down? Current affairs making you frown? You might need to read this alternative angle on the week’s hot topics: Here’s the week’s news… skewed.
• How much does it cost to live? How much are we saving? How long do we have to get a job? Find out these, and plenty more, in The Week in Statistics…
• As you settle into your Saturday, why not sit back and look at the week that was - in photos…

And finally – you might love them or hate them, but there’s no getting away from some Sing-0-Grams…

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