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 Cabinet has approved proposals to deploy up to six Defence Forces staff as unarmed observers in Syria. The staff will be made available to the UN for service with the United Nations’s supervision mission, which will monitor the upholding of the ceasefire between government and rebel forces – as well as monitoring the full implementation of the six-point plan recently proposed by Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League special envoy.
• The Gardaí have reminded motorists to allow extra time for journeys and reduce speed this evening, with forecast gales and heavy thundery showers likely to make conditions dangerous. The rain is expected to initially be heavy in the south and south east of the country.
• Gardaí investigating two separate serious assaults on young women in Dublin say the attacks are forensically linked. The attacks, which happened one year apart in Arran Quay in Dublin and Monastery Estate in Clondalkin, both occurred in the early hours of the morning when the victims were walking home alone. Gardaí have released information about the suspect and possible witnesses and have asked anyone with information to come forward immediately.
• An elderly pedestrian has died after being struck by a car in the St Ursula’s Terrace area of Waterford city this morning. Gardaí are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.
• The Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin has insisted that the new body being set up to oversee the installation of domestic water meters and charging for the use of water, Irish Water, will not later be privatised. However, the opposition aren’t convinced.
• The Department of Health and the body representing pharmaceutical manufacturers in Ireland remain deadlocked in talks for a new agreement on drug prices – almost two months after the previous deal expired. Irish Medical News reports that the last six-year deal between the State and the Irish Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association lapsed on March 1 – but that it has yet to be replaced, with both sides refusing to compromise on their respective demands.
• The inquest into the death of MI6 employee Gareth Williams was shown crime scene footage today of his flat, which contained women’s clothing, shoes, and food he had bought. The chief inspector of the investigation told the inquest he believes a third party was involved in Williams’ death.

What’s that? Simon Cowell picked up a copy of his autobiography from Dubray Books on Grafton Street earlier today?… No. No he didn’t. (Via Hugh O’Connell)

• The Netherlands’ caretaker Prime Minister urged MPs to act “responsibly” in relation to the country’s economic problems today – just one day after the country’s government collapsed over internal disagreements about €16 billion worth of budget cuts.
• Correspondence from the OPW to the Public Accounts Committee last week showed that the state rented 2,967 parking spaces in Dublin in February 2012 for public servants, at an average cost per space of €2,428 a year. The OPW says the total annual bill for parking space leasing is €8.34 million, with a further €2 million a year spent on car parking costs.
• Award-winning photographer Paul Doherty has shared two of the pictures he took last night of the aurora borealis over Co Donegal – and they are incredible.
• Can you stand the cuteness in the Mini Jockey and Trainer Pic of the Day? Dare you to try
• Scientists have filmed what is believed to be the first sighting of an adult white killer whale in the wild. The orca whale, nicknamed Iceberg, was seen east of Kamtchatka peninsula in Russia’s far-east.
• If this doesn’t get you to look after you pearly whites, we don’t know what will…

And if this 60-year-old man doesn’t shame you into hitting the gym, we’re at a complete loss.

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