NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds' daughter Andrea kissing his coffin at his funeral in the the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook.

• Former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds was laid to rest
• Labour look set to push for wider abortion laws
• A rail strike caused chaos – and more was forecast
• A shed in Sligo containing water meters was damaged in a fire
• Two men were arrested after a taxi driver was held at knifepoint
• Teachers warned that children are still coming to school hungry
• Concerns were raised over the number of creche inspectors
• The CSO released new stats on the earnings of public and private sector workers
• Delays at the Clare Hall driving licence centre were deemed “unacceptable”

INTERNATIONAL

Lesley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown, is escorted to the hearse, as people gather outside of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church during the funeral for Michael Brown. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

#FERGUSON: Michael Brown, the teenager whose shooting sparked two weeks of rioting and protests, was laid to rest in Ferguson, Missouri today.

#FRANCE: The French government has collapsed in a row over economic policy. President Francois Hollande asked Prime Minister Manuel Valls to form a new cabinet.

#FREED: A US journalist held captive in Syria for two years has been released. Peter Theo Curtis was freed yesterday, American officials confirmed.

#SCOTLAND: A mother who beat her son to death, then told police he had gone missing has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.

INNOVATION

• This is a Go-Pro harness for dogs. Because they can. 
• Robots are just like us. They Google the answers when they’re stuck.

PARTING SHOT

Being a music critic is a tough job. You have to make judgements that will be written in stone forever. However, for former New York Times critic Kelefa Sanneh, one of his proved to be way wide of the mark.

While Beyonce was wowing the world at last night’s MTV VMA awards last night, Vox.com was digging up a 2003 review of Beyonce by Sanneh in which he claims Beyonce is no Ashanti. It finishes with this scathing paragraph.

It’s worth noting, that on the same day Beyoncé crushed the competition on one of music’s biggest stages, Ashanti was 35 minutes late for her afternoon performance at the New York State Fair in Syracuse.