EACH WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five things we think you should know before you head out the door…

1. #RACE FOR THE ÁRAS: With the battle to win nomination to the presidency reaching its final stages, several councils have voted on motions to support David Norris and Dana Rosemary Scallon. Norris today secured the backing of Laois County Council in addition to Fingal which voted last week; while Dana has won support from Carlow and Roscommon. Each candidate needs four councils for a nomination.

2. #GREECE: German chancellor Angela Merkel has insisted Greece will not be forced to default – but admitted European leaders need to plan for the possibility that a country could become insolvent. She said the EU needs a “firewall” to prevent such an event sparking a continent-wide crisis.

3. #DALE FARM: Travellers at the controversial halting site in Essex have won their latest battle at the UK High Court, delaying any possible eviction until Thursday at the earliest. A judge today further delayed a decision on the local council’s plans to evict around 400 people living illegally at the site, which has been the subject of a ten-year legal dispute.

4. #KNOX: Amanda Knox, the student convicted of killing her British roommate in Italy in 2007, is “a demonic, satanic, diabolical she-devil” according to lawyers for a man who was briefly accused of the crime. A lawyer for Diya ‘Patrick’ Lumumba also told Knox’s appeal hearing that the girl was “a double soul” and “devoted to lust, drugs and alcohol”.

5. #HUSTLER: US pornography mogul Larry Flynt has offered a $1million reward to anyone who can provide proof of an “illicit sexual liaison” with Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry. Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, said he had heard “several rumours” about Perry, who he opposes politically.