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

Florence Gramende, Alice Parsons and Molly Andersons from Ballymaloe Cookery School at the Kerrygold Ballymaloe LitFest © Clare Keogh and Ornua © Clare Keogh and Ornua

IRISH

• Health Minister Leo Varadkar has spoken about the death of babies at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise. 
• Model Rosanna Davison has said that she was misrepresented by a headline in the Sunday Independent saying she is not a feminist. 
• Ireland rolled out the red carpet for the second most important man in China. 
• A Cork prisoner stabbed to death over a remote control has been named. 
• A woman and a man are in “critical but stable” condition after being involved in an accident at the North West 200 race. 
• In an interview with TheJournal.ie, Caroll Spinney, who voices Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, has said that he visits Ireland every year. 
• Ahead of next week’s same-sex marriage referendum, TheJournal.ie asked every TD and Senator how they intend to vote. 
• A 70-year-old woman has died after a house fire in inner-city Dublin.  

INTERNATIONAL

Actress Cate Blanchett at the Cannes Film Festival Lionel Cironneau / AP/Press Association Images Lionel Cironneau / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images

#CANNES: Actress Cate Blanchett has shot down speculation that she has a real-life gay past. 

#SOUTH AFRICA: The mother of Reeva Steemkamp has said that an August release for good behaviour for Oscar Pistorius would be too soon. 

#UK: Thomas Cook has apologised to the parents of children killed by a faulty boiler while on holiday in Corfu. 

#UNITED STATES: A US politician has admitted to a plot to burn down a Muslim community in New York. 

INNOVATION

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, has said that Steve Jobs’ vision for the company to change the world has come true, thanks to iPhone cameras allowing people to capture the world’s injustices. [The Guardian]

PARTING SHOT

An Armenian taxi driver has become a viral hit after giving an impromtu speech about, strangely enough, transport regulation.  [BBC]

• To catch up on the top five stories YOU were clicking on through TheJournal.ie and DailyEdge‘s social media feeds, catch up with our editor Susan Daly on RTÉ Radio One Extra’s The Feed. Listen to the whole show here> 

Read: Rosanna Davison has slammed this ‘misleading headline’ and says she is 100% feminist

Also: Ireland rolled out the red carpet for China’s second most powerful man today