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

IRELAND

Maeve Kennedy and Sean Marlow collecting for Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) at the Apres Village Christmas Market Sam Boal / Rollingnews.ie Sam Boal / Rollingnews.ie / Rollingnews.ie

• A woman in her 20s suffered serious injuries after an assault in Dun Laoghaire.
• The funeral took place of murdered Limerick pensioner Rosie Hanrahan.
• An elderly man died in a house fire in Dublin’s North Strand.
• A 22-year-old man died in a single-car collision in Longford early this morning.
• Irish flights were among the cancellations after a plane went off the runway at Bristol Airport.
• More than 10 women are expected to sue the HSE in 2018 because of complications suffered after vaginal mesh procedures.
• Nearly 5,000 first-time buyers have taken up the government’s help-to-buy relief scheme, with 538 claiming the maximum amount of €20,000.
• Two people were rescued after becoming lost in the foggy darkness of Achill Island last night.
• A woman has lost over €100,000 since a car accident that was affected by the collapse of Setanta Insurance.
• In an interview with TheJournal.ie, Tusla CEO Fred McBride says negative coverage isn’t helping the Child and Family Agency recruit and retain staff.
• Military personnel serving abroad have sent Christmas messages to loved ones at home in Ireland.

INTERNATIONAL

A pug in a Santa outfit waiting for its owner to pay for a purchase in the city centre of Hamburg Axel Heimken DPA / PA Images Axel Heimken DPA / PA Images / PA Images

#MELBOURNE: A man accused of driving his car into pedestrians in Melbourne has been charged with 18 counts of attempted murder.

#UFO: A SpaceX launch puzzled Californians as it streamed into space.

#SORRY: Princess Michael of Kent apologised for wearing “racist” jewellery at Buckingham Palace.

PARTING SHOT

One of the greatest moments of 2017 was Robert E Kelly’s BBC interview about North Korea that got hijacked by his kids coming into a room.

Originally, Robert was a bit taken aback by the attention on Twitter, but has since come to embrace the goodwill of the millions of people who fell in love with his family.

So much so that this morning, he shared a Christmas message for all “the people who follow me because of the video or my children”. As usual, it’s his children who steal the show. (via DailyEdge.ie)