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

IRELAND

People gathered yesterday for sunrise at Newgrange, Co. Meath, on the morning of the winter solstice. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

• A young mother, named locally as Marguerita Sheridan, killed in a hit and run collision in Co Limerick yesterday had given birth to a son just three weeks ago. 
• The timber spire of a church in Co Clare crashed to the ground in flames after it was struck by lightning in the early hours of the morning.
• Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said 2024 was by far “the toughest” year of her life. 
• Tributes have been paid to Gearóid Ó Cairealláin, former President of Conradh na Gaeilge and the father of  Kneecap star Móglaí Bap.
• A man died following a single-vehicle collision in Co Offaly in the early hours of this morning.
• At least 2,700 cyclists had to be admitted to hospital from emergency departments or attend for medical treatment after an accident over a two-year period.

INTERNATIONAL

People lay flowers and lit candles in front of the Johannis church close to the Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#GERMANY: Police in Magdeburg said the victims of the attack in the city on Friday night were four women ranging in age from 45 to 75, as well as a nine-year-old boy.

#GAZA: Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes overnight and early this morning killed at least 28 Palestinian people.

#BRAZIL: At least nine people died when a small plane crashed this morning in Gramado, in southern Brazil, authorities said, slamming into a commercial area of the tourist city.

#SERBIA: Tens of thousands protested in Serbia’s capital Belgrade today to demand that leaders take responsibility for the collapse of a train station roof that killed 15 people last month.

PARTING SHOT

UBER DRIVERS HAVE revealed their ‘naughty or nice’ list – the best and worst rated areas for passengers’ behaviour. 

Waterford City, Castletroy in Co Limerick, and Blanchardstown have been rated as the top three areas on the ‘nice’ list respectively. 

Stoneybatter, Salthill, and Maynooth were the top three areas on the ‘naughty’ list, the service reported.