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

IRELAND

Christmas carol singers Miriam Rodgers and Claudia Fitzgerald from Castleknock tennis club raising money for the Simon Community outside the GPO in Dublin city centre today Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• In an interview with The Journal, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government has made a “huge mistake” in how it has communicated with the public about refugees and asylum seekers arriving into communities.
• A junior minister hit out at what he called sloganeering around “open and closed borders” in discussions on Ireland’s asylum and refugee system.

• The wife of an Irish-Palestinian citizen stuck in Gaza appealed to the Irish Government to help bring her husband home.
• A Noteworthy investigation found that dog bite reports continue to rise across Ireland.
• A homeless shelter carer who allegedly pursued and twice rammed a garda car in Dublin city centre resulting in two officers being hospitalised was granted bail.
• A group for victims of violence related to Northern Ireland called for a memorial to commemorate two members of the Irish security forces killed by the IRA during a rescue mission 40 years ago.
• Regulations on the sale of vapes will come into effect before Christmas, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said.

WORLD

Thousands of people demonstrate in the center of Barcelona in solidarity with Palestine Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#GAZA: The three hostages killed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza were shot even as they carried a “white cloth” and cried for help in Hebrew, an Israeli army official confirmed.

#VATICAN: A Vatican Tribunal convicted Cardinal Angelo Becciu of embezzlement and sentenced him to five-and-a-half years in prison.

#RED SEA: A UK vessel brought down a suspected attack drone in the Red Sea, British defence minister Grant Shapps confirmed, amid rising maritime tensions in the region.

#ENGLAND: Luton Town’s Tom Lockyer is in a “stable” condition in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest that led to his side’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth being abandoned.

PARTING SHOT

We’ll leave you tonight will the lyrical brilliance of the one and only Michael Fry.