EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of the day’s biggest news stories, as well as the bits and pieces you may have missed.

• The HSE has reversed its controversial decision not to pay travel and subsistence expenses owed to staff.
• A third government coalition member has lost the party whip. Labour TD Tommy Broughan was expelled from his parliamentary party after voting with the opposition against an extension to the bank guarantee scheme. The proposal to extend the scheme passed by 99 to 30 votes.
• Both the BBC and Jeremy Clarkson have issued apologies following his rant against public sector pay cut protesters on the One Show yesterday (video here).
• Hundreds of cannabis plants worth an estimated €400,000 were discovered at an industrial estate in Wicklow yesterday.
• EU foreign ministers have agreed to impose a range of new sanctions against Iran and Syria. France, Germany and the Netherlands yesterday recalled their ambassadors to Iran after the UK expelled Iranian diplomats and closed the embassy in London. The latest sanctions against Syria include economic measures as well as bans on exporting equipment that could be used to monitor telecommunications or the internet to Assad’s government.

This group of Sydney surfers donned neon wetsuits and boards recently to facilitate a little late-night surfing:

(Video uploaded by telegraphtv)

• On World AIDS Day today, columnist Breda Gahan writes that although the number of AIDS-related deaths is falling, several serious threats loom in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
• More than 700 patients referred to the National Treatment Purchase Fund by consultants in the last three years ended up being treated by the same consultants – on a private basis.
• Man’s best friend should not be crossed: a dog in Utah shot his owner in the buttocks while they were out hunting recently.
• Check out the 600-yard tunnel smugglers were using to transport drugs across the US-Mexico border. The tunnel’s discovery by US authorities led to the seizure of 32 tonnes of marijuana.
• Fancy some Christmas cheer, with a slice of politics? Here’s a slideshow of today’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony and ‘choir’ at the Houses of the Oireachtas.
• Apprentice fans can sleep easy tonight – TV3 has said that it has no plans to cancel the show and any reports to the contrary are “untrue and misleading”.