Trees are decorated with lights to celebrate the upcoming Christmas and New Year at Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong, South Korea. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

THINGS WE LEARNED

#POLITICS A new poll has shown that the majority of people in Ireland want a new political party. The Millward Brown opinion poll also showed that 59 per cent of people believe they will be ‘worse off’ this time next year, while just 10 per cent believe they will be better off.

#DEATHS A 32-year-old woman died in a car crash at Ballinneen, Co Cork, overnight. The driver of the car was injured and taken to hospital. Meanwhile, a 50-year-old woman died after being rescued from a fire at her home in Co Carlow at around 4.30am today. Her son spotted the fire on his return home and pulled her out of the blaze, but she did not survive.

#CHURCH OF IRELAND The new Church of Ireland Archbishop, Dr Richard Clarke, has given his views on abortion and gay marriage in an interview this morning. He said he would be “as restrictive as one can with compassion and humanity” when it comes to abortion.

#ASSAULT A man was assaulted by four males during a hate crime attack on a Dublin to Belfast train yesterday. The man suffered a broken nose and also received minor head injuries, police said. An investigation is underway.

#SYRIA At least 60 people, including women and children, are reported to have been killed after a strike hit the town of Halfaya while they were queueing outside a bakery earlier today. This is believed to have been one of the worst strikes to hit Syria since the unrest began.

The high winds last night led to scenes like the above, as captured by reader Dylan Madden in Kilcross, Sandyford, Dublin.

THINGS WE LOVED

• It’s the Den’s Christmas Crisis! And it’s a must-watch. Festive nostalgia galore with Ray, Zig and Zag.
• How cute is this newborn baby Gorilla? Ridiculously cute.
• The best thing about Christmas is being able to indulge in movies, podcasts, books and more. In this Guardian short story podcast, hear Richard Ford read Raymond Carver’s ‘The Student’s Wife’.

THINGS WE SHARED

• The ‘littlest Garda vehicle’ has lost its wheels. We wondered what this was earlier this week, and now a reader has sent us in a pic of the little vehicle without wheels outside Pearse St Garda Station. It’s going nowhere this Christmas.

• Home Alone vs Home Alone 2. Which one do you think should win?
• Jimmy Stewart is famous for his role in It's A Wonderful Life, the ultimate Christmas movie, but did you know he wrote poems too? If you don't shed a tear during his reading of the poem Beau, about his dog, you've a heart of stone.

(johnnycarson/YouTube)

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