EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a roundup of the day’s main stories – plus any bits and pieces you may have missed.

• Ireland’s town centres could be left gutted if proposed changes to retail planning laws are accepted, according to An Taisce. The changes would remove a limit on the size of some warehouse-style box stores, potentially leading to the introduction of US-style hypermarkets.
• Pop star George Michael has thanked a hospital for saving his life after a month-long battle with pneumonia. The Faith singer said it was “touch and go” at times.
• Has there been a spate of layoffs before Christmas? Retail Excellence Ireland has suggested that Irish companies have been bringing redundancies forward – as next year they will only be able to claim a reduced amount from the Government.
• More than €65,000 has been spent on refurbishing garda stations that will be closed next year, TheJournal.ie has learned.
• Do you have relatives coming home for Christmas? Or are you on the way home yourself? Check out our gallery of reunions at the airport (and have the tissues handy).
• Former Liverpool footballer Stan Collymore has compiled a list of racially abusive messages from Twitter users, in a bid to highlight the “serious issue” of racism in soccer. The move comes in the wake of two high-profile Premier League racism scandals.
• A teenager died and two other people were injured in a car crash in Kilkenny this afternoon.

James McClean, 33, will be staying at the Occupy Dame Street protest even on Christmas Day. (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland)

• Mystery surrounds the discovery of a 14-inch metallic ball that appeared in Namibia last month – having apparently fallen from space. Its origin is unknown.
• More than 16,000 people have signed a petition calling for former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s state funeral to be privatised when she dies.
• Google will pay almost $300million a year for the next three years, just for the privilege of being the default search engine on Mozilla’s Firefox web browser.
• Are you already wondering how you will dispose of your Christmas tree? We may have the answer: Ireland’s first Christmas Tree Throwing Championship.
• Scientists have concluded that elephants actually have six toes – having got the number wrong for years.
• These Russian motorists had an incredibly close call when a truck jackknifed on an icy road. Watch the video here.
• We’ve been continuing our series of the 12 Burning Questions of Christmas. Today: Do you take part in a religious service, or not?
• Are you dreading a weekend of Christmas films? If so, we may have a little something for you. YouTube users DogFoodFilms have recut Arnie’s festive classic Jingle All the Way into something a little more, well, angry. (Warning: Contains violence).

Video: Dogfood Films

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