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

• The government’s confidential plans for Budget 2013 propose cutting public spending by another €2.25 billion while increasing revenue by €1.25 billion, but apparently this won’t be enough to meet the deficit targets agreed with the EU-IMF Troika.
• The Taoiseach has defended plans to increase VAT by 2 per cent next year which were revealed in the leaked Budget 2012 documents this week.
• Meanwhile, we’ve been asking if the 2 per cent VAT increase will encourage those of you living in the Republic to travel over the border for your Christmas shopping. At the time of writing, just over half (52 per cent) said you are now planning to travel to the North for your festive shopping, while 8 per cent said you planned to do so anyway and another 31 per cent said that you won’t be doing so.
• At least three people have been killed in a 52-vehicle pile-up on the A31 Autobahn in north-western Germany. The incident occurred yesterday evening during foggy conditions but police are investigating the causes of the pile-up.
• US photographer Sam Gellman has provided us with a rare glimpse inside North Korea’s mass games which involved the coordination and choreography of 100,000 people. Check out some of Gellman’s incredible images here.

“Uh-oh…” This little lady wasn’t happy to find out what happens when you hassle villagers in the Skyrim video game:

(Video uploaded by carlmdouglas)

• Libyan officials today reported that Muammar Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam, who has been on the run from revolutionary forces for months, was captured as two aides attempted to smuggle him out of the country.
• Dozens of people have reportedly been injured in Cairo as police attempted to clear protesters from Tahrir Square, the focal point of the popular uprising which forced Mubarak from power in February.
• From Ireland’s Euro 2012 qualification, to those leaked Budget documents, here’s a selection of the best comments left by TheJournal.ie readers over the past week.
• Occupy Dame Street protesters have raised a wooden structure at their camp outside the Central Bank to enable the group to prepare hot meals. The money and materials for it were donated by members of the public.
• And speaking of wooden ‘structures’, check out these ethereal furniture designs with which Corkman Joseph Walsh is making his name.
• In this evening’s column, Liam Horan has been responding to some of the reactions his recent post about retuning to college after a 26-year break provoked.
• Protest, penguins and face paints: just some of the subjects caught on camera in this week’s Week in Photos.

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