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

IRELAND

Santa arrived by Coast Guard helicopter to Cork University Hospital to deliver presents to child patients. The annual toy drop is a partnership between Kinsale & District Lions Club and CUH Charity, the hospital’s fundraising arm. Colm Lougheed Colm Lougheed

• A man who was arrested in connection with the case of missing schoolboy Kyran Durnin was released without charge.
• Former Fine Gael councillor and doctor Bill Tormey was sent forward for trial accused of possessing child pornography images and helping to bring an illegal immigrant into the country.
• Irish rugby player Denis Coulson was sentenced to 14 years in prison after he was found guilty of the 2017 gang rape of a student in France.
• A woman died in hospital following a serious assault in Ballinasloe, Co Galway this week.
• Gardaí confirmed the suspicious package sent to the head offices of the Social Democrats this lunchtime was found not credible.
• An Post said it received about 350,000 parcels from the UK as of this morning as British retailers find alternatives to sending goods through the Holyhead port in Wales, which has been closed since Storm Darragh. 
• A man who killed a University of Limerick student in a hit-and-run had filmed himself on a mobile phone driving at “reckless” speeds, moments before the fatal collision.
• Derek Blighe, an anti-immigration activist and unsuccessful candidate in the recent General Election, was convicted of a public order offence because he refused to make a charity donation to the Irish Refugee Council.
• Gardaí are investigating “all the circumstances” of the discovery of skeletal remains within an area of Loughan House prison in Co Cavan.
• Simon Harris said there should be reflection on people’s “disaffection” from politics after Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch narrowly missed out on being elected.
• It is “unlikely” that Labour will go into government with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, party leader Ivana Bacik has said.
• Sinn Féin formally nominated its TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh as the Ceann Comhairle of the new Dáil.

INTERNATIONAL

A Syrian man waves the revolutionary flag during a demonstration in Damascus. Alamy Alamy

#UKRAINE: Russia launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine, involving dozens of cruise missiles and drones, the latest such strike aimed at crippling the country’s electricity system.
#SYRIA: A former Syrian military official who oversaw a prison where alleged human rights abuses took place has been charged with several counts of torture after being arrested in July for visa fraud charges.
#FRANCE: Francois Bayrou was named as the new prime minister of France.
#US: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was admitted to hospital after she “sustained an injury” during an official engagement in Luxembourg.
#SERBIA: Hundreds of protesters led by university students held a noisy rally on Thursday outside Serbia’s state television headquarters, despite the country’s president pledging to fulfil all their demands.
#JAPAN: Meat from fin whales caught for the first time in nearly 50 years off Japan’s northern coast fetched up to about €1,247 per kilo at auction.

PARTING SHOT

File Photo of a meteor shower Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

A meteor shower will be visible from Ireland tonight and tomorrow, lighting up the skies with up to 20 times more shooting stars than normal. 

The ‘Geminids’, as it is known, is “the best meteor shower of the year”, according to Astronomy Ireland, who are organising a nationwide meteor count.

The meteor shower lasts for about 2 weeks but it’s expected to peak tonight and tomorrow. 

Astronomy Ireland has asked the public to “contribute to the sum total of human scientific knowledge” by counting how many meteors they see.