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

• The Government has announced a €10 million flood damage assistance fund to help those affected by last month’s torrential rains. Minister Joan Burton says people who suffered serious damage in the 24 October flooding will be means tested for emergency payments from the new fund.
• A 27-year-old man was killed in a crash in Co Limerick this morning. Gardaí are appealing to witnesses to the incident, which occurred when the man’s car struck a ditch at around 9.40am today on the N24 at Ballysimon.
• EBS has announced that it is to reduce its standard variable rate in line with the European Central Bank’s recent rate cut.
• The Chairman of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, says he has complained to gardaí about the protests that led to the cancellation of his scheduled appearance at Trinity College Dublin – saying that there was “very clear” evidence that the law had been broken. During an interview with DCUfm, Griffin accused protesters of “a form of left-wing fascism” in disrupting the debate.
• Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a crucial financial vote in his country’s parliament today, but in doing so has lost his parliamentary majority, sending the cost of borrowing to new record highs.
• The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has landed himself in hot water after allegedly telling Barack Obama that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was “a liar”. The remarks were overheard by journalists who had plugged in their headphones ahead of the kick-off of a press conference at the G2O summit.
• Poland’s new parliament has met for the first time today, with several firsts for the traditionally Catholic country – including the first woman to hold the role of speaker, and the first transsexual and openly gay MPs taking their seats.

The Persil Irish Fashion Awards: pictured are fashion Designer Peter O Brien and Xpose presenter Lisa Cannon with fashion students Aisling Connell, Micheal Finnegan, Julia Rainey and Victoria Grzymek.

Image: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

• Arrangements are being made for the 14 Irish activists who were on a solidarity mission to the Gaza Strip to return home, after their 72-hour period of detention in Israel ran out overnight.
• Former US President Bill Clinton has written in his new book that Barack Obama mishandled the debt ceiling crisis and is spending too much on nuclear power – but also says he thinks he could still win the next election.
• Iran has rubbished a pending UN nuclear watchdog report which suggests the country is moving towards the development of a nuclear weapon. Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says that the country is pursing a nuclear enrichment programme for energy production.
• Employees at a Swedish lingerie chain, Change, have complained about a policy that requires them to wear tags displaying their names – and bras sizes – when serving customers. The country’s Commercial Employees’ Union has threatened to sue, but the company’s CEO insists that the practice is not “demeaning” and that staff are free to refuse.
• Fast-food dining becomes more common as people begin to earn more money, and move from low to middle incomes, a new US study has shown. One of the study’s lead researchers noted that while a correlation exists between obesity and lower income, it cannot be solely attributed to restaurant choice, adding: “Fast-food dining is most popular among the middle class, who are less likely to be obese.”
• There has been a centuries-old surprise uncovered in a famed Italian fresco, painted by Giotto in the 13th century. While trying to date the artwork, art historian Chiara Frugoni uncovered the image of a smirking, horned devil hiding in the clouds of the masterpiece. Frugoni said the significance of its placement would need to be studied.
• US reality TV stars Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, who don’t use birth control for religious reasons, have announced that they are expecting their 20th child in April 2012.

Have you ever witnessed a murmuration of starlings in action? If not, you’re in luck – because two young women boating on Lough Derg, Co Clare, recently managed to catch the full show – and tape it.

Video by Sophie Windsor Clive via Vimeo

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