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

IRELAND

Some of the Defence Forces personnel serving overseas this Christmas. Press Military Press Military

• There will be an independent tribunal to examine the CervicalCheck scandal
• Gardaí conducted searches in relation to the violent incident in Roscommon
• TDs and the Land League occupied a KBC Bank branch in Dublin overnight
• Irish Ferries  will be asked by the government to reconsider stopping its Rosslare-France services. 
• Two additional days are being added to the Leaving Cert timetable
• Two men were charged over the discovery of a suspected explosive device in Navan

WORLD 

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are pictured in their Official Christmas Portrait. UPI / PA Images UPI / PA Images / PA Images

#SYRIA: The US will withdraw all of its troops from Syria, after President Donald Trump said America had “defeated ISIS” in the war-ravaged country.

#EAR EAR: British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn denied muttering “stupid woman” at Prime Minister Theresa May in the House of Commons, while the EU announced its no-deal Brexit plans. 

#FACEBOOK: The District of Columbia sued Facebook for allowing data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica to improperly access data from as many as 87 million users.

PARTING SHOT

Even in the toughest and strangest of times, the Christmas spirit can prevail.

Gráinne Ní Aodha Gráinne Ní Aodha

Today, politicians and a dozen members of the Land League began a protest in the KBC Bank branch on Baggot Street, Dublin.

As three TDs sat in discussions with bank management on how to gain assurances over how evictions are handled, protesters from the Land League waited.

While they did, a member of the bank made one of the protesters coffee from their in-house machine for customers. Lovely.