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

 IRELAND

A young Meath farmer and recent teaching graduate Ellen Farnan, at her 'lockdown graduation'. Rebecca Doran Photography Rebecca Doran Photography

• The Taoiseach said the government will not be changing Covid-19 restrictions for Christmas, but that people should expect new restrictions “before the New Year”
• A six-week NI lockdown, starting on St Stephen’s Day, was agreed by Stormont
• 484 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Ireland, as the National Public Health Emergency Team said they are concerned of a “rapid growth” in cases
• Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that the Irish bailout of the banks did happen, stating that the Taoiseach misspoke yesterday
• The HSE warned people to only meet indoors with people you trust
• Sharing hate speech online is set to become a criminal offence under proposed legislation but there will be a high bar for prosecution
• Parents of service users at St John of God’s have expressed anger at the lack of progress to transfer responsibility for the services to the HSE
• Ireland has been ranked second-highest in the the the world for quality of life, according to a new study by the United Nations.

WORLD

A red squirrel sniffs out nuts inside Christmas stockings at Wildwood Escot Park in Devon. PA Images PA Images

#BREXIT TALKS: UK Prime Minsiter Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the final issues in trade talks remain “challenging”.

#RUSSIA: President Vladimir Putin denied reports that country’s security services were behind the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, saying that if they were, Navalny would be dead.

#WORLD LEADER: French president Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for Covid-19 - Taoiseach Micheál Martin tested negative, after attending the European Council with Macron last week.

PARTING SHOT

TheJournal.ie‘s brilliant Stardust podcast has won its third major award – the prestigious Mary Raftery Prize for social affairs journalism.

The judges said: “It is superbly crafted and a very moving account of the 1981 Stardust fire and the families’ long-drawn-out campaign to get justice.”

The six-part podcast also won gold at the New York Festivals Radio Awards for Best Narrative/Documentary Podcast; and best Radio Documentary at this year’s Celtic Media Festival.

Comhghairdeas ó chroí le Sean Murray, Nicky Ryan agus Christine Bohan.