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

IRELAND

Two women enjoy the Christmas lights in Dublin RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

• Ireland’s Covid-19 death toll reached 2,000 people.
• Dublin Zoo made an appeal for donations after revealing that restrictions arising from the pandemic means it has been left short of millions of Euro in income.
• A Dáil committee heard how the main contractor of the new National Children’s Hospital submitted claims for extra costs running “in excess of €200 million”.
• The Taoiseach was criticised for being unclear about why Justice Minister Helen McEntee won’t answer questions about the appointment of Séamus Woulfe to the Supreme Court.
• The family of a man who died while in custody in Cloverhill Prison last month told TheJournal.ie how they have been “left in the dark” over the incident.
• The High Court appointed an interim examiner to several companies that are part of the Norwegian Air airline group.
• A Status Yellow wind warning was put in place for 14 counties.
• Former RTÉ producer Kieran Creaven was sent forward for trial accused of child sex abuse in three jurisdictions.
• The Government pledged to introduce new tax and expense arrangements to facilitate working from home as part of a new strategy to be published next month.
• Gardaí appealed for witnesses to an incident on a Luas tram involving anti-mask protesters earlier this month.

INTERNATIONAL

A man cleans the inside of the penguin pool at Sea Life in Birmingham PA PA

#VACCINE: Pharmaceutical company Pfizer said its proposed Covid-19 vaccine is 95% effective and has passed its safety checks.

#EBOLA: The Democratic Republic of Congo declared the end of the country’s latest Ebola epidemic, after the outbreak killed 55 people over the past five months.

#BIRMINGHAM BOMBINGS: A man was arrested in connection with enquiries into the murders of 21 people in the 1974 pub bombings in Birmingham.

#PANORAMA: BBC announced it would investigate how it obtained a 1995 interview with Princess Diana that lifted the lid on her marriage to Prince Charles.

PARTING SHOT

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Earlier today, the worrying news emerged that Dublin Zoo may have to close a result of financial uncertainty brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The revelations came as the zoo – which has been in business for nearly 190 years - launched a fundraising campaign appealing to the Irish public for help.

This evening, it emerged that over €1 million has already been raised.

With the government also pledging to support the zoo, it’ll hopefully be around to see its 200th birthday in ten years’ time.