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

IRELAND

Hundreds of people took the challenge of the Polar Plunge at the 40 Foot in Sandycove this afternoon to raise funds for Special Olympics Ireland. Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• A gun was found close to where Mark Desmond was shot
• The mother and sister of murdered Clodagh Hawe launched a fundraising campaign
• A young woman was killed in a car crash in Cork
• A Fianna Fáil TD urged people to ‘give Bertie Ahern a break’
• A Cork farmer was airlifted to hospital after an accident
• Irish Naval servicemen and women rescued 140 migrants
• A bogus taxi was seized by gardaí

INTERNATIONAL

Paper cranes adorn the gates of the stadium Arena Conda, home of the Chapecoense Brazilian soccer team, in Chapeco. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

#CHAPECOENSE: The bodies of 71 victims killed in a plane crash in Colombia that wiped out a Brazilian football team returned home.

#ABUSE: Chelsea FC has made a public apology to Gary Johnson after he claimed he was paid £50,000 by them not to go public with abuse allegations.

#OAKLAND: At least nine, but as many as 40 people are dead after a fire at a party in Oakland, California.

#TAIWAN: China was incensed as US President-elect Donald Trump took a phone call from the leader of Taiwan.

INNOVATION

• Have an Eir broadband package? You could be exposed to a cyber attack.

PARTING SHOT

A baby stole the show on last night’s Channel 4 news. Seriously.