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

• Sixteen new penalty point offences for motorists will be introduced in 2012, the Department of Transport has confirmed. They will include driving without a clear view through the windscreen and driving with a faulty light.
• Meanwhile, transport minister Leo Varadkar has said that 2011 will likely see the smallest number of deaths on Irish roads since records began.
• As the winter vomiting bug outbreak continues at two Dublin hospitals, the HSE has issued guidelines for anyone concerned about exposure to the “highly contagious” virus.
• We know how it looked from our perspective – but what about from abroad? We’ve been looking at how the international media saw Ireland during 2011. (It’s not all good.)
• The Government is considering introducing a total ban on parents smacking their children.
• Late finance minister Brian Lenihan worked 17-hour days in government even as he battled the cancer that would kill him, according to a new RTÉ documentary to be broadcast this evening.
• What is this giant man doing in the photos from Kim Jong-il’s funeral in North Korea?

A sign in Albuquerque, New Mexico warns of a police checkpoint as the world gears up for the New Year weekend (Susan Montoya Bryan/AP/Press Association Images)

• What are your most hated words? A US university has released a list of 12 words  and phrases to be “banished” from the English language. Thank you in advance for reading.
• Manchester police have been forced to apologise after the family of a murdered man said they found out about his death on Facebook.
• From pepper-spray cop, to planking, to Nyan Cat: We’ve been looking at the memes that defined 2011.
• Speaking of social media, today brought a hard lesson about the power of Twitter for one South African radio DJ – who found himself at the centre of a media storm after mistakenly tweeting that Nelson Mandela was in hospital.
• And finally: How did you react when you got your Christmas presents? However excited you were, we’ll bet it wasn’t as much as this little lad getting his first iPod Touch. Er… aww? (You may wish to turn the volume down before viewing).

(Video: TheToshpoint)

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