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

• Priory Hall residents say they will not pay the household charge of €100 for the duration of time that they are not living in their own homes.
• What did you think of Ryanair’s charity calendar, which featured female cabin crew in their underwear? The airline says the vast majority of its passengers supported it - but a petition against it gathered more than 10,000 signatures.
• Pope Benedict has been described as “tired” and “weak” in recent months. He turns 85 next year.
• The final US troops are rolling out of Iraq – and there have been scenes of jubilation as they crossed into next door Kuwait.
• In a horrific incident in New York, a woman in her 60s was set on fire by a man in a lift in her apartment building.
• The former Czech president Vaclav Havel has died at the age of 75 – a former playwright, he became a hero of the struggle to end the Cold War.

[caption id="attachment_308019" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="Santa arrived in Ballycotton, East Cork, on the Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat yesterday - and found lots of delighted children waiting for him."][/caption]

• Independent TD Mick Wallace has described how he believes there is a “huge disconnect” between some politicians and the real world.
• Are you a dog lover? If you are, maybe you like your dogs to have character rather than good looks… and if you do, then this film, Worst in Show, is for you. Ruff!
• A huge fire broke out at a factory in Macroom, Cork, today – and blazed for more than seven hours.
• The former Fine Gael TD Alice Glenn has died, RTÉ reports this evening. She was 90 years old.
• Has racism grown during the recession? Yes, said the Immigrant Council of Ireland, as it marks its tenth anniversary.
• A family of five were killed in a suspected murder-suicide in Illinois. Three children died in the incident.
• Finally, were you missing Batman? Well, he’s back – along with Robin, of course – and he may be better than ever…

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