Early Edition

A founding member of the Irish pop-rock band The Script is the landlord of a mould-ridden, unregistered rented studio described by the tenant living there as “uninhabitable”.Donald Trump’s “baby bonds” involve opening an investment account, like a pension, but can be managed from birth. The programme for government proposes a similar idea.Calf’s head, pressed beef and hare meat are Christmas recipe ideas featured in The Irish Times archives. Úna McCaffrey has been trawling through them and found some other tips for women hosting the festive dinner.Forget the streaming services’ mediocre Christmas TV offerings and relive the golden era of linear TV’s “Christmas special”. From Father Ted to Alan Partridge, Lauren Murphy has been ranking the ten best festive episodes of iconic TV sitcoms.

The most common scams that led to money being stolen from people this year started with text messages sent to phones. Consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope is writing about new research released by AIB this morning.There’s been a warming of relations between the British government and the European Commission. Yesterday it announced it’s rejoining the Erasmus student exchange programme, after Brexit brought an end to it.An Irish citizen has been remanded in custody in Germany, over an alleged break in at a plant linked to an Israeli defence company. Derek Scally writes that Daniel Tatlow-Devally is kept in his cell for 23 hours a day.Corinna Hardgrave is nominating the best eateries in Ireland in her annual “restaurant oscars.” She’s picked three for Early Edition; one casual dining, one mid-range and one fine dining experience.

The Irish Times has learned of a report into a number of allegations of patients being mistreated at Bloomfield Hospital in south Dublin. Our health correspondent Shauna Bowers says they include patients being slapped, left in soiled clothing and threatened with an injection for not co-operating with staff.The highly anticipated review into Fianna Fáil’s calamitous presidential election campaign has been revealed. There’s no smoking gun in relation to what the Taoiseach and other senior party figures knew about Mr. Gavin’s rent dispute with a former tenant, but political editor Pat Leahy says it does clarify how the campaign unravelled.A London company has been hired to provide counter terrorism simulations for Gardaí ahead of Ireland’s holding of the EU presidency next year. Crime and security correspondent Conor Gallagher says Gardaí will “war game” a number of scenarios, including a large scale terrorist attack.With just over a week until many of us will be panicking about preparing the Christmas dinner, you might be relieved to hear that even professional chefs take shortcuts in the kitchen on December 25th. Here are the shop-bought suggestions that will work for everybody. 

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan says there is no intelligence to suggest a heightened risk to the Jewish community in Ireland following Sunday’s terrorist gun attack in Sydney. But speaking on Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan, he says antisemitism is something we have to confront.After a suggestion in the US that 50 year mortgages could be one way of making American homes more affordable, Fiona Reddan looks at the viability of introducing them here.A quiet, months-long battle between James Comer, the Republican chair of the oversight committee, and Bill and Hillary Clinton over the panel’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation could come to a head this week.What’s Christmas like in Dubai? Waterford native Sinéad McCann is our first emigrant to share her experience of being abroad in December. Our “Letters Home for Christmas” series explores views about Ireland through the lens of young emigrants.

A homicide investigation has been opened into the death of toddler Daniel Aruebose, whose remains were found on open ground in Donabate, north Dublin, last September. Our crime and security editor Conor Lally says today would have been the boy’s eighth birthday.The RTE payments scandal gripped the nation in 2023, and RTE’s director general at the time, Dee Forbes, ended up leaving her role in the wake of the controversy. Due to poor health she hasn’t spoken publicly since, but in her column today Justine McCarthy argues her legacy and influence over RTE remains; and the Irish public deserves an explanation.A trad session in Naas, Co Kildare was part of the red carpet treatment for a visiting European Commissioner, during a tense week of negotiations for Ireland. Jack Power is writing about the horse trading going on behind the scenes of the nitrates derogation talks and asks what might Ireland have had to do to secure the exemption for another three years.Our Washington correspondent Keith Duggan is writing about a polarising Democratic congresswoman in Texas called Jasmine Crockett, who has a unique ability to get under the skin of US president Donald Trump.

Ireland may be targeted by hostile actors in 2026 as it hosts the European Union presidency, and there is “considerable” concern it lacks capacity to defend against such attacks, a new paper has warned.Meanwhile it’s emerged a “dark vessel” was spotted in the Irish Sea around the same time as the Naval Service noted five drones near the flight path of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week.A marathon dispute over a Dublin family home has been halted by a judge. The legal row began in 2001 and the brother and sister involved have since died. But legal proceedings are planned over the property’s transfer.The Irish Times has learned of what appears to be a mass eviction at an old Georgian building on Mountjoy Square in Dublin 1.It is hard to be kind about Meghan Markle’s festive Netflix special “With Love, Meghan,” but you can count on our features writer Patrick Freyne to try,

Elon Musk is to take a case against Comisiún na Meán personally, as well as via his social media company X, after being granted permission in the High Court.Board members and tech executives could be held liable for content on their platforms that poses a danger to children, under a radical reform of our online safety regulations.British spy agencies helped the IRA double-agent codenamed Stake knife evade arrest for conspiracy to murder by taking him “on holiday.” Twice. As part of Operation Kenova, an interim report has also found “no evidence” of systemic British state collusion with the loyalist gang that carried out the Dublin Monaghan bombings in 1974.Joanne Hunt is wondering if you are investing your savings, and if not, why not? Don’t know how to get started? Read her article in Your Money today.