After a difficult year, a small school in Co Clare is reminding everyone of the importance of hope this Christmas.

The United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe has successfully entered the red planet’s orbit, marking an historic day for missions to Earth’s neighbour. The achievement makes the UAE only the fifth country in history to reach Mars.

The spacecraft will explore the atmosphere of the planet, something that has not been done by any previous probe to the planet

Pope Francis headed into the capital’s crime-ridden suburb of Ecatepec yesterday to see the reality of the Mexican “periphery” where drug violence, gangland-style executions, and kidnappings are daily facts of life.