LAST UPDATE | 14 Sep 2018

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #STUDENT HOUSING: Student unions have been applying rent caps as accommodation  becomes out of reach to more and more students. 

2. #MAGDALENES: Dublin City Council last night voted this evening to block the sale of the Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott Street.

3. #FLORENCE: The storm battering the US east coast has been downgraded to a Category 1 but flooding and storm surges are being reported across the region. 

4. #BOMB SCARE: A hotel in Waterford was evacuated and parts of the quays were last night due to a hoax call. 

5. #FUNDING: The government has pledged to invest millions of euro in the next decade to modernise and build new “state of the art” PE halls and science labs as part of an almost €12 billion investment in education.

5. #CELEB FACTOR: Former Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon failed in her bid to become Governor of New York, losing a primary challenge to incumbent Andrew Cuomo.

6. #PAYOUT: A shop assistant who refused to engage with a customer returning some Christmas lights has been awarded €20,000 after losing her job.

7. #BOSTON: A series of gas explosions killed a teenager and injured at least 10 other people and ignited fires in at least 39 homes north of Boston. 

8. #FAREWELL: Volkswagen is to cease production of the iconic Beetle from next year. (Mashable)