EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the stories you need to know as you start your day.

1. #BACKLOG: Figures released to TheJournal.ie show there are nearly 66,000 applications to the Irish passport office waiting to be processed.

2. #GRENFELL TOWER: The chief executive of Kensington council has resigned and said that the UK government wanted him out.

3. #MOSUL: As Iraqi forces move in, Isis has blown up the mosque where its own leader declared himself ‘caliph’.

4. #IBRAHIM HALAWA: Leo Varadkar says it is ‘unacceptable’ that Ibrahim Halawa is still being held as the Taoiseach was urged to do more to secure his release.

5. #NEW DIGS: A new 70-apartment complex has been opened in Dublin. The €10 million scheme was completed in 18 months.

6. #CROWDED: The world’s current population of 7.6 billion will balloon to 9.8 billion in 2050, the UN has said.

7. #TOURISTS ARE COMING: Game of Thrones played a large part in the over 1 million people coming here from the United States last year.

8. #FRANCE: An Instagram star and well-known fitness blogger has died in a freak accident after a pressurised cannister used for dispensing whipped cream exploded.

9. #HONOUR: Ireland and Munster’s Peter O’Mahony has been named Lions captain for the test rugby match against the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday.