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

1. #PASSPORTS: A record number of Irish passport were issued this year – more than 822,000. One in five applications came from the UK - a 20% increase from 2017 figures, believed to be a result of Brexit.

2. #DUBLIN: Three men are due to appear in court this morning charged in connection with an armed robbery at a grocery shop in Dublin. Gardaí said employees at the shop in Stillorgan were threatened with a knife and a hatchet before two men stole a sum of cash and attempted to flee the scene.

3. #AUSTRALIA: Two Irish men have been charged following the alleged assault of a 66-year-old man in Sydney.

4. #CRIME: The Kinahan cartel is close to collapse after increased pressure on its activities from gardaí in 2018.

5. #MOROCCO: Fifteen men have been charged in connection with the beheading of two women from Norway and Denmark in Morocco, Sky News reports.  

6. #BREXIT: Opposition leaders in the UK have released their new year messages, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accusing the Conservatives of plunging Britain “into crisis over the complete mess they’ve made of Brexit“. Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to release her message later today. 

7. #BANGLADESH: Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina has secured her third consecutive term in office with a landslide victory. Opposition politicians have condemned the vote as “farcical” amid violence and vote-rigging claims, BBC News reports.  

8. #ALL-ISLAND: Fianna Fáil and the SDLP are set to announce a phased process leading to their integration into one all-island party, according to the Irish Times. 

9. #EMBASSIES: About 2,300 Irish citizens received consular assistance from Irish embassies consulates-general and honorary consuls abroad, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said. 

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