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

1. #LOUTH: Significant damaged was done to a bank this morning during an attempt to remove an ATM. 

2. #AUSTRALIA: A heatwave in Australia has intensified bushfires across the country. 

3. #LIMERICK: Gardaí are appealing for witnesses after a pedestrian was struck by a car in the early hours of this morning. 

4. #NASTY POLITICS: Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has accused the Taoiseach and Fine Gael of “political targeting” against some of his party colleagues. 

5. #NOT HAPPY: ’Ridiculous’ weather warnings, inaccurate forecasts and a lack of Northern Irish coverage were among the issues raised in hundreds of complaints to Met Éireann this year. 

6. #BRAVERY: A man who fought off the London Bridge terrorist with a narwhal tusk has spoken about the incident publicly for the first time, telling PA he feels a “deep hurt of not being able to save” the two people who were killed that day. 

7. #THE FINAL FRONTIER: US President Donald Trump has launched a military ‘Space Force’. 

8. #MENTAL HEALTH: Pieta House is expecting a sharp increase in calls and texts to its helpline service over December and January. 

9.#LAST MINUTE: Shop owners are slashing their prices today in a bid to encourage last-minute Christmas present shoppers to splurge, the Irish Independent reports.