LAST UPDATE | 19 Dec 2019

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

1. #IMPEACHMENT: Donald Trump has become the third US president in history to be impeached, setting up a Senate trial on removing him from office.

2. #COURTS: A young woman who was raped by her foster dad when she was 16 years old has spoken out about her “terrifying” ordeal in order to help other victims of assault.

3. #STORM ELSA: Hundreds of people are without power this morning after stormy weather hit the country last night, with the west and south particularly badly hit.

4. #HOT: Australia set a record for its hottest day for the second day in-a-row, with an average national temperature of 41.9 degrees, a full degree higher than previously.

5. #MURPHY’S LAW: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that recent controversies involving Verona Murphy and Dara Murphy have caused “reputational damage” to Fine Gael.

6. #BREAKING TRENDS: The number of men who smoke tobacco has stopped rising for the first time, according to a World Health Organization report.

7. #HSE: A new government proposal plans to hire more hospital consultants and to offer them more money to commit to a new public-only work contract, reports RTÉ.

8. #BUILD UP: The housing charity Peter McVerry Trust has hit its housing target 12 months ahead of schedule, and plans to add 100 more housing units next year. 

9. #LICENCE TO PRINT: The Oireachtas print facility produced 9,000 newsletters for a ‘Timothy Dalton’, who is categorised as a Fianna Fáil TD in the FOI release, reports the Irish Independent.

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