LAST UPDATE | 9 Jan 2020

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

1. #CRUNCH TALKS: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin will sit down this evening for discussions about the potential timing of a general election this year.

2. #STUDY: Increasing numbers of schoolchildren say they have never drank alcohol, smoked or had sex, according to new research set to be launched today.

3. #IRAN PLANE CRASH: The crew of a Ukrainian aircraft that crashed near Tehran did not call for help when the plane went down, Iranian investigators have said.

4. #MEASLES: Concerns have been raised that Ireland could lose its measles-free status after the number of reported cases increased again last year.

5. #SOLEIMANI: The White House has been urged to release more details of the threat that prompted the killing of an Iranian general last week, following a confidential briefing last night.

6. #FAI: The Football Association of Ireland has confirmed it has appointed three independent directors to its board of management, and that a fourth independent director will be appointed “in the coming weeks”.

7. #BUSHFIRES: Australian authorities have issued new evacuation notices as a return of hot weather threatens further misery for residents in the southeast of the country.

8. #RIP: The removal ceremony of broadcaster Larry Gogan will take place in Dublin this evening, following his death at the age of 81 on Tuesday.

9. #WEATHER: It will be mainly dry and calm across the country, with cloudy and misty conditions in some areas. Brighter spells will break through as the day goes on before scattered showers arrive along Atlantic coasts towards evening. Temperatures will be cool, with daytime highs of 4 to 7 degrees Celsius.

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