EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the stories you need to know as you wake up.

1. #STRIKE Nurses at Dublin’s St Vincent’s Hospital are to go on strike over overcrowding. A lunchtime protest is planned for next Monday, and a work-to-rule protest from Tuesday.

2. #REFUGEE CRISIS A conference will take place in Luxembourg today to discuss how Balkan countries can deal with the refugee crisis as winter draws in and weather conditions deteriorate.

3. #SYRIA NATO defence ministers are to meet in Brussels today, with Russia’s military involvement in Syria expected to be on the agenda. The BBC reports that British troops could be deployed to the Baltic republics.

4. #BUDGET 2016 Cabinet are to meet today to discuss next week’s budget announcement. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin are set to launch their pre-budget submissions today.

5. #IRISH WATER The deadline for the water conservation grant is midnight tonight – it was extended yesterday to keep up with demand.

6. #ALIASES A man with 17 different aliases was acquitted by a jury of attacking a prison officer with his meal tray and severing a tendon in his wrist.

7. #UPROAR A former French Minister has come under fire after calling France a “white race” country. Nadine Morano has been removed from a list of candidates for upcoming regional elections after her comment.

8. #ABUSE The abuse of young boys at St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys in Cabra, Dublin, is discussed in a new documentary to be broadcast on RTE tonight.

9. #TRIAL Student Becky Watts died by strangulation before her body was cut up with a saw, a court in Bristol was told yesterday. Her stepbrother admitted to killing Becky but denies the charge of murder.