EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the stories you need to know as you start your day.

1. #HURRICANE MATTHEW: States of emergency have been declared in a number of places in the US as Hurricane Matthew looks set to make land there, after killing more than 300 people in Haiti.

2. #NURSES: Frontline staff have been voicing their frustration at difficult working conditions as the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) announced it would hold a nationwide ballot seeking a mandate to commence industrial action.

3. WHISTLEBLOWER: Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan was allegedly personally told of the smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice McCabe, the Irish Independent reports. In another element of the same story, the Irish Examiner reports that one of the whistleblowers involved in the latest Garda controversy has concerns over a judge-led inquiry.

4 #ABORTION: Some 74% of people surveyed for an Ipsos/MRBI poll for the Irish Times want the Eighth Amendment to be repealed. Of this, 55% want abortion in cases of rape and fatal foetal abnormality, and 19% want abortion on demand.

5. #HPV: The number of young pupils getting the HPV vaccine has decreased by over 10% in the past 12 months, the HSE has said.

6. #OPERATION THOR: Gardaí arrested 64 people as part of an anti-crime crackdown in Carlow and Kilkenny.

7. #HEALTH: New figures from a range of global health publications reveal the key drivers of ill-health, disability, and death in individual countries. Here’s how Ireland compares.

8. #SYRIA: Recruits into the so-called Islamic State group are better educated than their average peers, contrary to popular belief, according to a new World Bank study.

9. #TN: In a bid to increase awareness of a rare disease called trigeminal neuralgia (TN), famous buildings and structures across the globe, including Ireland, are set to light up in teal-coloured lights today to mark Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day.