Every morning TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know a little before 9am.

1. #STRRRRIIKE: Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or delayed today as air-traffic controllers in France begin a six-day strike.

2. #CANNABIS: Joan Burton says she would be in favour of legalising cannabis for medical use and pain relief.

3. #FALL: A 24-year-old Irish man who was working as a teacher in Italy has died after a fall from a balcony in Naples. 

4. #EXPLOITATION: BBC News reports that FBI has rescued 168 children and arrested 281 alleged pimps in cities across the US in a week-long child sex-trafficking sting.

5. #BUILDING: The number of people submitting planning applications for residential projects is continuing to rise.

6. #NO SERVICE The offices of South Dublin County Council will be closed today and on Thursday in a strike over pay cuts.

7. #IN THE RED: Tony O’Reilly was called “insolvent” by AIB in the Commercial Court yesterday says The Irish Times.

8. #IRAQ: US secretary of state John Kerry has made an unannounced visit to Iraq as reports surface that rebels have taken the country’s biggest oil refinery.

9. #GOOD: Ireland has ranked first in the world in the ‘Good Country’ index, which measures how much a country contributes to the planet and to the human race.