EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know a little before 9am.

1. #GOOD NEWS: The ESRI has predicted unemployment will fall to 9.8% next year, though it also said house prices in the Irish market are undervalued.

2. #EBOLA: A state of emergency has been declared in Liberia over the outbreak of the Ebola virus with the president commenting that extraordinary measures were needed “for the very survival of our state”.

3. #CORK:  A 12-year-old boy was seriously injured in a hit-and-run in Cork city last night. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses.

4. #FORGET ABOUT IT: Wikipedia has revealed that Google complied with a request to remove a link to a page about Gerry Hutch – better known as ‘The Monk’.

5. #GAZA: Israel has offered to extend the three-day ceasefire in Gaza, while Amnesty accused its army of deliberate attacks on health workers.

6. #ON TRIAL: Oscar Pistorius, accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in South Africa, will be back in court today for closing arguments as his trial comes to a close.

7. #CHECK YOURSELF: Screening for prostate cancer could reduce deaths from the disease by about 20%, according to a major study published today.

8. #DRUGS: A Dublin inner-city resident discovered a large number of pills scattered around a children’s playground and they were later found to be a brand of paracetamol not normally available in Ireland, the Irish Daily Star reports.

9. #CAMBODIA: Three and a half decades after the genocidal rule of Khmer Rouge ended, a UN-backed war crimes tribunal found two of the regime leaders guilty of crimes against humanity.