EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know as you kick off your day.

1. #SYRIAN DEATH: A 16-year-old boy who lived in Navan has been killed in Syria. Shamseddin Gaidan, who came to Ireland in 2001, returned to his native Libya for a holiday last summer. Instead of returning to Ireland, however, he is believed to have joined rebel forces in Syria instead.

2. #BRITAIN: The credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Britain’s government bond rating one notch from the top AAA to AA1, for the first time since 1978. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said that the news would redouble his resolve “to deliver our economic recovery plan,” which is based on deep spending cuts.

3. #BODY: A post mortem is to be carried out on a body which was discovered in Irish waters last night. RTÉ News is reporting that the body was discovered off the coast of Skerries, when it became caught in the nets of a fishing trawler.

4. #HEALTH INSURANCE: Laya Healthcare, the health insurance provider formerly known as Quinn, is to increase its premiums by an average of 10.8 per cent from 1 April. The proposed hike is the second for the insurer in 2013, following increases of between three and 14 per cent on 1 January.

5. #ADRIAN DONOHOE: The two men who were arrested yesterday as the result of six searches in the Dundalk area of Co Louth have been released, according to RTÉ News. The arrests were as part of the continuing investigation into the death of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.

6. #NORTHERN IRELAND: Over 350 members of the PSNI have been injured as a result of their policing of parades and flag protests over the last eight months, according to The Irish News. The Police Federation, which represents the PSNI, said that it was  a “grim price to pay.”

7. #NORTH KOREA: Scheduled military drills by US forces alongside South Korean troops will “meet a miserable destruction”, according to a chief delegate of the North Korean military mission. RTÉ News is reporting that the warning came as tensions continue in light of the country’s nuclear test, which it carried out earlier this month.

8. #CROKE PARK: The additional five hours of work a week that had been proposed by government as part of talks to extend the Croke Park agreement may be scaled back, according to The Irish Times. This would be determined on a case-by-case basis, and would take into account the current working hours of individuals.

9. #EUROVISION: Singer/songwriter Ryan Dolan is to represent Ireland at the 58th Eurovision Song Contest, which is to be held in Malmö, Sweden in May. The winning song, Only Love Survives was written co-written with Wez Devine and was selected last night during The Late Late Show Eurovision special.