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

1. #BUSHFIRES: More than 200 homes have been destroyed and many others damaged as fears grow that an enormous bushfire in southeastern Australia could merge with others to create a ‘mega-fire’ that could threaten Sydney as weather conditions worsen.

2. #BLOODY SUNDAY: The PSNI is to question witnesses to Bloody Sunday as part of a new murder investigation into the killing of 13 civil rights marchers by British soldiers in Derry on 30 January 1972.

3. #HEALTH CUTS: As pressure increases on Minister for Health James Reilly, the union representing nurses and midwives has warned that Budget cuts  of €666 million will have a severe effect on patients.

4. #BANKING: Hundreds of jobs could be at risk at AIB as the bank is considering outsourcing 1,000 positions, the Irish Independent reports.

5. #MYSTERY: A couple who claimed to be the parents of a 4-year-old girl found living at a Roma camp in Greece will appear in court later today charged with her abduction, the BBC reports.

6. #NUKES: Britain is to build its first nuclear power station in two decades, the Guardian reports. The reactors at Hinkley in Somerset are expected to open in 2023, will run for 35 years and will produce 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity.

7. #TRAFFICKED?: Gardaí are concerned that a young teenage girl found abandoned on Dublin’s O’Connell Street may have been smuggled into the country by sex traffickers, The Star reports. The paper says that the girl told Gardaí she was kidnapped and brought into Ireland.

8. #COURT: Former solicitor Michael Lynn will appear in court in Brazil today to fight an extradition request lodged by the Irish government, five years after he fled Ireland leaving behind debts of more than €80 million.

9. #VAN THE MAN: Van Morrison is to play a free concert in Belfast to celebrate being conferred with the freedom of the city. Tickets will be allocated by a lottery but will only be available to residents of Belfast.