The 9 at 9 Good morning! Here are nine things to know before you start your day…

EACH DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you should know with your morning cup of coffee.

1. #MADIBA: South African legend Nelson Mandela remains in a critical condition in hospital this morning following confirmation that his health deteriorated over the weekend. Current President Jacob Zuma has called on the country to pray for the 94-year-old. It is 18 years to the day since the anti-apartheid hero wore a Spingbok jersey at Ellis Park to hand the Rugby World Cup to Francois Pienaar, creating a historic and unprecedented moment in South Africa’s race struggle.

2. #LIES AND VIDEOTAPES: The Irish Independent has got hold of a number of tape recordings from inside Anglo Irish Bank in the days leading up to the bank bailout, revealing how the bank’s top managers knew about the true extent of losses at the institution but misled the government with smaller figures.

A sample from a telephone conversation between two senior officials:

If they saw the enormity of it up front, they might decide they have a choice. You know what I mean? They might say the cost to the taxpayer is too high…if it doesn’t look too big at the outset…if it doesn’t look big, big enough to be important, but not too big that it kind of spoils everything, then, then I think you can have a chance. So I think it can creep up.

The transcripts can be found on the Irish Independent’s website.

3. #WHERE’S EDDIE? The US has said it expects Russia to hand over Edward Snowden, the man responsible for this month’s massive intelligence leaks. The 30-year-old, who is wanted on espionage charges, is due to leave Moscow today and is bound for Ecuador, via Cuba.

4. #ROADS: A man in his 20s has died from injuries sustained in a two-car collision in Ballybofey, Donegal in the early hours of this morning. The other four occupants of the vehicles are all recovering in hospital.

5. #ABORTION: Another Fine Gael member has come out against the government’s proposed abortion legislation. Kerry Senator Tom Sheahan has told the Irish Times he would quit the party before voting for the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.

Meanwhile, the newspaper spoke to the parents of Savita Halappanavar who believe the law does not go far enough as it fails to protect the health of a woman. They also called the report into their daughter’s death ‘a whitewash’.

6. #DEAL: Mobile phone operator Three has bought O2′s Irish operation from Telefonica for about €850 million, it has been announced this morning.

7. #TRANSPORT: Dublin city centre dwellers and workers should prepare themselves for continuous works in the coming months as the first phase of the Luas Cross City construction line work kicks off today.

8. #DUNBLANE: Ahead of the first serve at Wimbledon today, Andy Murray gave an emotional interview to BBC One in which he recalled the day his home town of Dunblane was terrorised by a shooting at his primary school. On 13 March 1996, Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and one teacher at the school the tennis star attended.

9. #THE INJURED LIST: Rugby fans woke up to bad news this morning as Paul O’Connell has been ruled out of what remains of the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. He suffered a broken arm during Saturday’s first test match.