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

1.#BELFAST: A security alert is underway in Belfast after an explosion of a hijacked car in the city centre. Roads around the Victoria Street area have been closed off after reports that a car had exploded.

2.#HSE: The Health Service Executive will today present their service plan to the Minister for Health. The plan will outline how the executive proposes to implement cuts and savings totalling €666 million.

3.#SLAVERY: New details have emerged about the lives of the women held captive at a flat in London. A number of papers today carry information of a letter reportedly sent by the youngest of the three to a neighbour. The two suspects have been linked to 13 properties in London.

4.#INVESTMENT: The percentage of foreign direct investment (FDI) to areas outside Ireland’s two biggest urban centres – Cork and Dublin – has fallen for the last three years. The decline has led to a target of 50 per cent of FDI to be around the country to be dropped from the Action Plan for Jobs.

5.#PHILLIPINES: Irish officials will fly out to the Philippines this week to assess Ireland’s aid strategy in the country in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. The experts from the Defence Forces and Department of Foreign Affairs will meet with various government agencies and NGOs in Manila.

6.#ROAD DEATH: A 74-year-old woman was killed on a Longford road last night. The woman was struck by a car as she crossed the road at Lisnagrish near Edgeworthstown.

7.#SEIZURES: The number of alcohol confiscations in public places has dropped, it has been revealed. Last year there were 354 seizures of alcohol in public areas, down from 480 last year.

8.#IRAN: An interim deal that will see Iran rein in its nuclear programme has received warm welcomes around the world, except from Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it an “historic mistake”.

9.#TAX: The European Commission will publish proposals that will close more corporate tax loopholes. The plan will amend a directive that sees many companies in Europe paying no tax.