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

1. #TARGET EXPRESS: Staff of the collapsed haulage firm Target Express – which is now set for liquidation – are to meet with the company’s interim liquidators this morning to discuss the prospect of receiving their arrears wages. Sit-ins are continuing at some of the company’s depots as staff look to get hold of their redundancy entitlements and any unpaid wages.

2. #STABBING: A man is due in court this morning over the fatal stabbing of Gerard Burnett in Mulhuddart last week. The 20-year-old was charged by Gardaí last night. A second man, aged 18, remains in custody.

3. #DRUGS: Two men have been arrested after Gardaí seized cocaine worth an estimated €140,000 from a car in Lucan. A follow-up search saw a large quantity of cash seized from a house.

4. #ROUND TWO: The second round of CAO offers has been distributed this morning, with 3,422 students receiving offers for college places – with just over 1,500 of those being offered places in degree courses. There were few dramatic drops in points entry requirements for various courses this morning, with some colleges only offering places in a handful of courses.

5. #COLD CASE: The PSNI has said it is now treating disappearance of a 19-year-old – who was last seen in 1989 – as murder. Officers said they have a number of new lines of inquiry into the disappearance of Caroline Graham, who was originally from Newry but went missing from Portadown in 1989.

6. #WATERFORD IT: A report into spending at the office of the former president of Waterford Institute of Technology has outlined lavish spending at the office – including €290,000 on hospitality expenses over eight years. The report also outlines one instance where the office chartered an aircraft to bring a visitor from Waterford directly back to Dublin, at a cost of €4,200 to the college.

7. #US 2012: As the Republican National Convention continues, vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan has delivered a stinging attack on President Barack Obama’s economic record, accusing his Democratic opponents of saddling the public with four years of failed policies. Romney himself will address delegates this evening. Obama has been keeping busy, meanwhile – taking to social news site Reddit to field public questions.

8. #PARALYMPICS: Let the games begin – again! The London 2012 Paralympic games kick off this morning after last night’s Opening Ceremony. Here’s TheScore.ie’s guide to the Irish in action today.

9. #STROKE: Finally, good news for cocoa-loving men this morning: new research has suggested that increasing a man’s chocolate intake can reduce his risk of stroke. The Swedish study of over 37,000 men found that those who ate the most chocolate were the least likely to have a stroke. Researchers have insisted, however, that the finding is not an excuse to over-eat the brown stuff. Sorry…