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

1.#BABY BOOM: Ireland’s birth rate has slowed down, but we still have more children than anyone in the EU. New figures from the ESRI show that Ireland’s birth rate is 15.6 per 1,000, 5.2 higher than the EU average.

2.#DUNNE DEAL: Trade  union Mandate has criticised plans by Dunnes Stores to withdraw staff parking at a number of stores in the run-up to Christmas. The union says that the decision is ‘inconsiderate’ and could cost staff up to €76 a week.

3.#NANNY: The Cavan woman charged with the murder of a child in her care will appear in a Massachusetts court today charged with murder. Aisling Brady McCarthy is accused of killing one-year-old Rehma Sabir at the beginning of the year. She denies the charges.

4.#ALL BETS OFF: Bookmakers Paddy Power have issued a profit warning, saying that profits this year will be around €11 million less than last year. The company blamed “unfavourable” sports results for the performance.

5.#RIGHTS: UCD Students’ Union has said that students’ rights are being infringed in on-campus residences. The union is angered that CCTV has been installed in student accommodation and authority figures are allowed enter the dorms without warning.

6.#STALLED FORD: Toronto mayor Rob Ford had more of his powers limited by the city’s council last night. Ford, who has admitted to smoking crack, responded by calling the move a “coup d’etat”. He then knocked a female councillor in her 60s over, leaving her with a bruised lip.

7.#STUDENTS: Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has announced that the Government is aiming to increase the number of Indian students studying in Ireland. There will be around 2,000 Indians studying here by the end of the year, with aims to increase that to 5,000 within the next five years.

8.#STORMS: Fourteen people are dead after flash floods hit the Italian island of Sardinia. Three people from the same family died when a road bridge collapsed onto their car after rivers burst their banks.

9.#IT’S ONLY WORDS: The Oxford University Press has named ‘selfie’ as their word of the year. The word, which has been in use since 2002, has come into the mainstream conciousness because of its popularity on Instagram and Twitter.