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

1. #GERMANWINGS: A pilot of the flight that crashed in the French Alps was locked out of the cockpit, according to reports. Initial analysis of audio taken from the cockpit recorder reportedly indicates that one pilot left the cockpit but was unable to return.

2. #SURGE: There’s good news for Fine Gael in today’s Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll. The party’s support has bounced back after a 12-year low in the last poll and now stands at 24% – the same level as Sinn Féin.

3. #AIR STRIKES: Saudi Arabia has carried out air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. It’s in an attempt to save the country’s government as the country teeters on the brink of civil war.

4. #COURTS: The jury are due to continue their deliberations in the trial of Graham Dwyer this morning.  The judge yesterday stopped the clock on discussions as he wanted to clarify some issues.

5. #UP UP AND AWAY: New figures show that rents in Dublin went up by 9.6% last year, 5.8% across the country overall. The average price of renting a house in Dublin is now at €1,301.

6. #AUSTRALIA: The man found guilty of the rape and murder of Irish woman Jill Meagher has been convicted of attacks on three more women.

7. #SOCIAL WELFARE: Plans to give the self-employed the same entitlements to dole payments as their PAYE counterparts are due to be announced next week, according to the Irish Independent. The payments are currently means-tested.

8. #ON ALERT: A third ‘suspicious approach’ of a child in two weeks has been made in the Clonsilla area of Dublin, the Herald reports. A 13-year-old girl was approached from behind yesterday and a plastic bag pulled over her head, but after a struggle she escaped unharmed.

9. #ABUSE: George Hook has revealed details of an anonymous letter he received, that calling him “a waste of a pregnancy”. However, the Newstalk presenter says: “Don’t give in. We cannot allow the awful people who now inhabit the darkest crevices of human life to triumph.”