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

1. #CHRISTCHURCH: Several serious aftershocks have struck Christchurch in New Zealand, less than four months after the city suffered a devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake which killed 181 people. Further aftershocks are expected throughout the night and no fatalities have been reported.

2. #ENERGY: Bord Gáis Energy is warning that energy prices will rise before the end of this year. Natural gas prices tend to track oil prices, which have jumped, according to Bord Gáis trading analyst Michael Kelleher on Morning Ireland.

3. #IMF ATTACK: The hacking attack on the IMF’s computer system may have been the work of a foreign government, according to security sources cited by Bloomberg. The extent of the attack is still not known.

4. #SYRIA: A mass grave containing the bodies of at least 10 soldiers has been found in the Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour, which government forces stormed at the weekend. The Telegraph reports that locals and defecting soldiers claim that the bodies are those of soldiers who were killed by security forces for refusing to use their weapons on protesters.

5. #FBI: The FBI is giving its around 14,000 agents extra powers which allow them to push the bounds of personal privacy. The new measures include searching through household waste and using surveillance teams to follow people who’ve come to their attention, according to the New York Times.

6. #CONDOLENCE: A public book of condolence for the late Brian Lenihan will open this morning at Government Buildings in Dublin. Another book will be open at the Civic Offices in Athlone, Co Westmeath, every day this week. The former minister’s remains will lie in repose today before being removed to St Mochta’s Church in Porterstown this evening.

7. #PLACEMENTS: The state spent €2.3 million last year on placing 15 young people in foster care and special facilities outside of Ireland, including Scotland and Sweden, according to a report in the Examiner.

8. #NOT TALIBAN: Some 90 per cent of the ‘Taliban fighters’ captured by Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan and reported by the commander of those operations General David Petraeus in August 2010 were actually civilians, IPS has reported.

9. #WINNING: Irishman Gerry Duffy has won the DECA Ironman Challenge which involves completing ten Ironman distance triathalons in ten days. Duffy competed to raise funds for Irish Autism Action and last year ran 32 marathons in Ireland in just 32 days. Here he is, five days into the Ironman event, talking about how tough the competition was at that stage – and how little sleep some of the competitors were getting: