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

1. #EUROZONE: EU leaders continue to consider how to ensure the new Greek bailout measures will not cause more difficulties for other areas in the eurozone and are due to meet on Sunday for a summit on the ongoing debt crisis. The ECB’s Jean-Claude Trichet says that changes should be made to the EU treaty to prevent any one country from “straying” and destabilising the rest of the region, Reuters report.

2. #SALARIES: Business group IBEC says its latest pay survey indicates that pay freezes will continue next year. It also said that pay expectations need to reflect current economic realities.

3. #GUN: Gardaí investigating the fatal shooting of 36-year-old Darren Falsey in August say they have recovered the firearm used in the killing.

4. #PARENTLINE: More parents have been calling the confidential phone service Parentline over the past year that in 2010, according to new figures. Over one in ten calls made to the line were linked to abuse, while over a fifth of calls were related to teenage issues.

5. #ABDUCTED: A Somali official at the UN has told the BBC that if Kenyan troops have entered the country to chase suspected kidnappers, it would be a violation of Somali sovereignty. The troops are reported to have followed militants suspected of carrying out abductions in the area, including that of two Spanish aid workers last week, across the Somali border.

6. #MITCHELL: Presidential election candidate Gay Mitchell denies he has been confrontational in his campaign, telling RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that his questioning of fellow candidate Martin McGuinness was part of the “normal discourse”. Meanwhile, if you want to see where the candidates will be canvassing today, check out TheJournal.ie‘s #Áras11 diary.

7. #SARKOZY: France’s Socialist Party has selected Francois Hollande to face Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s presidential election. Hollande says he believes he can beat the incumbent and is currently polling better than the president among voters.

8. #SHRINKING: Climate change may be causing animals to shrink, according to a new report published in Nature Climate Change. The researchers say that changing weather patterns and warmer temperatures have led many species to shrink in size and “many others” are likely to follow suit.

9. #DUCK RACE: The third annual charity rubber duck race in Cumberland, Rhode Island got underway over the weekend – albeit to a slow start. Some of the 17,000 participants were reluctant to get wet, while it took a kayak crew to get the action going: