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

1. #BUDGET2012: The Budget for the coming year will be announced over the next two days, with changes to public expenditure to be unveiled today, Monday 5 December, and taxation measures to be outlined tomorrow, Tuesday 6 December. Check out what to expect here.

2. #EURO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are to meet in Paris today to discuss the possibility of EU treaty change and ways to promote a deeper fiscal union within the eurozone, with a view to securing a more significant intervention by the ECB in the EU’s debt crisis. They will present their ideas at an EU summit this Friday.

3. #RTÉ:The State broadcaster has reportedly been ordered by the BAI to televise a correction on Wednesday night about its “harmful” and “inaccurate” coverage of the women at the centre of the Corrib Garda ‘rape’ tape. RTÉ reported that 31 March recording of Gardaí talking about rape had been “tampered with” before being handed to the Garda Ombudsman – however, the Shell to Sea group say a file recorded earlier in the month had been deleted from the digital camera in the presence of NUI Maynooth academic staff, in line with academic research ethics and data protection.

4. #ALCOHOL: The latest figures from the Health Research Board‘s Drug-Related Death Index show that deaths connected to heroin use have trebled since records began, but that alcohol is still responsible for the greatest number of drug-related deaths.

5. #ASSAULT: Gardaí in Cork have appealed for witness to come forward in relation to a sexual assault of a woman in the city on Saturday. The woman, aged in her 30s, was attacked in the grounds of the Church of the Holy Spirit at Dennehy’s Cross by two men at about 3am. Anyone with information have been asked to contact gardaí in Togher on 021-4947120.

6. #RUSSIA: Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party looks set to hang onto its majority in the lower chamber of the Russian parliament – but only just. With 95 per cent of the votes counted, the party have secured 49.7 per cent support, which is a considerable drop from its previous majority of 64 per cent.

7. #IVORY COAST: The former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, is to make his first appearance at the International Criminal Court in The Hague today, reports the BBC. He faces four charges of crimes against humanity, including rape and murder.

8. #PERU: A state of emergency has been announced in northern Peru over a disputed gold mine project, which has triggered waves of protest by locals. Demonstrators say the project by US firm Newmont will contaminate water supplies. Several protesters were injured at the mine last week during a demonstration.

9. #BEER: It may be most men’s dream to be surrounded by rolling Alaskan mountains with a hearty supply of beer – but it proved to be a lifeline to Clifton Vial.

After his truck was caught in a snowdrift 40 miles from his home in Nome, Alaska, the 52-year-old operator mechanic realised he was stuck in -17C temperatures. However, he survived his 60 hour ordeal after he found cans of beer that had frozen solid and ate the contents like tinned food, reports the Telegraph.