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

1. #CORK: A post-mortem is to be carried out today on body of a 53-year-old man found in Bantry, west Cork, earlier this week. Gardaí are continuing to question a man in his 70s in relation to the incident, who was arrested yesterday. No new arrests have been made.

2. #FRANCE: French police have travelled to England to search the home of a British couple who were shot dead along with two others in the French Alps. Saad al-Hilli, his wife Iqbal, his mother-in-law, and a passing French cyclist were all killed in the attack. The only surviving witnesses, the couple’s two young daughters, are now under police protection.

3. #ROADS: The southbound route of the M1 motorway has reopened following a fire which broke out last night near Junction 18 - however the northbound route remains closed to traffic. Meanwhile, AA Roadwatch has also warned motorists to slow down in Carrick-On-Shannon, Co Leitrim, and Letterkenny, Co Donegal, where roads are damp.

Check AARoadwatch for further updates.

4. #PARALYMPICS: – The Taoiseach Enda Kenny has congratulated Mark Rohan and Jason Smyth on their achievement of winning double gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympics, and also Catherine O’Neill who won a silver medal in the F51/52/53 Women’s Discus. “Winning a medal at any major championships is a tremendous achievement but to win at the highest stage of them all proves an athlete to be one of the best in the world not just physically, but mentally too,” he said ahead of the final day of the games, which will take place on Sunday.

5. #DRUGS: The Department of Health is in talks with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Asscoaition about a deal that could cut the State’s annual drugs bill by up to €400 million, according to this morning’s Irish Times. The deal could also include a reimbursement agreement on the drug Kelydeco, a new but expensive treatment for a specific type of cystic fibrosis.

6. #ALAN RYAN: Gardaí are continuing to question a man in connection with the murder Alan Ryan, who had links to the Real IRA and was shot near his Dublin home on Monday. The burial of Ryan, 32, will take place in Donaghmede later today.

7. #CHINA: The death toll from twin earthquakes that hit China’s south-western region on Friday has risen to at least 80. Rescue workers are struggling to reach outlying towns due to thousands of houses toppling during the quakes and disrupted communications , leading officials to fear the death toll will rise further still.

8. #US: Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are engaged in a war of words over unemployment levels in the US, following the release of a disappointing jobs report. Obama admitted the figures were “not good enough” but accused Republicans of blocking a plan that would create one million new jobs. Meanwhile, Romney said the incumbent president’s policies had simply failed, reports the BBC.

9. #BREW: The first cup of coffee of the morning is something many of us look forward to – but why does it often smell better than it tastes? Scientists have claimed to have solved the mystery: we have, essentially, two sense of smell.

The act of swallowing sends smells to the back of the nose from inside the mouth, changing it, said Prof Barry Smith of the University of London speaking at the British Science Festival in Aberdeen, reports the Telegraph. By extension, the theory explains why the aroma strong-smelling cheese can be off-putting at first but more pleasant after you begin eating it.