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

1. #NORRIS: Senator David Norris says he isn’t giving up on his presidential bid, according to an interview with the Sunday Independent, despite admitting his campaign is in serious trouble over the release of a letter he wrote on official Seanad paper in 1997. In that letter, published online by RTÉ, Norris appealed to Israel’s high court for clemency for his former partner Ezra Yizhak who had been convicted of having sex with a minor. Several of Norris’ campaign staff have resigned in the past few days.

2. #STATE SALE: The government is planning to raise €2 billion through the sale of minority stakes in state companies such as the ESB, the Sunday Business Post reports (print edition). Such a move would have to be approved by the EU/ECB/IMF troika.

3. #US DEBT: Republican Congressional leaders and the White House made a significant breakthrough in negotiations over the US debt crisis yesterday, according to officials close to the talks. Steps agreed by the two sides could see the US debt ceiling being raised by $2.4 trillion this year. The negotiations continue.

4. #IRAN: An Iranian man convicted of throwing acid into the face of a university classmate was due to be punished be being blinded, but has been pardoned by his victim. The AFP reports that Ameneh Bahrami decided to pardon her attacker at the last minute. She has called for €2m in compensation from him to guarantee her life and future.

5. #INJURED: GAA star Mark McGovern, who was seriously injured while playing in San Francisco last month, has been taken off the critical list by US doctors, the Sunday World (print) reports. However, doctors say they do not know yet if he has suffered permanent brain damage.

6.#STANDARD OF LIVING: A new report by Indecon quoted by the Sunday Independent says that Irish people are, on average, 30 per cent worse off now than before the recession. Around 300,000 people have lost 50 per cent of their income. The report also says that the gap between public and private sector pay has increased to 44 per cent.

7. #AFGHANISTAN: Five people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack at a police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan. Helmand’s provincial spokesman said the men guarding the station took the brunt of the attack but that three civilians, including one child, are among the 12 injured in the attack.

8. #BOBBY MOFFETT: A 55-year-old man arrested yesterday by PSNI officers investigating the murder of Bobby Moffett last year has been released without charge.

9. #FIFA: The Republic of Ireland soccer team has been drawn against Kazakhstan, the Faroe Islands, Germany, Sweden and Austria in Group C for the qualification round of the 2014 World Cup.