EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your first cup of coffee…

1. #EUROZONE: The European Commission’s Economics Minister, Olli Rehn, has said that he still hopes to help Ireland achieve a deal on restructuring its banking debts – while also suggesting that Spain could be given an extension to meet its own deficit deadlines.

Speaking at a European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg yesterday, Rehn expressed hope that Ireland could be permitted to rearrange its Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes and other banking liabilities in order to lower the burden on the taxpayer.

2. #GRANTS: The Minister for Education has urged students hoping to secure grants for third-level courses for the coming academic year to apply soon. Ruairi Quinn that the newly-established online system would speed up the application and decision-making process and save the Exchequer about €5 million each year.

3. #WALLACE: The weekly meeting of the whips for the five main Dáil groupings is to discuss today a possible all-party motion of censure condemning Wexford independent TD Mick Wallace over his tax affairs. They will discuss whether they can agree the format of a motion formally condemning Wallace for knowingly under-declaring the VAT liabilities of his construction company, M and J Wallace Ltd.

4. #SYMPHYSIOTOMIES: A Government-commissioned draft report on the use of symphysiotomies in Ireland (a procedure which widens the pelvis for childbirth) has stated that the laws of the Catholic Church influenced its use in Ireland, the Irish Times reports this morning. The procedure has since been linked to lifelong health problems, including incontinence and chronic pain.

5. #EXPENSE: The average amount of money spent on first Holy Communions this year was €744 for each child – down by over 25 per cent on last year, according a new survey. The breakdown of spending in the survey by Ulster Bank also showed that the amounts collected by children has declined – from €468 to €432.

6. #DUNDALK: Residents of about 50 apartments in a Dundalk complex were evacuated last night after a fire broke out just before 11pm. One man has been brought to hospital with injuries but his condition is not believed to be life-threatening, RTÉ reports.

7. #SYRIA: A new UN report says that children are being used as human shields by government troops in Syria. The UN’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict also claims that children have been victims of sexual violence and torture while in detention, the BBC reports.

8. #DINGO BABY: An Australian coroner has brought to an end a 32-year legal case that has attracted worldwide attention by ruling that a baby who disappeared in the outback was snatched and killed by a dingo. Nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain was discovered missing after being placed in a tent to sleep as her family camped in Uluru in 1980; her mother Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton served jail time for murder before being released on new evidence.

She always insisted that a dingo had taken her daughter.

9. #WARRIORS: Archaeologists in China have discovered over 100 terracotta warriors alongside terracotta horses and chariots in the latest dig at the famous Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses museum site. Check out our photo slideshow of the new find.