Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really need to know with your bacon and eggs.

1. #POLITICS: The Taoiseach is to meet Opposition leaders today before he finalises the four year economic plan. Enda Kenny wants an independent verification of the Department of Finance of figures, after he accused Fianna Fáil of misleading the public over the state of the nation’s finances, while Labour leader Eamon Gilmore added that every projection made by the government so far was wrong.

2. #COURTS: Four gardaí beat a teenager with batons while his mother was locked in the bathroom of their flat, a court has heard. Garda Seán O’Leary, Eoin Murtagh, Alan Conlon and Claire Delaney have pleaded not guilty to forcible entry, assault causing harm to Owen Gaffney and trespass in his Basin Street Upper flat.

3. #AVOCA: The man who died following an assault connected to a row over a football match in Avoca, Co Wicklow died as a result of being struck by a car and not because of the injuries sustained in the fight, a post mortem has established.

4. #KANGAROO: The man presented with a gift of a kangaroo at his 30th birthday party in Liffey Valley denies it was given ecstasy and booze, the Star reports this morning. Gardaí told the newspaper they were investigating an allegation that it was given alcohol, but that there was no evidence it had. The manager of Circus Sydney, which is currently based in Lucan, said he did not supply the wallaby to the party. Gardaí and the DSPCA are still trying to establish what happened to the animal after it was “escorted off the premises” by the hotel’s security staff.

5. #DOH! A man who has been banned by the courts from flying with Ryanair since 2002 could face jail after launching a legal action for €500 in compensation against the airline … after he missed a flight from Germany to Dublin last year.

6. #GANGS: Gang warfare could have spread all over the country within five years unless something is done to stop drug barons, a conference has heard. A drugs workers in Dublin claims the problem is much worse than media reports suggest: Susan Collins of Addiction Response Crumlin said there could be 17 shootings in the Crumlin-Drimnagh area alone over two days and people wouldn’t hear about it.

7. #RYANAIR: “Sack the bastards” in the civil service is Michael O’Leary’s solution to the budget deficit. O’Leary tells the Irish Independent that everyone, including the rich and the poor, should be paying more tax, and the unemployed should only get the dole for six months before being told to go and get a job.

8. #UAE: A man can beat his wife and kids to discipline them as long as he leaves no marks on them, the United Arab Emirates’ Federal Supreme Court has ruled.

9. #SAUDI: A Saudi prince who is definitely NOT gay has been convicted of the murder of his manservant in London, described to the court as the last act in a deeply abusive relationship. The 34-year-old was fuelled by champagne and cocktails when he bit his servant hard on both cheeks during the attack. Jurors heard that Bandera Abdulaziz was left so worn down and injured by previous assaults that he let Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Saud kill him without a fight. But in court the prince’s lawyers seemed more concerned with covering up evidence of Al Saud’s homosexuality.