Nine Nine

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know as you kick off your day.

1. #COCAINE: Four people are to be questioned today in Cork and Yorkshire, after the Naval Service seized a tonne of cocaine worth €70-80 million off the coast of Cork.

2. #SEANAD: Enda Kenny has rejected criticism of the controversial nomination of John McNulty to the Seanad.

3. #WAR OF WORDS: EU Commissioner-designate Phil Hogan has threatened MEP Nessa Childers with legal action over a letter she wrote to her colleagues in the European Parliament

4. #AIRSTRIKES: US-led attacks against the Islamic State group killed 19 people in Syria last night, as the UK gears up to join the fight.

5. #SELL-OUTS: A sale of 30% of AIB sales could recoup €3.5 billion of taxpayers’ investment in bailing out the bank. (Irish Independent)

6. #SMASHING: The National Ploughing Championships enter their final day today, after breaking attendance records. (RTE)

7. #UNITED: The UN Security Council has passed a resolution forcing countries to crack down on their citizens fighting with the Islamic State group in the Middle East. (US News & World Report)

8. #LEAKS: An investigation by Mark Connaughton, Senior Counsel, has come away none-the-wiser as to whether someone at GSOC leaked to the press a claim that its office was being bugged.

9. #BON APPETIT: The prestigious Michelin Guide is out today, and all nine Irish restaurants with the honour have kept theirs for 2015. (Michelin)