EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know a little before 9am.

1. #SPLISH SPLASH: Weather warnings have been lifted as the heavy rain that battered the east coast clears. Motorists are being advised to take extreme care on the roads.

2. #WATER ALLOWANCE: The Sunday Times reports that Ireland’s top economic think-tank has warned there’s a chance that Irish Water estimates on how much water children will use is wrong. The 21,000 litres allowance is a sharp decrease from previous estimates.

3. #OPINION POLL: Fine Gael has suffered a 4% fall in support in the latest Sunday Independent/Millward Brown poll, down to 25% and just one point ahead of Sinn Féin’s 24%. Labour is up one to 7%, with new leader Joan Burton’s approval rating up massively compared to her predecessor.

4. #GAZA: Early morning air strikes have killed 12 Palestinians, while Israel has announced the death of a soldier previously feared kidnapped.

5. #FGM: Gardaí have confirmed that no one has been prosecuted for carrying out female genital mutilation, despite fears that the practice continues two years after being outlawed.

6. #CHINA: Authorities have confirmed that 96 people were killed in a ‘gang attack’ in Xinjiang last week. However, a human rights group has said it was a protest against a Ramadan crackdown on Muslim.

7. #WHOOPS: The Sunday World reports that a bag containing a laptop and documents belonging to member of An Garda Síochána were seemingly discovered in an Amsterdam brothel. A senior officer is investigating.

8.  #ACROSS THE BORDER: Patients in the Republic are paying as much as 14 times more for medicine than in Northern Ireland, a survey by the Sunday Business Post has revealed. One medication, Zyprexa, costs €80 more.

9. BACOPALYPSE NOW: Canada is in the grip of a Pork-pocalypse, with prices surging to an all-time high, but is Ireland facing the same fate? We took a look at the figures.