Updated 9.00 am

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

1. #CONNECTED: Linkedin is to expand its Dublin HQ to make room for a doubling of staff up to 1,200 people.

2. #OUTBREAK: An Australian nurse is being assessed for the Ebola virus after she developed a fever after returning from Sierra Leone.

3. #RISING: Sinn Féin is up 4% in a new opinion poll putting them level with Fine Gael as the most popular party in the State.

4. #OUTAGES: ESB crews are working to restore power to about 10,000 homes after transformers were struck by lightning.

5. #IRISH WATER: People who seek reduced water charges on health grounds may be asked to provide evidence of their medical needs reports the Irish Examiner.

6. #KOBANE: US-led warplanes have intensified bombing raids against Islamic State jihadists in a desperate bid to help Kurdish forces in the Syrian border town of Kobabe.

7. SUICIDE: A two-day conference by the Irish Association of Suicidology is being held in Mayo featuring speakers including sportsman Conor Cusack.

8. #BUSH: An Australian woman has been found 17 days after she got lost in the bush in northern Queensland with no food according to BBC News.

9. #ALL-STARS: All-Ireland champions Kilkenny lead the way with 11 nominations for this year’s GAA-GPA Allstar hurling awards. Tipperary aren’t far behind.