Every afternoon TheJournal.ie brings you 5 things you really need to know by 5pm.

1. # POPE’S VISIT: Pope Benedict XVI has kicked off his visit to the United Kingdom, having being welcomed by the Queen.

He is due to say Mass in Glasgow this evening, and has offered the UK “the warm hand of friendship”. Benedict also criticised Catholic Church leaders for being “insufficiently vigilant” during decades of sexual abuse of children, but also urged the country not to engage in aggressive secularism.

Benedict’s visit marks the first ever state visit by a pontiff to the UK. However, while many Catholics came out to welcome Benedict, not everyone was happy to see him: Ian Paisley led a a protest against the visit, which he called a “nonsense”.

2. # INQUEST: It has been confirmed that the cause of death of a 5-year-old girl stemmed from an incident shortly after her premature birth, when she was given a baby feed that contained a dangerous level of magnesium.

Elaine Barrett from Claregalway suffered severe brain damage after being given the food. German pharmaceutical company, B Braun Medical Ltd, admitted human and technical error in the manufacturing of the product.

The child’s parents Frank and Eileen said they will never get justice for their daughter, but that the inquest had finally given them the answers that they have demanded for seven years.

3. # PHILIPPINES: A woman has admitted that she gave birth in an airplane bathroom and abandoned her newborn baby in a bin.

The 30-year-old woman, who has not been named, was brought to the capital Manila after authorities tracked her down in the north of the country.

During an emotional interview, she told a lawmaker that she had been working as a maid in Qatar when she was raped by her employer. She said she was forced to return home when the man’s wife found out she was pregnant.

The woman, who reportedly has a husband and two children in the Philippines, said that she did not know how to explain to her family the reason for her premature return home.

Authorities are currently conducting DNA tests to confirm the woman is the baby’s mother.

4. #BRUSSELS: The Taoiseach is in Brussels today to attend a summit of European leaders. The visit will be his first official function overseas since his disastrous performance on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland on Tuesday.

An embarrassed Cowen apologised yesterday for the interview, following a day of speculation by the domestic and international media about whether he had been “drunk or hungover” while on air – as suggested in a tweet by Fine Gael’s Simon Coveney.

The meeting will focus on how to tighten budgets in order to avoid another financial crash as well as bilateral trade agreements between the EU and South Korea.

Reports suggest, however, that the event is being overshadowed by tensions between France and the European Commission after the executive threatened to take legal action against the state for its repatriation of immigrant Roma Gypsies.

Cowen is no doubt grateful that the attention is not all on him…

5. # CANCER: A programme to administer a cervical cancer vaccination to schoolgirls began this morning.

The Gardasil vaccine is being offered free of charge to 57,000 girls in first and second years of secondary school. It is hoped that the vaccinations will save about 60 lives a year by guarding against the HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), which causes the disease.

Dr Diane Harper,  a researcher involved in the drug’s development, has warned that serious side effects have been linked to Gardasil. However, the HSE said it was a “safe and fully tested vaccine”.