EACH WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five stories you really should read by 5pm.

1. #OSAMA BIN LADEN: Al Qaeda has taken the surprise move of confirming that its leader Osama bin Laden was killed last weekend. The confirmation on a jihadist internet forum comes a day after US President Barack Obama said that he wouldn’t be releasing photographs of the terrorist’s corpse to prove he was dead. In their message today, Al Qaeda warned that they would avenge bin Laden’s death – and that Americans’ “happiness will turn to sadness”.

2. #7/7: The inquest into the deaths of 52 people during the London suicide bombings of 7 July 2005 has delivered sharp criticism of MI5′s handling of intelligence about an impending attack. The families of the victims say the inquest’s findings shows the whole of the UK security services must be reviewed.

3. #VHI: The CEO of VHI Healthcare has announced he is to resign. Jimmy Tolan had been under pressure earlier this year to disclose his salary when VHI raised health insurance premiums by about 15 per cent.

4. #DOCTOR DOOM: Leading economist Nouriel Roubini warns that the ECB’s plans to raise interest rates over the course of 2011 could send weaker members like Ireland into a ‘double dip’ recession. Roubini earned the nickname ‘Doctor Doom’ when he – correctly – predicted a collapse in the US housing market.

5. #GOOD NEWS: But cheer up – scientists believes a single gene determines how happy we will feel in our lifetime. (Although that might not be so great for those with the “short” version of that gene.)