EVERY AFTERNOON, TheJournal.ie brings you the five things you really need to know at 5 o’clock.

1. #JAPAN: The nuclear cores at Fukushima nuclear power plant reactors 1, 2 and 3 are all now believed to be melting, after cooling systems at all three failed, Japan’s nuclear authorities have said.

It was eariler reported that the cooling mixture of seawater and boron in the number 2 reactor had totally evaporated, with the reactor’s nuclear rods therefore totally exposed for a significant period of time.

2. #SWITZERLAND: Plans to construct nuclear power stations in Switzerland have been put on hold by the country’s authorities following the explosions at Japan’s Fukushima plant.

3. #RACE FOR THE ÁRAS: Senator David Norris has launched a campaign for the presidency of Ireland.

Norris, a member of the Seanad for 24 years, needs to seek the nomination of four county councils – or the nomination of twenty members of the Oireachtas – in order to submit a valid nomination.

4. #NEW YORK: Experts investigating the caused behind Saturday’s bus crash in New York City, in which 15 people were killed, are trying to establish whether driver fatigue may have been to blame for the accident.

5. #SPEED CAMERA: Gardaí in Wexford are appealing for witnesses to a firebomb attack, after a mobile speed camera van near Arklow was “extensively damaged” last night.

The van had been manned at the time of the attack: the driver noticed a burning smell and got out of the vehicle, only to discover it had been set alight.