EACH WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five things we think you should know around this time.

1. #MERKEL It’s been a good day for German chancellor Angela Merkel who scored a big victory in the Bundestag which voted overwhelmingly to back German participation in the European bailout fund which is key to the very survival of the Eurozone.

2. #WHITE-COLLAR CRIME New legislation published today aims to tackle white-collar crime in Ireland. The Competition (Amendment) Bill will see the maximum prison sentence for competition offences increase from five to 10 years.

3. #CONSUMER SENTIMENT The continuing uncertainty in the economy and the expected budget cuts this winter has led to a drop in consumer confidence this month. Ireland has also been ranked the third-worst place to live in Europe according to a British-based website.

4. #MIRACLE But that’s enough bad news, here’s some good news courtesy of Mark McGovern whose ‘miracle’ recovery from an alleged assault during a Gaelic football match in San Francisco earlier this year has amazed everyone including himself.

5. #DUMP€D Getting dumped is costly, particularly if you’re a woman according to a new survey in Britain which has found that the average women spends over €500 ‘reinventing themselves’ after they are dumped.