Every weekday evening,TheJournal.ie brings you the five things you really need to know by 5pm.

1. #TIGER KIDNAPPING: A Kildare woman and her two children are recovering this afternoon after being taken hostage and abducted in an attempted tiger kidnapping last night. The woman’s husband Liam O’Sullivan – a senior executive at An Post – was ordered to go to work at the GPO and to leave €100,000 in a specified location, but Mrs O’Sullivan was able to escape and inform Gardaí of the plot, which was then broken up.

2. #RONAN KERR: The Crimestoppers UK charity has offered a £50,000 reward to anyone providing information that leads to the capture of those responsible for the murder of PSNI officer Ronan Kerr in Omagh on Saturday. Crimestoppers’ deputy CEO Dave Cording described the attack as a “despicable crime”, while Enda Kenny has also been condemning it in the Dáil.

3. #MURDER: A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Clare woman Deirdre McCarthy, who died in violent circumstances after going missing last week. The man, in his 30s, is being held at Ennis Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

4. #OZONE: New studies by the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation have shown that the ozone layer over the Arctic diminished by about 40 per cent over the winter – and that the layer is now disappearing faster than ever before.

5. #IVORY COAST: Disputed Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo is reported to be hiding in a bunker in his presidential home – while the building is now occupied by forces loyal to his successor, Alassane Ouattara – as France’s foreign minister Alain Juppe confirmed that Gbagbo’s cabinet was attempting to negotiate a departure from the country.