EVERY WEEKDAY evening, TheJournal.ie brings you the five things you need to know by 5pm.

1. #EUROZONE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told the German parliament that she will push for a new EU Treaty to impose greater fiscal discipline within the EU. Her comments echoed those of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said yesterday that he would seek treaty changes to “rethink the organisation of Europe” and the euro.

2. #HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Meanwhile, the ECB is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the euro. Seriously. They’ve even made a video.

3. #OCCUPY NAAS: Nine students from the Maynooth Students’ Union have occupied the Naas constituency office of FG TD Anthony Lawlor as part of ongoing protests against cuts to third-level grants and increased fees.

4. #EXCHEQUER: The latest figures for the state’s exchequer returns for January 2011 to the end of November are €2.3 billion higher than for the same period of last year – but over €500 million lower than expected, or 1.6 per cent below target.

5. #TGIF: It’s finally Friday, so take a load off this evening and treat yourself to this week’s animal slideshow and/or the short film Bono and my Ex. The Late Late Toy Show is also lined up for after this evening’s Nine News – you can catch a sneak peek of the set in this slideshow – but up first is the Euro 2012 draw. TheScore.ie is liveblogging it here.