EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you up to speed just as you’re heading for the door…

1. #BREAST CANCER: An independent UK review has found that routine breast cancer screening reduces deaths but can also lead in thousands being given unnecessary treatment each year. According to the study, some women have been diagnosed with tumours that would have remained undetected for the rest of their lives and which they would not have died from.

2. #SANDY: The US east coast is reeling after being hit by Superstorm Sandy, which left 16 people dead. The storm has led to the closure of New York City’s subway system and the New York Stock Exchange – the first time it has closed since 9/11. The storm’s effects are still being felt acutely in New Jersey this evening, where 2.3 million people remain without power.

3. #KILKENNY: The Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan today announced a €5.5 million investment in a new “Medieval Mile” tourism project for Kilkenny. The Medieval Mile will stretch from Kilkenny Castle to St Canince’s Cathedral – making the city a “must see” destination for overseas visitors, Hogan said.  The number of international visitors to Kilkenny rose from 206,000 in 2010 to 214,000 in 2011.

4. #CONFIDENCE: European business and consumer confidence fell in October, although among the biggest states, the picture was mixed, the European Union has said today. The Economic Sentiment Indicator produced by the European Commission fell to 84.5 points across the 17-state eurozone, down 0.7 points from September for an eighth consecutive monthly slide.

5. #JUNK: Every single ‘junk food’ meal you consume damages your arteries, new research by the University of Montreal shows. Researchers compared the effects of a meal high in saturated fat (sausage, egg, cheese and three hash browns) to a Mediterranean-type meal (salmon, almonds and vegetables cooked in olive oil) and found that arteries dilated 24 per cent less after eating junk food – linking foods high in saturated fatty acids to a long term risk of developing coronary artery disease.