EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, The Journal brings you five of the biggest stories of the day. 

1.#SURGE IN VIRUSES: The Irish Medical Organisation has agreed to provide  support to GPs to run additional clinics next month as there has been a “huge increase” in people presenting with respiratory illnesses. 

2.#POPE BENEDICT: The Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has worsened due to his age, and the Vatican has said that doctors are constantly monitoring his condition. 

3.#PSNI detectives have charged a 28-year-old man with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child. He is due to appear in court in Coleraine. 

4.#WIND WARNING for three counties in the north of the country tomorrow as Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo can expect gale force westerly winds of up to 50 to 60 km/h, and gusts of up to 90 to 110 km/hr.

5. #JOHN BIRD, the famous actor and satirist who rose to prominence in Britain in the 1960s, has died aged 86. His former co-star Rory Bremner has paid tribute to him as “one of the last surviving pillars of the anti-establishment.”