Here's What Happened Today: Thursday

LAST UPDATE | 12 hrs ago

NEED TO CATCH up? The Journal brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

The White Witch facing off against Aslan in a promotional poster for a stage version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which starts next week at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. Bord Gáis Bord Gáis

• Nama chief Brendan McDonagh told Housing Minister James Browne he is withdrawing his name from consideration for the role as the new housing tsar. 
• UK counter-terror police launched a formal investigation into Kneecap after reviewing footage of one of the rap group’s concerts.
• A murder trial jury was shown a TV interview of Richard Satchwell saying he ‘never laid a finger’ on wife Tina.
• The Electoral Commission raised concerns over the quality of the electoral register, saying that it contains “hundreds of thousands” that shouldn’t be there.
• Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said that “securing our borders” is a priority for the government as he confirmed that 39 people were deported to Georgia on a charter flight.
• Overcrowding is impacting every prison in the country with 358 people are now sleeping on mattresses on the floor, the Irish Prison Officers’ Association said as it began its annual conference.
• Ryanair threatened to seek an alternative aircraft supplier to Boeing if the Trump administration’s “ill-judged” tariff regime causes aircraft prices to increase.

INTERNATIONAL

Festival Complutum Renacido, today in the city of Alcalá de Henares, Madrid. The city performs a historical recreation and becomes a Roman market with gladiator fights, Roman parades and 'Gran Circus Maximus' for revellers. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#WHITE HOUSE: Donald Trump announced that he is nominating his national security advisor Mike Waltz to be the US Ambassador to the United Nations, in a move thought to be the result of the Signal controversy during a recent bombing of Yemen.

#UKRAINE:The US said it was “moving at full speed” to enact the Ukraine mineral deal as “payback for subsidising” the war in the country after Russia’s invasion.

#BRAND: Russell Brand stands accused of sexually assaulting a woman by touching her breasts and indecently assaulting another by grabbing her arm and dragging her towards a male toilet, court documents show.

PARTING SHOT

Eurovision organisers have introduced new guidelines in a bid to avoid a repeat of backstage scenes at last year’s competition that saw tensions between contestants spill over into public press conferences and factored into the expulsion of the Dutch entrant.

Several contestants from last year have spoken of a toxic backstage atmosphere, with some saying that organisers had not done enough to support the entrants as they were caught up in the row over Israel’s inclusion.

Our News Editor Daragh Brophy has more on the development here.