Here's What Happened Today: Thursday

The most important Irish and international stories you need to know today.

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

IRELAND

A still from the pulled We Consent ad

Heavy rain and strong winds are expected across much of the country tonight, particularly in Leinster and Munster, as Storm Austen arrives.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has suspended a media campaign that sought to promote discussions around consensual hugs and embraces, including between grandparents and their grandchildren, following intervention from the justice minister.
A 92-year-old man accused of indecently assaulting two young orphan girls in his care more than half a century ago paid out €70,000 two years ago to settle civil claims brought by the two complainants, a jury heard today.
An Post issued an appeal after they said its staff have been attacked by animals 118 times so far this year
Sinn Féin confirmed that one of their Dublin TDs, Aengus O Snodaigh, is chair of charity at centre of garda money laundering probe
A man in his 20s, arrested in connection with fatal arson attack on Waterford home
Minister Sean Canney has said there is no acceptable form of phone usage for drivers and drivers should put their phone in the glove box.
A man who became unresponsive while being detained by security staff outside Arnotts department store in Dublin city centre earlier this year died from a number of factors including a cardio-respiratory arrest after being restrained in a prone position, an inquest has heard.
A state-funded “holiday meals” service will be introduced from next year following a trial aimed at providing food to children when schools are closed.
The health minister has said she feels shame that women with endometriosis in Ireland have had to get surgery in foreign countries because specialised care isn’t available at home.

INTERNATIONAL

#AIRBNB The platform has a new policy that prohibits hosts from asking guests to clean before they check out.

#FACT CHECK Updated projections for the impact of climate change have prompted the fake story that the United Nations (UN) has “admitted” that climate change is a hoax.

#INTERNET OUTAGE Government agencies and companies around the world shut down websites as they raced to protect themselves from hacks after artificial intelligence uncovered critical flaws in a widely used programming language called PHP.

PARTING SHOT

Anne O'Rourke is on her way to help children in Syria

Kerry woman Anne O’Rourke has spent the past decade helping Syrian refugees displaced by war, founding the charity TIAFI in Izmir, Turkey, to support families rebuilding their lives.

Now, for the first time since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, she is travelling to Homs, one of the cities hardest hit by Syria’s civil war, to help establish a new base for the charity’s work in a country where the scars of conflict remain starkly visible.

Read the full story here.