1. Drivers warned of debris on roads as 100km/h gusts predicted
A status yellow wind warning has come into effect, with Met Éireann predicting gusts of up to 100km/h on Thursday.
The national forecaster said average wind speeds of 45-60km/h were expected with gusts of 80-100km/h. Winds will be strongest in coastal areas, it said.
[ http://iti.ms/2kU57ESOpens in new window ]
2. Trump says refugee agreement with Australia is ‘a dumb deal’
Australia is scrambling to save its agreement to resettle refugees in the US after Donald Trump raged publicly at "a dumb deal" and told the country's prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in private it was the "worst deal ever".
The US president took to Twitter late night in Washington to condemn the refugee swap and brand the asylum seekers held in camps on Nauru and Manus Island "illegal immigrants".
[ http://iti.ms/2kVOZzvOpens in new window ]
3. Matheson stops using charities to help clients avoid tax
Dublin law firm and corporate tax adviser Matheson has abandoned the use of three registered charities that helped its clients, including some so-called “vulture funds”, to avoid tax on billions of euro of high-risk assets.
Matheson routinely used the charitable trusts – Eurydice, Medb and Badb – to provide shareholder services for corporate clients such as Mars Capital, linked to US fund Oaktree Capital, which owns swathes of distressed Irish mortgages.
[ http://iti.ms/2kUhrVDOpens in new window ]
4. British army used waterboarding in North, papers claim
The Pat Finucane Centre in Derry has produced papers from 1972 which document four cases of the alleged "waterboarding" of people in Northern Ireland by the British army and RUC.
One of the papers is the "secret" minutes of a meeting in November 1972, where the then Fianna Fáil taoiseach Jack Lynch raised concerns with British prime minister Edward Heath about an epileptic who was allegedly "waterboarded" by British soldiers - although the term was not in use at the time.
[ http://iti.ms/2kVPeL1Opens in new window ]
5. Britain’s MPs vote in favour of starting Brexit
Britain's MPs have voted to authorise British prime minister Theresa May to trigger article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on withdrawing from the EU by 498 votes to 114, a majority of 384.
Almost 50 Labour MPs defied a party whip to oppose the bill, joining the Scottish National Party (SNP), the SDLP, most Liberal Democrats and former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke.