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

Azaliah Ndoma and Daisy McKenna from the Dublin Youth Dance Company perform at Smock Alley Theatre ahead of Irish Youth Dance Festival Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

• The condition of the Belfast stabbing victim is “improving” and he could be released from a coma within the next 48 hours, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said.
• A nurse was chased on her way to work in a Belfast hospital on Wednesday night by four masked men, in what is believed to be a racist attack amid anti-immigration riots in the city. 
• The Dáil rejected proposals from Sinn Féin and the Social Democrats to stop the upcoming Ireland-Israel Nations League fixtures.
• Hundreds of Ukrainians living in the Trabolgan Holiday Centre in Midleton, County Cork, were told that they will have to leave due to the government’s “wind-down” of contracted commercial accommodation.
• Two children were airlifted to hospital after a serious two-car collision in Co Mayo yesterday evening.
• A jury viewed CCTV footage of the moment a man dressed in black launched a knife attack on a group of children as they stood in line on Dublin’s Parnell Square on their way to an after-school crèche.
• A prosecution barrister put it to former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson that he treated a woman who claims he raped her as a child “like an object”.
• UK MPs continued to take aim at the Common Travel Area today, as the conversation since Monday’s knife attack in Belfast shifts to a debate around borders and immigration checks in Northern Ireland. 

INTERNATIONAL

Performers on the pitch during the first Word Cup opening ceremony in Mexico City Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#WAR: Donald Trump called off the “very hard” strikes on Iran he promised earlier today, and claimed a deal to end the war is all but complete. 

#UK: British defence secretary John Healey resigned today, becoming the latest member of Keir Starmer’s cabinet to quit. 

#MEXICO: Shakira was among the performers at the first World Cup opening ceremony in Mexico City.

PARTING SHOT

THE FIFA WORLD Cup is finally upon us. 

The biggest tournament in football gets underway with Mexico hosting South Africa at the Azteca Stadium tonight. In just over five weeks, the final will take place in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday, 19 July. 

In a first for the competition, Mexico is one of three host nations alongside the United States and Canada. The 104 games will be spread across 16 cities and span four different timezones, with millions of fans expected to attend. 

Fifa has promised this 23rd World Cup will be the biggest and best yet, but there has been plenty of controversy surrounding the event – not least of all due to the US-Israel war on Iran, and the exorbitant ticket prices. 

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this summer’s tournament.