In April 2015, William Maughan and his pregnant girlfriend Anastasija Varslavane disappeared without a trace.

Noone has ever been charged in connection to their murder, but this week a new development is bringing fresh hope to the victim’s families.

Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally has the latest.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On October 6th, 2020 in a school outside Paris, teacher Samuel Paty gave a lesson on freedom of speech – the same lesson he had given several times before which involved showing drawings of the prophet Muhammad – to a class of teenagers.

He was later beheaded outside the school in a savage attack that shocked France. The assailant Abdoullakh Anzorov, the young man of Chechen origin who wielded the knife, is dead – shot by police in the minutes after his attack.

The next day one of his pupils – the 13-year-old girl – was asked by her father why she was not going to school. She told him she had been disciplined because she dared to stand up to Paty when he told Muslims to leave the class so he could show a naked picture of the prophet. It was all a lie; she was not even in school that day.

Believing her, her father took to social media to condemn Paty and the story grew online.

On trial are two men accused of identifying Paty as a “blasphemer” over the Internet, two friends of Anzorov who allegedly gave him logistical help, and four others who offered support on chatlines.

As BBC correspondent in Paris, Hugh Schofield explains to In the News that the trial is less about the murder itself, and more about the circumstances that led to it.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed that Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, will co-lead a newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, with a mission to slash spending by $2 trillion. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that its acronym is DOGE, the cryptocurrency favoured by the tech billionaire. It’s one of a raft of nominations this week, with Dalkey woman Gail Slater, who worked behind the scenes in the campaign, set for a top government role. Irish Times reporter Laura Slattery traces her path to power and analyses Musk's move to The White House.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Postmortem sperm retrieval is a procedure whereby the sperm of dead men is extracted in the hours following their death and stored for potential future use. The practise is banned in many countries while regulated in others. Usually, the gametes are used by the spouse of the dead partner to posthumously conceive a child. But in Israel, it's increasingly being used by parents of Israeli Defence Force soldiers who have died in war in Gaza, with the hope of creating grandchildren. Journalist, author and broadcaster Jenny Kleeman has travelled to Israel to speak to those involved in the controversial procedure, and explores the contested ethical ground underpinning PMSR.

Produced by Aideen Finnegan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the 9th of November 1995, Josephine "Jo Jo" Dullard disappeared on her way home from a night out and was never seen again.

The Kilkenny woman's disappearance was initially treated as a missing persons case, but it was later upgraded to a murder investigation in 2020.

On Monday, a 55 year-old man, who is a member of a well-known family in the Kildare-Wicklow region, was arrested by Gardaí and taken in for questioning on suspicion of murder. He was later released without charge. In conjunction with the arrest, Gardaí are also conducting an open ground search in the east of the country. Up until this week, no arrests have ever been made in relation to the case.

On today's episode, Irish Times crime and security correspondent Conor Lally paints a picture of Dullard's last known movements and explains how this Garda operation marks a major development in this 29 year-old cold case.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After weeks of speculation, Dublin criminal Gerry Hutch has confirmed he will run in the upcoming general election.

The 61-year-old, who was arrested in Lanzarote last month on suspicion of money laundering, was granted bail by the Spanish High Court last week to permit him to run in the election and released on a bond of €100,000.

Mr Hutch, who is also known as The Monk, is hoping to take one of the four seats up for grabs in the Dublin Central constituency, where Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald is also seeking re-election.

However, arriving back into Dublin airport on Monday morning, Hutch refused to share any details of his election manifesto or comment on which policies his campaign will focus on.

In this episode, Irish Times crime correspondent Conor Gallagher discusses what Hutch's campaign might look like, his chances of winning a seat and why he has set his sights on political office.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rocky Elsom was a fearsome competitor on the rugby pitch, capable of winning matches almost single-handedly with his dominance in attack and defence.

Ireland and Leinster great Brian O’Driscoll called the Australian “the best player I have ever played with”.

But last month Elsom was handed a five-year sentence having being found guilty of forgery and embezzlement by a French court, in absentia. He had been living in Dublin, coaching rugby at a private school but now his whereabouts is unknown and there’s an international arrest warrant out for him.

But that hasn’t stopped him using media interviews to make his case and attempt to clear his name.

Irish Times sports writer John O’Sullivan has been following his career from the highs on the pitch to this fall from grace.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After months of speculation Taoiseach Simon Harris finally announced that the general election will take place on November 29th. Later today he will travel to the Áras to ask the president to dissolve the Dáil. Once that happens, it’s every party for themselves with the Coalition partners, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens fighting it out in the constituencies. But what are the key issues? Will immigration be a hot button topic after housing and health? And what about the far-right, particularly those candidates who emerged during this year’s local elections who might now set their sights on the Dáil? And will the parties be looking to the US for tips on campaign strategies? Irish Times political editor Pat Leahy tees up what will be a busy three weeks of electioneering.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.