After 15 months of warfare, humanitarian aid is finally getting through to Gaza.

By Wednesday, 2,400 trucks had crossed the border and aid agencies are ramping up delivery of essential supplies following the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that began on Sunday.

The need is enormous as are the logistical difficulties in delivering food and medical supplies in a region where there are no longer roads and where vast tracts of demolished buildings dot the landscape.

Families, like the Badr family, father, mother and three of their 10 children, who have been living in refugee camps for safety from unrelenting Israeli air attacks, are returning to their homes to find nothing left expect piles of rubble. For some families, the return means searching through the rubble for the bodies of their loved ones.

Unicef’s Rosalia Bollen is on the ground in Gaza and she explains the challenges in delivering aid in war-torn Gaza, the very real threat of famine and the impact 15 months of war has had on children.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.

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

Last summer a teenager walked into a children's Taylor Swift-themed dance class in a quiet Liverpool suburb, and murdered three girls under the age of ten. Axel Rudakubana also stabbed eight other young girls and two adults that tried to help them. This week the 18 year old pleaded guilty to the murderous rampage, as well as attempted murder and possession of terrorist materials and the bioweapon ricin. Following his admission, many troubling details have emerged about the teenager and the missed opportunities that might have prevented the atrocity. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised an inquiry into the failings of the UK terror-monitoring system. Irish Times London correspondent Mark Paul explains how this tragic case goes beyond the crime itself, to collide with politics, immigration, race, extreme online violence and social media.

Presented by Bernice Harrison and produced by Aideen Finnegan

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On Monday, Donald Trump stood before a packed Rotunda room in the US Capitol building and announced the beginning of a new “golden age” for Americans standing on “the verge of the four greatest years” in the nation’s history.

Speaking after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump outlined his plans for a new era where the United States would “reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth”.

The US will expand its territory and carry its flag “into new and beautiful horizons,” he said in his inauguration speech, adding that the nation would “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars”.

The US president then issued a flurry of executive orders, ranging from a pardon for the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th 2021 to the declaration of a national emergency on the nation’s southern border where he said “all illegal entry” would be immediately halted.

What else will these executive orders change about the way people live their lives in the US and around the world?

Irish Times Washington correspondent Keith Duggan discusses the first 24 hours of the new Trump administration.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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

TikTok users across the United States breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday when US president Donald Trump pledged he would issue an executive order to allow the app to continue operating. The Chinese-owned video app temporarily went dark late on Saturday but has been given additional time to find a buyer before facing total shutdown. If the ban holds, business and technology journalist Ciara O'Brien says it could precipitate the platform's decline in countries including Ireland. In 2020, President Trump tried to ban TikTok over concerns it was sharing Americans’ personal information with the Chinese government. So, why has he taken this U-turn? Meanwhile, a day before taking office, the 78 year-old has launched his own meme-coin called $Trump.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

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

While walking through Dublin city, journalist Quentin Fottrell was scammed.

A pleasant sounding, nicely dressed man stopped him and started chatting. Didn’t Quentin remember him? After all, the man said, he had worked on his house some years ago. Not wanting to be rude and a little embarrassed at forgetting a face, Quentin continued the chat which slowly turned to the fact that the man had forgotten his wallet and needed some help to get home. It was only when he had walked away, €40 lighter, that Quentin realised he had been scammed.

He wrote about the experience in The Irish Times and his article elicited multiple replies from men who had also been scammed by the same man in Dublin city centre.

Donal Cronin was one such reader. Although he is a communications expert and deeply knowledgable in the psychology behind persuasion, he too fell victim to the smooth-talking scammer. He took a photograph of the man while they were chatting and Quentin was able to confirm it was the same confidence trickster.

Quentin and Donal came into studio to explain how the scam worked and how they feel now having being duped.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan

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After 15 months of bloodshed, a ceasefire will commence in Gaza on Sunday. The pause in hostilities for an initial six week period will allow food and medical aid in to desperate Palestinians. They will also be allowed to return to what is left of their homes. But with previous ceasefire agreements failing, the peace is precarious.

The release of hostages held by Hamas is among the conditions on which the long-awaited deal is based. The first of 33 hostages to be released in the first stage of the deal, among the near 100 still held captive by Hamas, will be released on Sunday. The names of those to be released have been given to Israeli authorities, but families do not know if they will be receiving their loved ones alive or dead.

Journalist Mark Weiss says despite the ceasefire being supported by 70% of Israelis, many feel it is a bad deal. So why is it happening now? What has changed for Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree a deal with Hamas at this stage?

Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon

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Two years ago, climate scientist and activist Dr Peter Kalmus moved his family away from Los Angeles because as California’s climate kept growing drier and hotter, he was afraid that his much loved, indeed idyllic sounding, neighbourhood would burn. He had lived in Altadena for 14 years.

Now, from his new home in North Carolina, he has had the deeply upsetting experience of watching Altadena razed, as climate-driven wildfires caused death, destroyed homes and ruined livelihoods.

Kalmus tells In the News that even he – who has spent his career warning about the deadly impact of our fossil fuel dependence – didn’t expect fires of this scale. It is he says proof that climate models which consistently predict the sort of temperatures that will alter life on earth, have tended to err on the side of optimism.

Our inability – in a world shaped by the interests of big business, billionaires and the fossil fuel industry – to grasp the threat caused by carbon emissions, means he says that nowhere is safe from unpredictable, and even devastating weather events. The LA fires won’t be the last.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.

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

The next government of Ireland is taking shape. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and nine Independents will go into coalition and we now have a blueprint for the next five years with the Programme for Government. The Healy Rae brothers are in, with Michael also negotiating a junior ministry. But what other concessions might they have brokered in exchange for their support? What is a super-junior ministry and does Ireland really need an extra one? Which pre-election promises have made the cut and which have been left out? Political editor Pat Leahy joins us to explain everything we know so far about the 34th Dáil.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.

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

Consumer journalist Conor Pope says he loves a good bandwagon and it was in that spirit that three years ago he – and his wife – thought they’d give Dry January a go.

The idea – to give up alcohol for the first month of the year, as a post Christmas detox – has gained traction over the years and for most who try it, and who make it through to the end of the dreariest month, February 1st signals the opening of a favourite tipple and a return to drinking as usual. Not so for Conor.

The February 1st target gave way to staying off alcohol until the summer and then he stopped counting.

Not drinking had become a habit and he found that he was having a good time. He’s still, very happily, off alcohol. It did bring its challenges. In an alcohol-soaked culture, not drinking can prompt a range of reactions from suspicion to derision, but the benefits he says far outweigh any awkward questions.

The three years has also given him time to reflect on his drinking habits, which began as it does for many, as a teenager raiding his parents’ drinks cabinet.

The rewards, he says, are a clear head, more energy and, theoretically, a healthier bank balance. He estimates that the Pope household has saved €10,000 in the three dry years.

Conor came into studio to tell In the News about his new alcohol-free life and with a huge response from readers to his Irish Times article on his Dry January that has gone on forever, why it’s touched a nerve.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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Michael Healy-Rae may be offered a junior ministerial role in the next government. The Kerry TD is in talks with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on entering a coalition with other independents. The deal would likely involve favourable terms for his constituency in exchange for his support, and that of his brother Danny. The horse trading is one element of the government formation talks that are proceeding faster than expected. Political correspondent Jack Horgan Jones says we could see a deal struck by tomorrow and a government in place as early as next week. But who would be Taoiseach first in a new arrangement between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which Independents could land a ministerial portfolio and why is controversial Tipperary TD Michael Lowry playing such a central role in the deal-making?

Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Aideen Finnegan.

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