In The News

A Dublin man who admitted killing a young American nurse in Budapest in November 2024 will face trial in April. He has pleaded not guilty to murder, insisting her death was the result of an accident during consensual sex.

The 38-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, previously admitted to killing Mackenzie Michalski (31) during a sexual encounter and hiding her body.

At a preliminary hearing in February, the man’s lawyer made an application to have his client released with an electronic tag until the end of his trial. The court heard that hi...

US president Donald Trump came to power promising an end to foreign entanglements. Instead he has ramped up American aggression against its enemies. The weekend's attack that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei along with regime leaders and hundreds of others, including civilians, was his most extreme move yet. But it was done without the constitutionally required approval of Congress, and with polls showing little public support. Washington correspondent Keith Duggan reports on what was behind US president Donald Trump's decision, how it is being received in the US and what happens next.

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Ireland is to buy hundreds of new armoured vehicles and artillery pieces from France, a move that will significantly expand the capabilities of the Irish Army to conduct on-island defence.

The deal is expected to be worth €600 million and is the biggest investment in Army equipment in the history of the State. It is one of several deals with French suppliers to provide a range of equipment and services with an estimated €2billion spend.

The coming years will see Ireland work in closer co-operation with our European neighbours on security matters.

Ir...

When gardaí raided the homes of 11 senior members of the Black Axe crime organisation this week they found more than they expected.

As well as data-crammed mobile phones and laptops, they found merchandise emblazoned with the logo of the international fraud and money laundering gang.

The caps and bags – the sort of memorabilia a golf club might offer – feature “Ireland” and also slogans such as “Ireland Zone, Stay Safe”.

The gang has a significant operation in Ireland, having been linked to the theft and laundering of €94 million since 2020. Gardaí have arrested 636 people in relati...

On Sunday, authorities in Mexico attempted to capture the notorious cartel boss known as “El Mencho”.

They tracked Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes down to a cabin in the western state of Jalisco – his stronghold – and he was fatally wounded in the raid. The firefight also killed several of his heavily-armed accomplices, including his likely successor.

He was head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), known for trafficking vast quantities of fentanyl and cocaine into the US.

In 2025 it was designated a foreign terrorist organisation by Donald Trump‘s administrat...

Nancy Guthrie was last seen at her Tucson, Arizona, home on January 31st when her son-in-law dropped her off there after an evening at her daughter’s house nearby. She lived alone.

Just hours later it is believed she was abducted from her home, her disappearance reported by friends the following day when she failed to show up for a church service.

As the daughter of Savannah Guthrie, presenter of NBC’s Today show, she is well-known to audiences having appeared several times on screen.

Every step of the investigation by loca...

Former British prince Andrew's fall from grace continued last week with his arrest as part of an investigation into whether he abused power by sharing confidential information with his friend Jeffrey Epstein.

Up to now the scrutiny of Andrew's relationship with the notorious Epstein has focussed on allegations of sexual exploitation. But this affair has shifted the focus onto Andrew's conduct while working as a trade envoy for Britain. In that time he travelled the world at British taxpayers expense, promoting British business but also making plenty of connections that he would use to his own...

What started as a one-man play about the life and times of Gerry Hutch became a two-hander this week when, in a curtain-raising surprise, Hutch himself appears on stage to deliver a prologue.

Rex Ryan premiered his play The Monk – called after the widely used nick-name of his subject – last summer but for its second outing it moved to a much larger Dublin venue, The Ambassador, for a weeklong run.

Ryan, who produces, stars and directs The Monk is, says Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally, a powerful presence on stage.

The Geran-2 is a deadly weapon; a drone bomb that can be launched from thousands of kilometres away and yet hit its target with precision accuracy.

Low cost and easy to make, this winter it has become a key weapon in Russia’s armoury as it pummels Ukraine, causing hundreds of deaths and cutting off energy supply.

And a key component in the Geran-2 design is a chip manufactured years ago by Taoglas, which is headquartered in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.

So how did it make its way into Russia’s arma...

The tip-off that led the Garda to begin a major search for the bodies of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob is likely not new according to crime and security editor Conor Lally.

The piece of land on the border of counties Wicklow and Kildare has been in the Garda’s sights for many years but since the disappearance of the young women, missing since the 1990s, are now considered murders, ongoing reviews of the files bring new leads and new thinking on the investigation.

News on Monday that gardaí had begun an ext...

Belfast man James O’Neill, or Jim as he was known, led an unconventional life. He was according to his family a highly intelligent man in his 40s who lived nomadically, sometimes sleeping rough, moving between cities.

His body found was found in Dublin’s Phoenix Park in November 2023 but his parents, Paul and Ann O’Neill were not informed of their son’s death until 13 months later.

That’s because his body was not identified when he was found or during the postmortem despite the fact that he had nine forms of ID in the...

Ultra-processed foods are irresistible – they’re made that way. The food manufacturers that dominate our supermarket shelves are constantly looking for ways to make us buy (and that means eat) more. And to find cheaper ingredients.

But isn’t just about everything in our diet, apart from fresh fruit and vegetables, processed in some way? So why has ultra-processed food become the focus of so much concern and debate?

Nutritionist Sarah Keogh gives her view on what’s happening on our plates.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. 

Ho...

The Jeffrey Epstein files reveal the convicted child sex offender was fascinated by magicians, and detail a years-long relationship between Epstein and David Blaine as well as an FBI investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by David Copperfield.

Since the files were released by the US department of justice two weeks ago, Irish Times journalist Naomi O’Leary has been combing through the documents.

It is not, she says, an easy cache to navigate, with a clunky search function and opaque filing system.

However she has been able to find multiple em...

For Alexander Abnos, senior sports editor at the Guardian US “removing the US as World Cup host would be eminently sad – and entirely justified”.

The 2026 Fifa World Cup will be hosted this summer by Mexico, Canada and the US.

But the killings by Ice agents of US citizens and their intimidatory presence on city streets has been well reported globally which may make travelling fans nervous. And that’s if they get in at all: the US president Donald Trump has imposed travel bans on several countries – including Senegal and Ivory Coast which have qualified...

The Irish Times wants to hear listener feedback on our two news podcasts: In The News and Early Edition.

This survey is open to anyone who has listened to either In The News or Early Edition – whether you listen regularly, occasionally, or have listened in the past.

On Monday, British prime minister Keir Starmer survived a day that could have ended his political career. The momentum against him had grown from Westminster whispers to the leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar coming straight out and calling for him to step down. 

The...

Teacher Enoch Burke has been in and out of court – and of prison – over his refusal to stay away from the school he once worked for.

His legal challenges have clogged up the courts, but he is also involved in another process – an appeal against his dismissal before a disciplinary appeal panel.

Last month that panel fell apart when two of its three members stood down. But the courts need the disciplinary panel to finish its work before Burke’s case can be resolved.

So how is this new delay being viewed b...

On the night of his second birthday in May 1991, Seamus Daniel Howell’s mother Lesley was murdered by his father, Colin Howell, and his father’s lover, Hazel Stewart.

The pair also killed Stewart’s husband Trevor Buchanan.

They left the two bodies in a garage in Castlerock, Co Derry, staging the scene to make it look as if they had taken their own lives.

The pair had committed the perfect murder so they could be together. And they had got away with it.

That is until 2009 when Colin...

There’s a rough rule of thumb when it comes to paying to dine at a Michelin-starred restaurant: stars cost around €100 each.

That’s according to Irish Times restaurant reviewer Corinna Hardgrave, who explains what it takes for a restaurant to win a Michelin star and what it means for them when they do.

Ireland has 18 one-star and five two-star restaurants – but no three stars.

For the first time the Michelin Guide is holding its awards ceremony in Dublin, on Monday, and Hardgrave gives her predictions on who might get a new st...

The US justice department has made public more than three million pages of records related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein - and the fallout has dominated global headlines.

Much of the content was redacted, sparking accusations of a cover-up designed to protect US president Donald Trump, although authorities claim they were protecting victims.

Just what is contained in them – and who is named or seen in the emails and videos – is slowly emerging as reporters sift through the vast data dump.

What is clear is that Epstein was a traf...

‘Melania’, the documentary about US first lady Melania Trump, took in an estimated $7m when it hit US cinema screens at the weekend making it the highest debut by a non-music documentary or concert film in more than a decade. 

These are the sort of figures other documentaries can only dream of, so it’s a hit? 

Far from it says Irish Times journalist Hugh Linehan who points out that it cost Amazon $45 million to make plus a reported $35 million in marketing costs so financially it makes no sense. 

And criticall...

“I don’t love you and I can’t be with someone out of pity,” Bruna Fonseca (28), a Brazilian woman living in Cork, texted her ex-boyfriend Miller Pacheco (32) on December 18th, 2022.

Two weeks later, on New Year’s Day, 2023, gardaí would discover her body in Pacheco’s apartment. She had been strangled.

At Pacheco’s trial for her murder at the Central Criminal Court in Cork, this and many other texts, voice messages and recorded conversations were read out in court.

As Irish Times Southern correspondent Barry Roche who attended the trial expla...

On Thursday, a judge in a Belfast court lifted an injunction that would have prevented Michael Flatley’s involvement in the Lord of the Dance show, due to begin in Dublin next week before a multi-date international tour.

The Chicago-born dancer was lead performer and choreographer of Riverdance, the 1994 Eurovision interval show that introduced a new, high octane, modern form of Irish dancing to the world.

It brought him fame and fortune and in 1996 he developed a global touring show called Lord of the Dance. Critically acclaimed it was for many years wildly su...

Most people who heard the weather forecasts at the weekend that mentioned Storm Chandra will not have expected the devastation it was to bring on Monday and Tuesday. 

The east coast was hit hardest. Homes were flooded that had never flooded before, rivers burst their banks, road and rail closures caused traffic chaos and businesses were forced to close. 

Some of the areas worst hit by the floods received almost half their average rainfall for January in one 24-hour period.

But shouldn’t there have been stronger warnings of what was l...

When news emerged at the weekend that one of China's most decorated generals had been purged, rumours swirled around Beijing. 

The official line was that Zhang Youxia, and later another top general, had been ousted from their jobs due to “serious violations of discipline and law”. 

That is widely understood as code for corruption but no more details were forthcoming. 

This led to speculation that the reason Chinese president Xi Jinping took the action against Zhang, a man believed to be untouchable because of his military background and his long, personal relatio...

In the three weeks since Donald Trump sent thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, to the state of Minnesota, and its capital city, Minneapolis, over 3000 people have been detained suspected of being illegal immigrants.

But there’s strong local opposition in this liberal city. When agents appear in a neighbourhood, protests begin and that’s putting ordinary people into contact with the armed and masked officers.

Two citizens have been shot and killed. Renee Good earlier this month and, at the weekend, Alex Pretti.

Can the Trump administration igno...

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller is the most zealous supporter of the MAGA agenda. That much is expected from a Trump administration insider, but Miller is much more that a suit in the background.

He is the aide tasked with turning even the most vaguely thought-through policy announced by the US president into action – and he relishes the job.

To understand just why ICE is so brutally on the ground in American cities, its necessary to know Miller’s own tough stance on immigration.

Miller’s aggressive style...

ADHD is commonly characterised by traits like impulsivity, difficulty regulating emotions, and difficulty maintaining focus.

But mounting research suggests adults and adolescents with the condition are far more likely to develop substance addiction.

Rates of diagnoses for ADHD have been soaring in recent years and addiction programmes in Ireland report high numbers of people with ADHD seeking help for substance misuse.

On today’s In The News podcast, Eric, Oonagh and Shane, three adults with ADHD, share their journey navigating addiction.

And the head of the charity AD...

Donald Trump's address at the World Economic Forum made the headlines yesterday as the US president appeared to rule out using force to take over Greenland. But It was Tuesday's speech by Canadian prime minister Mark Carney that may be remembered in the long run.

Carney’s used his address to tell allies that the "rules-based international order" is over and that "middle powers" like Canada and the EU needed to band together to resist great powers like China and the US.

Carney's message came after recent overtures to China, resetting relations with th...

If anyone thinks that the rioters who caused mayhem and destruction on the streets of Dublin in November 23rd, 2023 were a well-organised group motivated by strongly-held ideology, think again.

Of the 99 people arrested in connection with the Dublin riots, 82 have been charged with offences which range from attacking a garda and setting fire to a bus to stealing cigarettes and trainers.

The unprecedented scenes of mayhem, damage and looting in and around O’Connell Street, was sparked by an attack earlier in the day of three young children and a care worker by Ri...

US President Donald Trump is not giving up on Greenland.

On Saturday he announced tariffs on France, Germany, the UK and others, after those nations sent ⁠military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.

On Monday UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded to the threat, describing it as “completely wrong”.

And how is the EU responding? Potentially, with tariffs of its own - and that could endanger the US-EU trade deal that was agreed last August.

But some countries are calling for caution. Like Ireland, which has a lot to...

The amount of cannabis being smuggled into Ireland has risen significantly in recent years, with most the product for sale now coming from the United States.

So why have drug gangs here turned to overseas product aand why from the US?

In today’s episode by Irish Times Crime and Security correspondent Conor Lally explains how drug gangs attempt to get cannabis into the country - and how they are caught. 

Presented by Bernice Harrison, produced by Suzanne Brennan.

As we head into the New Year, The Irish Tim...

Eddie Hobbs, once a fixture on RTÉ, says, “The mainstream media is the North Korea of Europe”.

He was speaking on Steve Bannon’s popular War Room podcast and it was a meeting of minds between one of the architects of Maga and the financial adviser-turned podcaster and campaigner.

Bannon recently said he has been helping to form an Irish “national party”, working “behind the scenes” on “the Irish situation”.

But has he? Where is the evidence for that? And how receptive would an Irish audience be to the former White House strateg...

The devastating cruelty endured by four-year-old Mason O’Connell-Conway, who was murdered at his home in Limerick in 2021, was laid bare during the trial of his father’s girlfriend, Tegan McGhee (32).

Doctors reported that the child’s injuries were similar to those suffered by car crash victims.

McGhee and the child’s father, John Paul O’Connell, had told paramedics that the little boy had fallen from a bunk bed in their Limerick home. He died three days later in hospital in his mother’s arms.

McGhee pleaded guilty to his murder a...

The installation of traffic cameras at junctions in Dublin city to catch motorists who break red lights has been shelved.

It’s a puzzling decision given that cameras were proven to work in a 2025 trial. And what about congestion charges? They’ve been talked about, but would they work and are they fair?

As work on new elements of the Dublin City Transport Plan is set to begin – including one of the bus corridors that promise to make sense of the BusConnects route changes – Olivia Kelly, Dublin Correspondent, explains what is and isn’t getting...

For more than two weeks, anti-government protests have taken over the streets of Iran. 

The regime has responded to the demonstrations with a heavy hand. According to various human rights agencies, more than 650 people are believed to have been killed by security forces. 

The violence towards protestors has only intensified in recent days, with the regime shutting down access to the country’s internet and phone lines - leaving the people of Iran cut off from eachother and the rest of the world. 

In today’s episode Irish Times producer Suzanne...

An app that allows millions of users to create sexualised images of children has brought the dangers of Artificial Intelligence into sharp focus – and shown how ineffective governments are in implementing safeguards on digital behemoths.

A new feature of Elon’s Musk’s AI tool, Grok – available to users of his X platform – allows people to create intimate photographs of people without their consent and create child sex abuse imagery.

Women have reported that their photos had been taken from the internet and digitally altered by strangers on X, to “nudify” them so they appeared...

The killing of Renee Nicole Good (37) in her car on the streets of Minneapolis by an immigration officer has been witnessed by millions of people around the world.

Countless bystanders took videos on their phones from all angles on the snowy suburban street as the mother and US citizen drove by, was surrounded by armed Ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents and was shot dead.

So it should be possible to quickly reach a definitive conclusion as to what happened.

But as Rachel Leingang, Midwest political correspondent for Guardian US, explains...

On Sunday US president Donald Trump said he needed Greenland “very badly”. It’s a sentiment he expressed during his first term, but what then sounded like something of a fantasy wishlist has now hardened into policy.

Reaction to Trump’s intentions has taken on some urgency following his removal by military force of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, last weekend,

Quite how he might move to take over the vast Arctic territory is unclear.

This week the White House said the use ‍of the US military is “always an option”; it als...

Since he took over as head coach at Manchester United Ruben Amorim has been outspoken, dishing up post-match commentary that frequently centred on how poor he felt his players had performed.

On January 4th, after a desultory 1-1 draw with Leeds, he took aim, not at his players but at United’s top brass – his bosses. He was, he said, the manager, not the coach; the heavy implication being that he wanted to make his own decisions and that management were getting in his way.

On Monday it was announced that Amorim would be l...

On Monday, captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores appeared in a court in New York City on charges including drug-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. The pair pleaded not guilty to all charges, with Maduro telling the court, “I’m innocent. I am not guilty … I am a decent man. I am still president of my country”. 

But if Maduro is in New York, who is in charge in Venezuela? US President Donald Trump says, “we are” – but what does that really mean? In today’s episode, Tom Henni...