At least 26 people are dead and thousands injured following the simultaneous detonating of pagers and walkie talkies in Lebanon. Israel is believed to be behind the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, which were designed as much to cause a macabre spectacle as they were to kill Hizbullah fighters. Hannah McCarthy reports from Beirut for The Irish Times. Security analyst Colin P. Clark of New York’s Soufan Center looks at why Israel made this move.

Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan.

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A record 10,600 Irish people emigrated to Australia last year, according to the Central Statistics Office; the highest number since 2013. With its year-round sunshine, high wages and laid back lifestyle, it’s not hard to understand the attraction. Push factors in Ireland include the diminishing hopes of home ownership for many young people. But Australia’s economy is slowing down and property prices in Sydney are even higher than in Dublin. Irish Times columnist and returning emigrant, Brianna Parkins, outlines the Instagram V Reality of moving down under.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

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

The UK government has ordered a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, the Belfast solicitor shot dead in 1989 by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in collusion with British forces.

But why now? His family, led by his widow, have for 35 years pressed Westminster for a public inquiry to get to the truth of why Finucane was killed and to reveal the true extent of the collusion of the British state in his murder.

For decades, successive UK governments had resisted a campaign by the family for a full public inquiry into the killing.

London correspondent Mark Paul explains the timing – and the reaction to the announcement.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan

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An Garda Siochana has a serious retention and recruitment problem.

The Commissioner knows it, so does the Minister for Justice but despite public commitments to reach enrolment targets, ongoing recruitment campaigns and changes to admission criteria, efforts to increase the size of the force to the Government benchmark of 15,000 continue to falter.

There are now fewer sworn Garda members than at the start of last year.

Why? It’s a well-paying public service job, it offers career variety and progression and it offers the possibility of retiring with a full pension at 60 or even earlier.

Crime and security editor Conor Lally tells In the News the many reasons why encouraging citizens to join up is an uphill battle and what it means for policing in the State.

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

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Kamala Harris needed a win on Tuesday night's US presidential election debate. After an initial honeymoon period as Democratic nominee, her campaign on the ground was running out of steam. Now she and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the polls of key battleground states. All he had to do on Tuesday night was keep his cool and stick the script provided by advisers. Instead, he made a string of rambling statements that ranged from the baseless to the downright absurd. But given how polarised the country now is, the victor of the debate depends on viewers' own political allegiances. So how much of a difference will the performances have in the minds of Americans? Can Harris' debate win do anything to change her trajectory? Irish Times Washington Corresondent, Keith Duggan, reports from Philadelphia where the debate was held.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan.

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Is an award of €13 billion a big win or an embarrassing loss? The European Court of Justice (ECJ) court yesterday said that the European Commission was correct in 2016 when it ruled that Apple owed Ireland €13 billion in tax relating to underpayments during 2003-2014.

The ruling represents a heavy legal defeat for Apple and the Irish Government – and a major win for the EU.

But how did it get to the point that Ireland had to go to Europe to defend a tax arrangement with a multinational?

Irish Times columnist Cliff Taylor explains how a big pay-day for the Government is also a reputational hit, with the court’s clear and final verdict that Ireland broke the rules and offered illegal State aid to Apple. And he looks at how to spend it.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.

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Former British nurse, Lucy Letby, is serving 15 life sentences for the murder and attempted murder of 14 babies. All of the infants were under her care when they were killed between 2015 and 2016. This summer her case was thrown out of the Court of Appeal. And yet doubts remain amongst a cohort of people who believe she may have been wrongly convicted on circumstantial evidence. Bizarre interventions on her behalf include that of the former Brexit Secretary, David Davis, on Good Morning Britain last week. Families of the victims say they are dismayed certain elements of the 10 month trial have been taken out of context and fuelled with misinformation. So why exactly do Letby's supporters believe she should walk free? We speak to miscarriage of justice investigator, David James Smith, who sat on the UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission between 2013 and 2018.

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