Nikita Hand has won her civil case against MMA fighter Conor McGregor. The 35 year-old Dublin woman alleged he raped her in the penthouse suite of The Beacon Hotel in December 2018. The jury, believing her account of assault, found in her favour; returning a verdict yesterday evening after six hours of deliberations. McGregor has been ordered to pay Ms. Hand almost €250,000 in damages. But why has the UFC fighter not been found guilty of rape? How has Ms. Hand successfully sued him in the High Court? And what did the jury hear to persuade them she was the one telling the truth. Frank Greaney is courts correspondent for the Bauer Media group, which owns radio stations including Newstalk and TodayFM. He explains how Nikita Hand faced down McGregor at great personal cost. Please be advised this episode contains details of sexual assault, which some listeners may find distressing.

Produced and presented by Aideen Finnegan.

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Donald Trump's choices for the top roles in his administration include TV doctor Mehmet Oz, former WWE exec Linda McMahon, Kristi Noem the South Dakota governor who shot the family dog and pet goat. And billionaire businessman, Howard Lutnick, who thinks the presence of multinationals in Ireland is a barrier to 'making America great again.' Norman Ornstein is a political scientist and resident scholar at the conservative-leaning think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. In 2015, he predicted the rise of Donald Trump. He outlines the most eyebrow-raising of the US president's cabinet nominees and explains why Ireland has a legitimate reason to fear for its economic future.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

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It's been one year since anti-immigration protests spiralled into full-scale rioting on the streets of Dublin. The issue has dominated the headlines this year, forcing political parties to take a clear position on how they would deal with the rise in international applicants coming here. That said, the issue hasn't eclipsed housing, health and the cost-of-living on the doorsteps in this General Election campaign. So what exactly are the various parties promising on immigration, which is the most hardline and do those actively campaigning on an anti-immigrant platform have a better chance winning a Dáil seat? Irish Times political correspondent Jack Horgan Jones compares the various party manifestos and analyses the chances of any far right voices succeeding.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

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Fine Gael is doubling down on its support for a General Election candidate who was filmed punching a man in the head. John McGahon was 28 years-old and a Fine Gael councillor, at the time of the altercation outside a pub in Dundalk six years ago. Now he’s running for a seat in the Dáil – which Taoiseach Simon Harris defended on Monday night’s Leaders Debate. But questions remain about how McGahon was nominated for the party ticket, amid accusations of double standards from the opposition. Irish Times political correspondent Harry McGee has the latest.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 for the Financial Times to speak to those involved in the controversial procedure, and explores the contested ethical ground underpinning PMSR.

Produced by Aideen Finnegan

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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.

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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.

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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.

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