In The News

The wealth of the world’s billionaires grew at roughly $5.7 billion (€5.5 billion) per day last year, according to Oxfam’s annual report on the financial affairs of the richest people on earth.Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, according to the World Bank.Oxfam’s latest research reveals the number of Irish billionaires has risen from nine to 11 in the past year, and that their combined wealth has increased by more than a third to just over €50 billion.Oxfam is using the report, issued to coincide with the annual Davos gathering of the super wealthy, to argue for new taxes on the rich. But, while better-off people generally pay more tax on their incomes, the world’s billionaires pay extremely low levels of income tax and, on some occasions, none at all.How does a system exist where the super wealthy pay a lower tax rate than a teacher or a retail worker?And will a tax for the super-rich ever happen or are things only going to get worse with Donald Trump sitting in the White House, surrounded by billionaires?Irish Times writer specialising in economics and finance Cliff Taylor explains why the richest people on earth are able to avoid paying tax.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brenna  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The worst storm to hit Ireland in decades, Storm Éowyn left over a million homes and businesses across the island without power. A new humanitarian group has been established as part of the National Emergency Coordination Group to help deal with the immediate hardship caused by the storm. But what measures need to be taken immediately to avoid similar large scale power outages as these extreme weather events happen with greater frequency? And why was Ireland’s infrastructure, particularly our energy network, so vulnerable to Storm Éowyn? Dr Julie Clarke, assistant professor in engineering in climate action in Trinity College Dublin, joins the podcast to discuss how Ireland needs to prepare for future storms of this magnitude. We're also joined by journalist Arlene Harris who's home in Co. Clare is without power, and who has been seeking food, warmth - and a plug socket to charge her phone - in an 'humanitarian hub' in Ennis.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan and Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump campaigned on immigration. He promised mass deportations, zero tolerance and border security. His first acts in office included several executive orders related to immigration, focused on the US’s southern border and giving officials the power to quickly deport migrants who came in under Biden-era programme.Deportations in his first week included rounding up migrants with criminal records.Undocumented Irish in America typically don’t come in across the southern border. Instead they travel from Ireland under the 90-day ESTA visa waiver programme and simply stay on. Many of them acquire social security numbers and driving licences and work and live illegally in the US, sometimes for decades.But immigration lawyer John Foley tells In the News that 'Irish illegals' are now “low-hanging fruit”, in part because the ESTA process includes waiving any legal rights to appeal if the recipient is caught having overstayed the 90 days.For “Lorcan” (not his real name) an Irish man who has lived in the US illegally for five years, it’s about staying under the radar and building a life – with the acceptance that the price includes not being able to come home to Ireland for key family events including weddings and funerals.He is not worried about Trump’s promises to expel illegal aliens, saying the first to go will be those who have committed crimes and who do not contribute to US society.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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

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

Mark Weiss, an Israeli journalist with deep insights into the Israel-Hamas conflict, discusses the recently agreed ceasefire after 15 months of violence. He highlights the precarious nature of the deal, with 70% public support but skepticism about its effectiveness. The emotional toll on families awaiting the release of hostages adds a poignant dimension. Weiss also examines Prime Minister Netanyahu's motivations for agreeing to this deal now, amid complex political dynamics and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

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.