Your Monday lunchtime catch-up

Mon, 02 Nov, 2015 - 00:00

IRELAND

A serving garda has been the subject of two independent complaints of sexual assault and rape, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Gardaí are carrying out searches of premises and land in Co Galway as part of their investigation into the disappearance of a 33-year-old woman in 1985.

An 80-year-old woman is recovering today, having been assisted down from the country’s highest mountain in the early hours of this morning by Kerry Mountain Rescue.

The Defence Forces have made a number of significant archaeological discoveries at a 400-year-old fort in Co Cork and believe they have “only scratched the surface”.

More than 2,000 offers of social housing were turned down last year, including in some cases due to barking dogs, the applicant being on holiday in Italy, and because no Mass had been said in the house offered.

WORLD

A top official at Metrojet, the Russian airline company whose flight crashed Saturday in Egypt, has insisted that a technical fault could not have caused the crash.

Islamic State fighters drove Syrian government forces from a town in the west of the country yesterday, as fighting looked set to intensify despite a flurry of international diplomacy and talks between regional rivals.

SPORT

Donegal team manager Rory Gallagher has expressed his disappointment his predecessor Jim McGuinness has chosen to comment on the breakup of the 2012 All-Ireland-winning management team.

Call the Puskas Award people; we have a serious contender for goal of the year. This incredible display of skill took place at something called “the Okayama prefectural elimination tournament final for the 94th national high school football championship”.

RUGBY WORLD CUP CENTRE

Forty five minutes after the final whistle, Richie McCaw led the Haka, perhaps for the last time.

For more latest news, views and banter visit our Rugby World Cup Centre HERE

BUSINESS

Motor insurance costs are likely to soar by up to 15% in the coming year — on top of the near 27% hikes over the past year, the country’s largest brokers’ group said yesterday.

As we move into Web Summit week, Kehlan Kirwan talks about what to look out for at the Dublin event and asks whether it is already too expensive for start-up tech firms to attend.

ANALYSIS

Michael Clifford hears from a woman who tells a disturbing story about a serving garda who used his position of authority to turn her life into a living hell.

LIFESTYLE

If eating meat is the new smoking Valerie O’Connor has lunchbox alternatives to the ham sandwich.

VIDEO

The Defence Forces have made a number of significant archaeological discoveries at a 400-year-old fort in Co Cork and believe they have “only scratched the surface”.

VIRAL

Today’s Google Doodle is a hat tip to UCC mathematician George Boole, whose system of logic – Boolean algebra – was a building block of the digital age. To commemorate the mathematician’s 200th birthday, Google’s homepage uses Boolean algebra to dictate which letter of its logo flashes up.

When this American couple knew they was going to be away for Halloween night, they decided to leave some boxes of chocolate bars on the porch for anyone trick-or-treating - but one woman couldn’t resist the bait and ended up taking the lot.

TECHNOW

GAMING: For you, this might be the season of Call of Duty but we are all obsessed with Fallout 4.

MOVIES: Spectre has been in cinemas in parts of Europe for a week, and it’s already breaking box office records.

TECH: The latest service to get in on the curated content action is Instagram, which launched a ’Best Videos’ feed specifically for Halloween.

SHOWBIZ

Last night, Ryan Gosling presented Saoirse Ronan with an award at the Hollywood Film Awards and decided to give her a little break from her ’name frustration’ and give everyone a lesson in Irish pronunciation.