IRA spy unmasked
The week's news at a glance.
Belfast, U.K.
A top member of the Irish Republican Army’s internal security has been exposed as a British spy of more than 25 years. Freddy Scappaticci raked in $150,000 a year as the notorious “Stakeknife,” a British asset in the IRA’s secretive disciplinary arm, which ferrets out, interrogates, and executes IRA informers. To protect his cover, Scappaticci almost certainly ordered some of his fellow British agents killed. Several British newspapers broke Scappaticci’s cover this week in stories that accused him of having personally tortured and murdered dozens of people. Some of the victims, the papers allege, were innocent Catholics who were scapegoated to divert IRA attention from real informers. Scappaticci is now in a safe house.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Why au pairs might become a thing of the past
Under The Radar Brexit and wage ruling are threatening the 'mutually beneficial arrangement'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2024
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - political anxiety, jury sorting hat, and more
By The Week US Published