Against the odds on the slopes of Mount Everest, a Nepali climbing guide missing for six days and feared dead has been found alive after dragging himself alone down toward Base Camp, officials said. By the time he was discovered, his wife said, she had already started last rite prayers. Speaking from a hospital in the capital Kathmandu, where he is now recovering, she described a family swinging from grief to disbelief. Mountaineer Dawa Sherpa - who is in his 50s, and is better known as "Hillary" after famed climber Edmund…

A long-running dispute over peat extraction in Ireland has reached a new flashpoint, with the European Commission hauling the State before Europe’s highest court over what it says is a failure to properly police the industry. After years of tensions between Dublin and Brussels, the EU executive said today it is referring Ireland to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), arguing the State has not met its obligations under EU rules governing environmental impact assessments. In a statement, the Commission said Ireland had…

As leading AI systems grow more capable, Anthropic is urging the world to consider a coordinated pause on the development of the most advanced models, arguing that early warning signs suggest the technology could eventually slip beyond human control. The San Francisco-based company behind the Claude family of AI models said in a new report that a global slowdown in frontier AI work would "likely be a good thing". But it also stressed that a unilateral move would accomplish little, because competitors would almost certainly…

President Donald Trump says Washington will host a massive rally on 24 June to mark America’s 250th anniversary, after planned concerts were scrapped when several performers withdrew. "In celebration of our Country's 250 Year History, we will be bringing you, LIVE, the Greatest Rally, EVER! It will be special at every level - A Rally to end all Rallies!" Mr Trump said on his Truth Social network. "We don't want singers with no talent, but big fees to put you to sleep, we've told them all to stay home," added the 79-year-old…

Donald Trump said a face-to-face meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin would be “great,” throwing his weight behind the prospect of direct talks while insisting that any breakthrough would require concessions from both Ukraine and Russia. “I’m glad that they’re maybe talking about meeting. I think we had a lot to do with it,” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I think it would be great if they met. They should - get it done,” he added. Mr Trump, who has drawn criticism for berating Mr Zelensky in…

At just 20, Seán Dunne from Laragh, Co Wicklow has carved out a place in sheep shearing history, becoming New Zealand’s top junior shearer. His victory also marks a first: no non-New Zealander had previously claimed the title. Dunne said the achievement had been his target for the season, and reaching it left him feeling “pretty good now alright, to get over there and become the top ranked”. Only three years into the trade, Seán reckons he has already shorn 70,000 sheep. “I travelled to New Zealand twice, and I've shorn in…

June 4, 2026 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti) — As political tensions escalate in Somalia, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) warned Friday that recent violence in Mogadishu threatens the country’s fragile progress and urged swift steps to prevent further bloodshed. IGAD condemned all acts of violence and urged every party involved to show maximum restraint, work to reduce tensions, and seek resolution through peaceful, inclusive, and constructive dialogue. "At this critical moment, preserving peace, stability,…

A fresh round of strikes in Crimea left four people dead, Kremlin-installed officials said, underscoring how the war’s reach continues to widen a day after Moscow and Kyiv exchanged attacks on each other’s cities. Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, said Ukrainian forces struck a non-residential area of Simferopol, the peninsula’s main administrative centre, killing three people and wounding seven. He later said on Telegram that a separate Ukrainian drone attack hit a commuter train in eastern Crimea,…

Anger over a luxury tourism scheme tied to Jared Kushner has spilled into the streets of Tirana, where thousands of Albanians have marched in recent days against a project planned for one of the Adriatic coast’s most environmentally fragile areas. The €1.4bn resort is being pursued by Mr Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners on an island off Albania and along an undeveloped coastal strip near the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape, a wetland that shelters flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites. Environmental groups…

A deadly strike on a UN peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon has left one peacekeeper dead and two others injured, underscoring the mounting danger surrounding the mission as violence intensifies across the border region. "A UNIFIL peacekeeper died early this morning from critical injuries sustained when mortar shells struck his position," the force said in a statement, adding that an investigation is now under way. Serbia's defence ministry said the peacekeeper was Serbian and stated that he died from injuries suffered in…