Abdiwahab Ahmed

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is set to begin at 10 o'clock tonight (Irish time), opening a narrow but potentially significant window for talks on a permanent security and peace agreement, the US State Department said. It added that both sides could extend the truce by mutual agreement. Israel's military campaign in Lebanon has become a central stumbling block in efforts to secure the broader peace deal sought by US President Donald Trump to end the war on Iran, which he launched with Israel in late February.…

With diplomacy and battlefield rhetoric colliding, Israel's security cabinet met tonight to weigh a possible ceasefire in Lebanon, according to a senior Israeli official, more than six weeks after a war with Hezbollah spun out of the wider US-Israeli confrontation with Iran. Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump suggested the war with Iran might be nearing an end, telling the public to brace for an "amazing two days". Another senior Israeli official said Benjamin Netanyahu's government was facing intense pressure…

An apparently AI-generated image of Jesus embracing US President Donald Trump has reignited controversy around the Republican leader, coming just two days after he removed another post that drew backlash for seeming to liken himself to Christ. Reposted on Mr Trump's Truth Social account, the image depicts Mr Trump with his eyes shut, leaning temple-to-temple with Jesus, who is shown in the same pose. Mr Trump appears behind a microphone, with an American flag visible in the background. The original post carried the caption:…

Steven Spielberg gave CinemaCon in Las Vegas an early jolt with new footage from his upcoming sci-fi feature Disclosure Day, telling the audience there is “more truth than fiction” behind the film’s premise. The Oscar-winning filmmaker introduced the project during Universal’s presentation at the annual convention of cinema owners and industry executives. With Disclosure Day, Spielberg returns once again to alien-themed storytelling, almost 50 years after Close Encounters of the Third Kind first brought his fascination with…

Panic tore through a school in تركيا’s southern Kahramanmaras province when a 13-year-old opened fire, killing nine people and wounding 13 in an attack that sent students scrambling for safety and leaping from windows, officials said. It was the country’s second school shooting in two days. The assault took place in Kahramanmaras province in the south, a region in a country where mass school shootings have historically been rare. "We regret to report nine deaths (...) and 13 wounded. Six of them are currently in intensive…

A possible diplomatic opening has emerged in one of the region’s longest-running fault lines, with US President Donald Trump saying leaders of Israel and Lebanon are expected to speak after a high-level face-to-face meeting in Washington on Tuesday — the first such negotiation since 1993. "Trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon. It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years. It will happen tomorrow," Mr Trump wrote, offering no further details and not specifying who would…

North Korea’s capacity to build nuclear weapons is rising at an alarming pace, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who warned of a “very serious increase” in the country’s production capability. South Korea’s spy agency has said it believes North Korea is running multiple uranium-enrichment facilities, a crucial stage in producing nuclear warheads. Among them is a plant at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, which Pyongyang had purportedly decommissioned after talks but later brought back into…

Three years into Sudan’s devastating war, international donors meeting in Berlin pledged about €1.3 billion in a bid to ease a crisis that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes. "This nightmare must end," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, describing the anniversary as "a tragic milestone in a conflict that has shattered a country of immense promise". "The consequences are not confined to Sudan. They are destabilising the wider region," he told the conference in a video address.…

Hungary is moving swiftly toward a political handover after Peter Magyar’s sweeping election win ended Viktor Orban’s 16-year grip on power, with the country’s new parliament expected to meet in early May to formally choose its next prime minister. Mr Magyar, who decisively defeated Orban in Sunday’s vote, said lawmakers could gather as soon as 4 May or around 6-7 May after he met President Tamas Sulyok to discuss the timetable. He also urged the president, seen as an Orban ally, to step down as part of what he cast as a…

A late-night fire at Viva Energy Group's Geelong refinery in southern Australia has triggered an emergency response, with local authorities describing the incident as "significant" as crews work to bring the blaze under control. The full scale of the damage was not immediately known. Fire Rescue Victoria said in a statement that the fire was reported at about 11 p.m. local time today. The agency said the blaze was still not under control, but confirmed that all staff had been accounted for. Emergency crews were sent to the…