Abdiwahab Ahmed

Three weeks into the conflict, the human and material toll is already stark and sweeping. More than 2,000 people dead, 10,000 injured. More than 4 million people displaced in the region, a million of them in Lebanon. Oil prices above $100 a barrel. 45 million people at risk of acute hunger as food, fuel and shipping costs rise. 56 cultural heritage sites damaged or destroyed in Iran. Several more at risk in Lebanon. One of the clearest indicators of how this war is unfolding is the pace and scale of the bombardment. The…

More than 100 people were injured after Iranian missiles struck the southern Israeli towns of Arad and Dimona, medics said, in attacks that local air-defence systems failed to stop. The strikes produced direct hits that ripped open the fronts of apartment blocks and left deep craters in the terrain. Magen David Adom first responders reported 84 wounded in Arad, including ten in serious condition, following earlier reports that 33 people had been hurt in nearby Dimona. Iranian state television described the strike on Dimona —…

Robert Mueller, the former FBI director best known for documenting Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election and for investigating contacts between Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign, has died at the age of 81. The news of his death was first reported by MS NOW and confirmed when a New York Times reporter shared a family statement attributed to Mueller’s relatives. The family did not disclose a cause of death for Mr. Mueller, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who led the FBI during the turbulent years…

More than 100 people were wounded after Iranian missiles struck two southern Israeli towns when air defences failed to stop the incoming projectiles, medics and officials said. Two direct hits ripped open the fronts of residential buildings and left large craters in the ground. Magen David Adom first responders reported 84 wounded in Arad — 10 of them seriously — following an earlier wave of injuries in nearby Dimona, where 33 people were hurt. Iranian state television said the strike on Dimona, home to a nuclear facility,…

A nationwide power cut plunged all of Cuba into darkness, the island's energy ministry said, marking the second countrywide blackout in under a week as the electrical grid buckles amid an effective US oil blockade. Lights went out across Havana before nightfall, officials said, coming just five days after an earlier outage that also left large parts of the country without electricity. The energy ministry said on X that the national system experienced a "total disconnection" and teams were already at work to restore service.…

Elon Musk was found by a federal jury in California to have misled Twitter shareholders, a verdict that jurors say caused the social media company's stock to tumble while he was attempting a $44 billion takeover. The decision in the class-action securities suit could expose the billionaire to a multi-billion-dollar judgment: jurors’ damage calculations were reported to be roughly $2.6 billion. Shortly after the verdict, lawyers for Mr. Musk told AFP their client plans to appeal, calling the outcome a "setback." Following a…

Kneecap, the Irish-language rap trio from Belfast, said they joined an international aid convoy to Cuba because they could not stand by while the island — which they described as being "strangled" by a US fuel blockade — suffered acute shortages. The group travelled with a wider contingent of public figures and humanitarian organisations bringing medicine, drinking water, food, solar panels and other relief supplies to the Caribbean nation this week by air and sea. Speaking at a Havana press conference flanked by former UK…

Two residents of Zaporizhzhia were killed and much of Chernihiv region was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes, Ukrainian officials reported. Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said the morning attack on the city claimed the lives of a man and a woman and wounded six other people, among them two children. In neighboring Chernihiv, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said crews were working to repair damage from a drone strike that struck an energy facility. The northern region, which shares borders with Russia and Belarus, had…

The meningitis outbreak centered in Kent in the UK has grown to 34 linked cases — up from 29 — as hundreds of students lined up for a third straight day to be vaccinated. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in an update this morning that 23 cases have been confirmed, with a further 11 cases that "remain under investigation". More than 400 people — students and others eligible — queued outside the University of Kent campus clinic for meningitis jabs at the start of the weekend. NHS Kent and Medway reported that 5,794…

Europe’s hunt for an economic reset has stretched across two turbulent years, ever since the abrupt end of cheap Russian oil and gas collided with a steady slide in competitiveness against the United States and China. Each time a fix seemed within reach, President Donald Trump shifted the terms of debate—first with his Liberation Day tariffs, and now with the Iran War. Yet, in a twist, the very disarray Mr Trump provokes has jolted into motion reforms long stalled by member-state pushback. Chief among them is “EU Inc,”…