Abdiwahab Ahmed

Southern Lebanon is facing a grave humanitarian emergency under Israeli military occupation, Lebanese MP Najat Saliba has said, warning that thousands of civilians remain trapped in their homes as violence intensifies. In an interview with RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Ms Saliba said about 10,000 people were cut off in the country’s south. "Israel is invading, and when they come to a village, they actually destroy all houses, and they burn the land. "At the same time, we have almost 10,000 people, or probably a little more, who are…

A second Turkish-flagged ship has crossed the war-torn Strait of Hormuz, Turkey’s Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said Saturday. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key global waterway, since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran started on February 28 set off the Middle East conflict and sent global oil and gas prices soaring. Uraloglu said that on February 28 there were 15 ships belonging to Turkish shipowners waiting to go through the strategic strait. “Two of these 15 made the crossing,” he told the private…

Live updates: US fighter aircraft downed over Iran Middle East

A US fighter jet has been brought down over Iran, thrusting Washington into a dangerous new phase of the nearly five-week-old war, with search teams recovering one of the two crew members who ejected, a US official told Reuters. It is the first known incident of its kind since the conflict began. Requests for comment to the Pentagon and US Central Command went unanswered. The possibility that a US aviator is still alive and evading capture inside Iran sharply raises the pressure on the White House in a war that opinion polls…

Two US warplanes have been brought down over Iran and the Gulf, according to Iranian and US officials, in a dramatic setback that left two pilots rescued and a third still missing as Tehran’s forces scour the area. The losses underscore the dangers still confronting US and Israeli aircraft operating over Iran, despite repeated claims by US President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that allied forces had established complete control of the skies. The first aircraft, a two-seat US F-15E fighter jet, was shot…

Luigi Mangione’s federal trial in the killing of healthcare chief executive Brian Thompson has been pushed back again, with court filings showing proceedings are now set for January 2027. The December 2024 shooting outside a New York City hotel, caught on security cameras, stunned the country and cast a harsh spotlight on simmering public anger over the United States’ private healthcare system. Mr Mangione, 27, is fighting charges in both federal and New York state court. On Wednesday, both cases were delayed. The federal…

President Donald Trump sharply escalated his rhetoric on Iran, declaring the US “hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran” as governments around the world scrambled to restore crucial energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Nearly five weeks after the conflict erupted with a joint US-Israeli aerial assault, the war in Iran is still sending shockwaves across the region and through global financial markets, intensifying pressure on Mr Trump to secure a rapid end to the fighting. In recent days, Mr Trump has…

Mogadishu, 2 April 2026 – In a joint operation that dealt a significant blow to Al-Shabaab’s leadership, African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) troops alongside Somali National Armed Forces (SNAF) captured a senior militant commander in Lower Shabelle. The suspect, identified as Salaad Cusmaan Macalin, also known as "Sahm,” was apprehended on Thursday on the north-western outskirts of Mubarak. Salaad, aged 40, serves as a battalion commander within Al-Shabaab. He is originally from Burhakaba,…

Fears are mounting for a 30-year-old man held in Iran after his family said the case against him could end in execution, despite what they describe as glaring contradictions in the allegations. Peyvand Naimi has remained in custody since early January, when he was arrested during anti-government protests. In an interview with RTÉ's News at One, his Dublin-based cousin, Sama Sabet, said he has endured torture, mock executions and sustained pressure to admit to crimes he denies. "On 8 January 2026...he was arrested by the…

Somalia has officially re-entered the world of ship registration this week, as the Federal Government’s Ministry of Ports and Maritime Transport (MPTS) logged the Somali-flagged vessel Guney (IMO No. 8230417) — a move aimed at rebuilding national control over the country’s maritime domain and jump-starting its blue economy. The registration effort is designed to tighten how vessels flying the Somali flag are identified, regulated and managed, and it represents the first such flagging since the central government’s collapse…