Abdiwahab Ahmed

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is preparing to shed 10% of its global workforce — a move that would amount to about 8,000 jobs. It remains unclear how the planned cuts will affect the company’s Irish business, where roughly 1,800 people are employed. A spokesperson for Meta Ireland declined to discuss the specifics of the redundancies, but confirmed the details of a Bloomberg report that first revealed the worldwide layoffs. The reductions were set out in a memo to employees, which also said Meta will leave thousands…

A fragile truce in the Middle East was given more time on Thursday after Israel and Lebanon agreed at the White House to extend their ceasefire by three weeks, while US President Donald Trump signalled he was willing to hold out for what he called “the best deal” to ⁠end his conflict with Iran. Mr Trump brought together Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, Nada Moawad, in the Oval Office for a second round of talks mediated by the United States. “The Meeting went very well!…

Warner Bros Discovery cleared a major hurdle in its proposed $110 billion merger with Paramount Skydance after shareholders approved the transaction, even as they signaled sharp unease over the executive pay arrangements tied to the deal. Those compensation plans drew a clear rebuke in an advisory vote. Under the proposed packages, CEO David Zaslav stands to collect as much as $887 million if the sale goes through. Proxy adviser ISS had described Zaslav's possible payout as "extremely large". "Management now faces a twofold…

A head-on collision between two commuter trains near the Danish capital left five people critically injured and 13 others hurt, authorities said, in a crash that sent emergency crews rushing to a wooded rural area north of Copenhagen. Police said they could not yet say what caused the accident, which happened near a level crossing about 40km north of Copenhagen, close to the town of Hillerod. "Eighteen people have been injured in the accident. Of these, five are currently considered to be in critical condition," police said…

A promotional stunt for Drake’s upcoming album Iceman came to an abrupt end in Toronto, where firefighters took apart a massive ice sculpture after swelling crowds around the display raised safety concerns. Hundreds of people flocked to the installation, turning the scene chaotic as some fans climbed onto the structure and others tried to chip away at it in hopes of revealing the album’s release date, which Drake had said was concealed inside. Accounts from the scene said one person arrived with a sledgehammer, while others…

A sweeping shift in US drug policy is underway after the Department of Justice said it would immediately ease restrictions on some marijuana products and speed up the long-running effort to treat the drug as less dangerous under federal law. The Trump administration said FDA-approved marijuana products and state-regulated medical marijuana would be moved at once from a category reserved for highly addictive drugs to one considered to carry a low to moderate risk of abuse. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the federal…

Rodrigo Duterte is set to stand trial at the International Criminal Court after judges cleared the way for proceedings over crimes against humanity tied to his so-called "war on drugs." In a statement, the ICC said pre-trial judges had "unanimously confirmed all the charges... against Rodrigo Roa Duterte and committed him to trial." The case marks a first for the court: Mr Duterte will become the first former Asian head of state to go on trial before the ICC, which is tasked with prosecuting individuals accused of the…

Iran has released dramatic footage of commandos boarding a massive cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring its tightening hold on the strategic passage after peace talks broke down. Washington had pinned hopes on the negotiations to reopen what is widely regarded as the world's most vital shipping route. On Iranian state television, masked forces were shown racing up to the MSC Francesca in a speedboat, scaling a rope ladder to a hull door and leaping inside with rifles in hand. The video, set to an…

Iran moved to tighten control of the Strait of Hormuz by seizing two ships, escalating pressure in the strategic waterway just after US President Donald Trump said he was indefinitely shelving planned attacks and with peace efforts still stalled. The fate of a ceasefire that began two weeks ago and was due to expire earlier this week was still uncertain. Only hours after warning of renewed force, Mr Trump abruptly shifted course on Tuesday, appearing to declare unilaterally that the US would prolong the truce while it…

Russian oil has resumed flowing through the Ukrainian stretch of the Druzhba pipeline after a stoppage that lasted months, officials said, clearing the way for Hungary to drop its veto on a €90 billion EU loan Ukraine says it urgently needs. Since a Russian drone strike damaged the line in western Ukraine and cut off deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia, the Druzhba pipeline has stood at the centre of one of Europe’s most politically sensitive energy disputes. Hungarian oil group MOL said Ukraine had notified it that shipments…