Artemis crew reaches moon, nears record distance from Earth

Humanity’s next chapter in deep space is edging into view as the four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission cross into the Moon's gravitational sphere of influence, riding a trajectory that will soon carry them above the shadowed lunar far side and place them farther from Earth than any people have ever travelled. The Artemis II crew, aboard their Orion capsule since lifting off from Florida last week, are expected to wake at about 10.50am ET (3.05pm Irish time) for the mission’s sixth day in flight. At 7:05pm ET (12.05am…

Fresh strikes hit Tehran ahead of US deadline to reopen Strait of Hormuz

More than five weeks into a war that has killed thousands, rattled economies and driven up oil prices, fresh aerial strikes were reported in Tehran as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran showed no sign of easing. US President Donald Trump warned Iran he would unleash "hell" if it failed to reach a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has in effect shut the Hormuz waterway — a passage for about a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas supply — while also striking US military bases and other targets across…

Advocates Demand Authorities Drop False Charges and Free Journalist Abdiqani Abdirahman Mohamed in Laascaanood

MOGADISHU, Somalia 05 April 2026 – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) on Sunday decried what it calls the wrongful detention of reporter Abdiqani Abdirahman Mohamed, arrested on 26 March by Laascaanood police, and demanded that local authorities drop the charges and free him at once. On Thursday, 26 March, police officers in Laascaanood arrested Abdiqani Abdirahman Mohamed, who reports for Dhulmar Media, an online news channel covering the northeastern regions, following his publication ofan…

Trump warns Iran of ‘hell’ if Strait stays shut, says deal possible

A stark new warning from President Donald Trump has raised the temperature in an already dangerous conflict, as he threatened to unleash “hell” on Tehran if it failed to strike a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline, while also hailing US special forces for extracting an airman from deep inside Iran in a risky rescue mission. For more than five weeks, the United States and Israel have battered Iran with missiles and airstrikes in a campaign they say is aimed at eliminating an imminent threat posed by…

Ships near Italy rescue 32 migrants; 71 missing at sea, charity says

A deadly Easter weekend crossing in the central Mediterranean left two migrants dead and dozens more feared missing after a boat traveling from Libya toward Europe ran into trouble near the Italian coast. Two merchant vessels recovered the bodies of two migrants and rescued 32 survivors, according to rescue charities Mediterranea Saving Humans and Sea-Watch. Citing accounts from those pulled from the water, the groups said 71 other people were lost at sea. The victims were transferred to an Italian coast guard patrol boat…

Assessing whether Iran war has heightened U.S. terrorism threat

On 16 February 1992, Sheikh Abbas al-Musawi was heading to Beirut in a black Mercedes with his wife and five-year-old son when the journey turned deadly. The Iran-backed Hezbollah secretary-general was travelling with two Range Rovers carrying armed bodyguards. He was returning from a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the killing of one of Hezbollah's founders. Trailing the convoy were Israeli Apache AH-64 helicopters, which fired missiles and killed the Hezbollah leader along with his family. A month later, a…

Artemis astronauts photograph Earth on journey to the Moon

The Moon was looming larger outside NASA’s Orion capsule on Saturday as the crew of Artemis II entered the third day of a mission billed as a crucial step toward putting humans back on the lunar surface later this decade. NASA said the four-member Artemis crew has now crossed the halfway mark between Earth and the Moon as Orion presses on toward its scheduled lunar flyby. "We're halfway there," the space agency posted on social media. NASA also published the first images captured from inside Orion, among them a striking…

Russian attack on Ukraine kills five, injures 19

A Russian drone strike tore through a market in the frontline Ukrainian city of Nikopol this morning, killing five people and wounding 19 others, according to Ukraine's prosecutor general's office. "This is yet another war crime committed by the Russian Federation," the prosecutor's office said on Telegram. Regional governor Oleksandr Ganja said in a Telegram post that the dead included three women and two men. He also said a 14-year-old girl was among the 19 injured and remained in "critical condition". At the same time, a…

Why Iran regime change has no clear path forward

Nearly half a century has passed since Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi climbed aboard his royal jet at Tehran airport and departed Iran for the last time. His exit, in January 1979, was officially framed as a holiday — a claim few took seriously. After 14 months of unrest, the Associated Press captured the moment by calling him "a weeping king driven from his kingdom". Within hours, statues of the Shah were pulled down and his image disappeared from banknotes. Another 26 days would pass before the monarchy finally gave way, and…

US mission rescues airman from Iran after F-15 crash

A high-stakes American rescue mission deep inside Iran has recovered an airman from behind enemy lines after Tehran shot down a fighter jet, officials said today, easing an immediate political and military test for US President Donald Trump as he considers widening a war now in its sixth week. The rescued airman, whom Mr Trump identified as a colonel, was the weapons-systems officer aboard the downed F-15, a US official said. "Over the past several hours, the United States military pulled off one of the most daring search…