In a warning that cut through the usual techno-utopian rhetoric, Pope Leo XIV used his encyclical on the dangers of artificial intelligence last month to argue that AI must be "disarmed". "To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity," he said. Addressing AI developers directly, the Pope said they carried an "ethical and spiritual responsibility" and urged them to ensure what they are building serves a "genuine good". Then on Thursday, Anthropic published an essay urging that…

Madrid surged to a standstill on Sunday morning as more than a million people crowded the capital’s streets and a landmark square for a fleeting look at Pope Leo XIV, who traveled to an open-air Mass set to become the biggest gathering of his week-long visit to Spain. Flags fluttered above the crowds and chants of “long live the pope” rang out as the pontiff rode in the popemobile along Madrid’s grand Paseo de la Castellana toward Cibeles Square, where he was scheduled to celebrate the Mass. As he entered the square, some in…

President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian forces of carrying out what he called an “extremely vile” strike on a spent nuclear fuel storage facility near Ukraine’s Chornobyl power plant, an attack that damaged the site but did not trigger a rise in radiation levels. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which said it was briefed by Ukrainian officials, the strike caused serious damage to a fuel-reception building just metres from an area where “large amounts of nuclear material” are kept. Ukraine’s state…

Pope Leo XIV opened his first trip to Spain by confronting one of the Catholic Church’s deepest scars, saying sexual abuse remained “an open wound” as he prepared to meet survivors during the visit. The 70-year-old arrived in Madrid for the first papal state visit to Spain since 2010, beginning a week-long tour with an airport welcome from King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The Vatican said he will meet victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, and the Pope told reporters aboard the papal plane…

Washington is preparing a new pressure point in its confrontation with Tehran: channeling Iranian assets toward Gulf states to help pay for reconstruction after damage blamed on Iran, according to a source familiar with the matter, as Iran followed its strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain with additional drone launches. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has instructed a team to calculate the cost of damage already suffered by Gulf allies at Iran’s hands, the source said, adding that Washington is also weighing the use of Iranian…

Jeremy Corbyn has urged the public to tune out US Vice President JD Vance’s intervention over the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak and instead heed the plea for calm made by the teenager’s father, Mark Nowak. The former UK Labour leader, now an Independent MP, made the remarks in Dublin after days of violent confrontations between English nationalists and police across the UK following the December 2025 killing of Mr Nowak in Southampton. Mr Nowak was fatally stabbed by 23-year-old British-born Vickrum Digwa, who said he had…

Standing on the Normandy coast, where Allied troops once fought their way onto Europe’s shores, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth cast today’s immigration pressures as a new kind of threat, warning that dangerous ideologies were now arriving by sea. The comments fit squarely within the broader message from President Donald Trump’s administration, which has repeatedly argued that Europe is being weakened by inadequate defences, failure to confront immigration, excessive bureaucracy and what it describes as the "censorship" of…

An Irish journalist documenting the war in Ukraine has received one of the country’s official honours, with President Volodymyr Zelensky presenting Kilkenny reporter and social media figure Caolan Robertson with an Order of Merit. Robertson was among a group of Ukrainian and international journalists recognised for their reporting on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In a message posted on social media, Mr Robertson said he was "completely blown away" by the recognition and called it a "profound honour". The Kilkenny native also…

A morning dive off Western Australia turned deadly after a shark fatally attacked a man in waters near Perth, marking the country’s fourth lethal shark incident this year, police said. The victim, a man in his thirties, was attacked by a 4.5-metre shark near Michaelmas Island, southeast of Perth, according to ambulance services and the Western Australian government. Authorities said the incident was reported at about 11.25am local time. Police said the man had been spearfishing when the shark struck. He was brought back to…

Ireland has moved to bar two of Israel’s most outspoken ministers from entering the country, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirming that Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan has imposed travel bans on Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Mr Ben-Gvir serves as Israel’s national security minister, while Mr Smotrich holds the finance portfolio. The Taoiseach was speaking at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat, Montenegro. Mr Martin said the ministers’ rhetoric and conduct "amount to a desire to see the elimination of…