World

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…

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…

Russia unleashed nearly 500 missiles and drones on Ukraine in a wave of attacks that officials said killed at least six people, as Moscow pressed ahead with a growing pattern of daytime strikes. Since the start of its invasion, Russia has pounded Ukraine from the air, with most barrages typically launched after dark. In recent weeks, however, those assaults have increasingly come in daylight hours. "Terrorist Russia strikes in broad daylight deliberately - to maximise civilian casualties and damage," Ukraine's Foreign…

One year after setting off sweeping trade fights around the world, US President Donald Trump has opened a new front: medicines and metals. In two fresh orders, he moved to tighten pressure on foreign-made pharmaceuticals and rework tariffs on industrial materials central to manufacturing. The twin measures are aimed at pushing drugmakers to expand production in the United States, while also taking aim at companies US officials say have been "artificially manipulating" metals prices. Under the revised metals policy, finished…

A new chapter in humanity’s return to deep space began in Florida, where four astronauts launched on NASA’s Artemis II mission for a high-stakes, nearly ten-day journey around the Moon. The flight represents the United ⁠States’ clearest move yet toward putting humans back on the lunar surface this decade, with NASA aiming to get there before China mounts its first crewed landing. Just before sunset local time at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket thundered off the pad with the Orion…

Donald Trump has dismissed Attorney General Pam Bondi, abruptly ending her tenure atop the Justice Department and tapping his former personal lawyer Todd Blanche to serve as acting attorney general. The decision comes after weeks of rising irritation inside Trump's orbit over Bondi's performance, especially her stewardship of investigative files tied to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump had also reportedly become increasingly dissatisfied that Bondi was not moving fast enough to pursue…

A widening investigation into alleged abuse of EU farm subsidies is drawing in more politicians from Greece’s ruling party, deepening a scandal that has burdened the government for nearly a year. The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) first set out the alleged scheme last May, saying subsidy recipients filed claims for land they did not own and overstated livestock numbers. In some cases, those collecting payments had no connection to farming at all. The claims triggered a series of raids and arrests last October and…