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Phil Hogan’s campaign to lead the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation is running into stiff resistance at a pivotal moment. Ireland’s former EU commissioner is still regarded in Brussels as the standout contender to become the first European to serve as director-general of the Rome-based agency in half a century. But efforts to unite the bloc behind one name have been slowed by determined rival candidacies from Italy and Spain. If no common nominee emerges, Europe again risks splitting its vote when 193 UN member states…

Former President of Senegal, Macky Sall, has asserted that achieving lasting global peace hinges on addressing the persistent issues of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. As he positions himself as a contender to replace UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Sall's insights come just ahead of a public inquiry at the United Nations headquarters in New York this week. Introduced in 2016, the public Q&A format aims to foster transparency during the selection process. Nonetheless, the final authority to appoint the…

Shane Lowry lit up Augusta National with a stunning hole-in-one at the Masters, a moment he later described as "wild" as it thrust him firmly into the hunt going into the final round. The Offaly golfer has built an enviable catalogue of aces over the years, and this latest effort gave him another slice of history: it was his second at Augusta National, making him the first player ever to achieve that feat. Lowry’s tee shot at the 190-yard sixth vaulted him from six under to eight under par, and he closed with a 69 to sit on…

A sudden policy shift from Washington is sending ripples through global energy markets, as the Trump administration moves to counter surging oil prices amid escalating conflict with Iran. The United States on Friday issued a 30-day waiver allowing the purchase of Iranian oil at sea, a step officials say is aimed at easing supply pressures driven by nearly three weeks of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the measure could release roughly 140 million barrels of oil into global…

By STEVE DOUGLAS Wednesday March 18, 2026 What once sounded fanciful now feels within reach: Arsenal’s push for a quadruple of major trophies is very much alive this season. The players scarcely have a moment to dwell on it. Arsenal booked a place in the Champions League quarterfinals by defeating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on Tuesday, clinching a 3-1 aggregate win. Mikel Arteta’s side also sits nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, meets Manchester City in Sunday’s English League Cup final, and has already…

Premier League title race tightens as Arsenal’s lead shrinks and Manchester City surge gathers pace From a nine-point cushion to a four-point edge in less than a week, Arsenal’s authority atop the Premier League has been trimmed and tested — and the momentum feels as if it has tilted toward Manchester City. Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Brentford on Thursday did not dislodge Mikel Arteta’s side from first place, and, crucially, the league leaders still control their fate. Yet the psychology of a title chase can shift quickly. City,…

An immigration judge has rejected the Trump administration’s bid to deport Tufts University PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national whose high-profile arrest became a flashpoint in the crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activism, her lawyers said. In a Jan. 29 decision, Immigration Judge Roopal Patel in Boston concluded the Department of Homeland Security failed to meet its burden to prove Ozturk was removable and terminated proceedings, according to a filing her attorneys made with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he will seek a third term, asserting Somalia’s provisional constitution permits him to run again because his two previous mandates were not consecutive, a move that deepens political tensions over contentious constitutional changes. Mohamud, first elected in 2012 and returned to office in 2022 after five years out of power, framed his bid as consistent with the law’s limit on back-to-back presidencies. “The constitution does not prohibit me from running again,” he…

Labour’s ruling body has blocked Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham from seeking the party’s nomination in the Gorton and Denton by-election, citing the cost and risk of triggering a separate mayoral contest ahead of major elections in May — a move likely to inflame tensions inside the party. Burnham, one of Labour’s most high-profile figures and widely regarded as a potential leadership rival to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said he wanted to stand to replace Andrew Gwynne, the sitting MP who resigned last week on health…

Labour MPs will meet Saturday amid mounting speculation that Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham could seek a return to Westminster in the Gorton and Denton by-election, a move that would test the prime minister’s authority and the party’s internal discipline. The gathering of Labour MPs from north-west England comes as senior figures weigh whether Burnham should be allowed to enter the race to succeed Andrew Gwynne, who formally resigned his Greater Manchester seat on Friday, triggering a by-election. Burnham has long…