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Europe’s air‑quality watchdog has sounded the alarm: conditions are set to worsen across several countries, including Ireland, over the next few days, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said the downturn stems from a continent‑wide upswing in fine particulate pollution, known as PM2.5. PM2.5 pollution is made up of tiny, nano‑sized organic compounds, roughly one thirtieth the width of a human hair. So small they can cross the lung’s…

A tanker loaded with Russian diesel is expected to reach crisis‑hit Cuba “in several days” after employing evasive tactics to get to the island, which is under a US fuel blockade, according to a maritime tracker. Maritime intelligence firm Windward said that if the vessel docks, it would mark the first confirmed delivery of refined products to the island since early January. Windward had earlier indicated the Hong Kong-flagged Sea Horse had “likely” discharged about 190,000 barrels of Russian diesel in Cuba in early March,…

Soham double murderer Ian Huntley has died in hospital after being attacked inside the workshop of HMP Frankland, a maximum-security prison in Durham, authorities said. Huntley, 52, suffered severe brain trauma in the Feb. 26 assault and had been kept on life support after being struck repeatedly over the head with a metal bar by another inmate. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our…

Gaza faces fuel and food crunch as Israel shuts border crossings after Iran strikes UN warns hospitals and water systems at risk within days; Israel says food stocks sufficient Gaza is rapidly running out of fuel and could soon see shortages of basic foods after Israel closed all border crossings to the enclave, officials said, following Israeli air strikes on Iran conducted with the United States. Israel’s military shut the crossings on Saturday, saying they could not be operated safely during wartime conditions.…

Iran’s state media said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a large-scale U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, a watershed moment that jolted the region and set off competing scenes of mourning and celebration across the country. State television announced a 40-day mourning period and seven public holidays for the leader, who had ruled since 1989. A presenter on state TV vowed Khamenei’s “path and mission” would continue with “greater vigour and zeal.” The claim of his death, which Iranian and Israeli officials…

France braces for worsening floods as a man went missing in the Loire River and the country marked a record 35 consecutive days of rain, national forecasters said Wednesday, with Storm Pedro set to drive fresh downpours across the west. Meteo-France, the national weather service, said the streak is the longest series of rainy days since measurements began in 1959, surpassing a previous record set in 2023. The relentless precipitation has saturated soils and swollen rivers across western regions, pushing several waterways to…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Jessica Buchanan remembers the voice before she saw the faces. After 93 days as a hostage in Somalia, wrapped in a blanket and bracing for the worst, she felt a stranger’s hands at her shoulders and heard a young American say her name: “Jessica, it’s okay. You are safe now.” The American aid worker’s account of abduction and rescue traces a grim arc through one of the world’s most dangerous kidnapping economies — from her capture on Oct. 25, 2011, near Galkacyo, to a pre-dawn U.S. Navy SEAL raid on Jan.…

Sydney records third shark attack in two days; surfer mauled at northern beach as closures widen A surfer believed to be in his 20s was critically injured after a shark mauled him off a northern Sydney ocean beach, authorities said, marking the city’s third shark attack in two days and prompting the closure of all northern beaches. New South Wales state police said members of the public pulled the man from the water and began first aid before emergency crews arrived. He suffered serious injuries to his legs and was taken to…

Gaza’s Al-Awda Hospital has resumed limited operations after the World Health Organization delivered 2,500 liters of diesel, a stopgap supply expected to last roughly two and a half days amid a deepening fuel crisis and a fragile truce in the territory. The hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat district had temporarily halted most services earlier in the day because its generators were nearly dry, according to senior hospital manager Ahmed Mehanna. Al-Awda typically cares for about 60 in-patients and receives nearly 1,000…

EU leaders face a decisive choice on how to finance Ukraine’s war effort at a crunch summit this week, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urging capitals to agree a plan to tap frozen Russian assets. “There is no more important act of European defense than supporting Ukraine’s defense. The next days will be a crucial step for securing this, it is up to us to choose how we fund Ukraine’s fight,” von der Leyen told lawmakers ahead of the meeting, underscoring the pressure on leaders to unlock long-term…