A Russian An-26 military transport plane slammed into a cliff in Crimea, killing all 29 people on board, with a possible technical malfunction emerging as the likely cause, according to Russia’s ⁠defence ministry as cited by news agencies. TASS news agency, quoting the ministry, said contact with the aircraft was lost at about 6pm local time (4pm Irish time) while it was carrying out a planned flight over Crimea. Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Crimea is marked by sweeping mountain ranges that descend…

An estimated 259,000 people die from meningitis each year worldwide, according to a large new study released after the disease sparked fresh concern in the UK. The research found that children made up roughly a third of those deaths, with many occurring in Africa—an outcome the authors described as the most extensive global assessment of meningitis to date. The new findings arrive after meningitis was thrust into the spotlight following an outbreak in southeast England believed to have spread through a nightclub earlier this…

The bombing of an Iranian elementary school drew “visceral horror,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said today, as he pressed Washington to finish its investigation and demanded justice for “the terrible harm done”. Turk spoke at the opening of an urgent debate in the UN Human Rights Council called to address the 28 February attack on a school in Minab, describing the strike as an attack on children that none of the council’s members should be willing to justify. “The bombing evoked a…

Tuesday March 24, 2026 Flames and thick black smoke rise from the Colombian air force's C-130 Hercules that crashed during takeoff, in Puerto Leguizamo, Colombia, on March 23, 2026 A deadly aviation disaster unfolded in Colombia’s far south on Monday when a military transport plane carrying 125 people crashed moments after takeoff, killing at least 66 and leaving dozens more injured, authorities said. The aircraft, a Lockheed Martin-built C-130 Hercules, went down shortly after departing Puerto Leguizamo, a jungle town near…

An Air Force transport crash in Colombia has left 66 dead as recovery teams continue to pull bodies from the wreckage, officials said. The catastrophe ranks among the deadliest in recent memory for Colombia's Air Force and left dozens more injured. Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X that the Lockheed Martin-built Hercules C-130 was taking off from Puerto Leguizamo, near the Peruvian border, when the accident occurred. A fire brigade spokesperson said the aircraft appeared to strike something near the end of the runway…

Wednesday March 18, 2026 Iran confirmed Tuesday that Ali Larijani — a senior security power broker and a pillar of conservative politics within the Islamic Republic — was killed in an Israeli strike. He was 67. After U.S. and Israeli strikes late last month that killed Iran’s supreme leader and broadened the conflict, Larijani was widely viewed as the de facto manager of state affairs. Israel announced earlier Tuesday that it had killed Larijani; Tehran waited several hours before acknowledging his death. He had been tapped…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said Sunday its operatives killed at least 22 al-Shabaab fighters, including several senior operational commanders, during two separate counterterrorism operations in the country’s central regions. NISA said the first raid struck a militant gathering in Dumaaye, in the Mudug region, where security forces killed about 15 fighters. Among those the agency identified as dead were several figures it described as senior leaders. The operation was…

Roadside bomb kills at least five Puntland State soldiers near Bosaso; ISIS-Somalia suspected BOSASO, Somalia — At least five Puntland State Defense Force soldiers were killed and several others wounded Friday when a roadside bomb struck a military vehicle on the highway linking Bosaso and Dhaadaar in the Al-Khalifa area, security officials said. Local authorities said they believe the attack was carried out by the Islamic State group’s Somalia affiliate, which operates in the mountainous terrain of the Bari region. The…

KERZERS, Switzerland — At least six people were killed and three others injured when a bus caught fire on a road in the western Swiss town of Kerzers, prompting police to open a criminal investigation and say early evidence points to a deliberate act by someone on board. Frédéric Papaux, a spokesperson for the Fribourg cantonal police, said investigators had “elements suggesting a deliberate act by a person who was inside the bus,” while cautioning that the precise cause of the blaze remains under investigation. Officers…

Suspected drone strike kills at least four children in southern Djibouti Thursday March 5, 2026 DJIBOUTI — At least four children were killed in a suspected drone strike in southern Djibouti, authorities and a local human rights group said Tuesday. The explosion occurred in the Dikhil region of Afar, according to Public Prosecutor Hassan Mohamed Hassan. In a statement, Hassan said a team has been dispatched to investigate the circumstances surrounding the blast and determine its cause. The Djiboutian League for Human Rights…