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…

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has delivered one of his sharpest rebukes yet of Iran and its ally Hezbollah, accusing Tehran of turning Lebanon into a pawn in its negotiations with the United States as the country is battered by war with Israel. In an interview with CNN, Mr Aoun said ordinary Lebanese were "paying the price ... for the sake" of Iran's interests and had grown "fed up" with the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, laying bare the strain running through Lebanon's already fragile sectarian and political…

Vladimir Putin has poured cold water on Volodymyr Zelensky's push for a personal meeting, saying there is "no point" in a face-to-face summit until negotiators first put a peace deal on the table. Speaking at Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg, Putin dismissed the idea of an immediate encounter with the Ukrainian president, one day after Zelensky issued an open later urging such talks. "I see no point in meeting. It only makes sense for the Ukrainian side to stop the advance of our armed forces. That's it.…

A seven-month-old Palestinian boy was killed and his parents wounded after Israeli forces opened fire in the southern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The ministry identified the infant as Sam Fahd Abou Haikal and said he was killed while his mother and father were injured "after the occupation forces opened fire on them on Friday evening" south of Hebron. The Israeli military said troops fired after "soldiers perceived a vehicle accelerating toward them", but added that a preliminary inquiry…

Tensions in the Gulf sharpened again as the United States military said it struck radar installations along Iran's southern coastline, the latest confrontation to cast fresh doubt on a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East war. In a statement, US Central Command said its forces first brought down four Iranian one-way attack drones heading toward the Strait of Hormuz, then moved against Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in the city of Goruk and on Qeshm Island. "The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional…

Andy Burnham has opened the door to a fresh Labour leadership battle, saying he would take on Prime Minister Keir Starmer if he secures victory in the Makerfield bye-election later this month. The Greater Manchester mayor said Labour, despite being in government, requires a fundamental reset as it struggles in the opinion polls. Burnham made the remarks during a BBC debate alongside other candidates contesting the parliamentary seat in northern England. Starmer, whose approval ratings rank among the weakest for a British…

A deadly New Year’s fire that tore through a Swiss ski-resort bar and left 41 people dead is back at the center of the investigation, with the venue’s owners set to face another round of questioning. French owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti were due to be cross-examined by public prosecutors and lawyers representing civil parties over the blaze that swept through Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana in the early hours of 1 January. The disaster claimed 41 lives, most of them teenagers, and left 115 others injured. "The…

A transatlantic political row has erupted over the killing of a student in England, after the US State Department stepped into the debate and denounced what it described as “ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing” as evidence of a broader civilisational decline. The controversy centres on the death of Henry Nowak, who was 18 when he was fatally stabbed last year. As he lay wounded, police handcuffed the white teenager after his attacker falsely claimed he had carried out a racist assault. On Monday, his killer,…

Europe has thrown its weight behind Volodymyr Zelensky’s dramatic appeal to Vladimir Putin, with EU officials endorsing the Ukrainian president’s push for face-to-face talks as a possible way to halt a war now grinding through its fifth year. Mr Zelensky set out that offer in an open letter to the Russian leader, proposing a direct meeting to negotiate an end to the conflict while making clear that, failing that, Kyiv was prepared to continue the fight. "We welcome President Zelensky's call for direct negotiations and also…

Against the odds on the slopes of Mount Everest, a Nepali climbing guide missing for six days and feared dead has been found alive after dragging himself alone down toward Base Camp, officials said. By the time he was discovered, his wife said, she had already started last rite prayers. Speaking from a hospital in the capital Kathmandu, where he is now recovering, she described a family swinging from grief to disbelief. Mountaineer Dawa Sherpa - who is in his 50s, and is better known as "Hillary" after famed climber Edmund…