The United States will be “out of Iran pretty quickly” and could return for “spot hits” if needed, US president Donald Trump has said. Speaking to the Reuters news agency, Trump also said Tehran was incapable of acquiring a nuclear bomb following attacks by the US and Israel. In a separate social media post he … Read more
New coastal defences and “emergency evacuation processes” are needed to prepare Ireland for the worst consequences of climate change, an Irish expert has warned. Prof Iris Moller, a coastal geomorphologist at Trinity College Dublin, said protections for communities were needed “urgently”. She was speaking in response to a World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) analysis published on … Read more
Nato countries have rejected the call by US president Donald Trump to send warships to escort shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The US-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week, largely shutting the strait, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flow, raising energy prices and fears … Read more
President Catherine Connolly has sent a St Patrick’s Day card which includes the text of the United Nations charter seeking to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and uphold international law. The President also posted on the back of the card the text of Article 29 of the Irish Constitution which includes a … Read more
US president Donald Trump called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” on Friday, a dramatic escalation of his demands a week into the war the US has launched alongside Israel. Trump’s remarks on social media were a setback to hopes for a quick end to the conflict. They came after Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said some countries … Read more
The Government has nominated former European commissioner Phil Hogan as Ireland’s candidate to contest an election for a senior job at the United Nations. Ministers agreed to back the former Fine Gael politician as Ireland’s pick in the race to take over as the next director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). … Read more
Ireland is to deepen naval co-operation with France and Britain, including allowing their vessels to patrol Irish-controlled waters and offer protection during the EU presidency. The move towards deeper co-operation will be outlined on Wednesday with the launch of the National Maritime Security Strategy, which will set out planned measures to protect Irish waters and … Read more
Ahmed Ali once came across an infant’s body wrapped in a plastic bag. The 36-year-old informed the police and then carried on working. Another day, it was a gold-coloured bangle. “We don’t find riches,” he says, but that time he pocketed it. His job as a sweeper in the megacity of Dhaka means he sees … Read more
The Defence Forces has condemned an aerial drop of unidentified chemicals by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) over areas of the “Blue Line” that separates southern Lebanon from Israel. Personnel from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) were forced to cancel activities in the area, including security patrols, while the chemicals were dropped from … Read more
Abandoned homes in the centre of Nicosia still bear the bullet holes from the worst of the fighting. The belongings of the people who lived here are, decades later, scattered around the floor where they were left behind as they fled: a blue and white shirt, a child’s shoe, papers and magazines, all covered in … Read more