Foreign News
One of Ireland’s ‘most wanted’ facing extradition from Dubai
Extradition proceedings are under way in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to bring one of the alleged most senior members of the Kinahan organised crime gang back to the Republic of Ireland, global policing agency Interpol has said.
Sean McGovern was arrested by Dubai police on Thursday after the publication of an Interpol Red Notice in collaboration between Irish and UAE authorities.
The 38-year-old is wanted for charges including murder and directing an organised crime group.
Interpol described Mr McGovern as “one of Ireland’s most wanted fugitives”.
On Thursday, Garda (Irish police) Commissioner Drew Harris described the arrest as an “important intervention”.
“This has been a very long process and investigation involving international partners for An Garda Síochána,” he told reporters in Cork.
In a statement, the gardaí also said it “welcomed” the arrest of an Irish national in the UAE.
“An Garda Síochána has developed major international partnerships in our efforts to target transnational organised crime groups,” it said.
“Our relationship with the authorities in the United Arab Emirates is valued and one which we will continue to develop.”
The leaders of the Kinahan crime gang, which originated in Dublin, are believed to be based in the UAE.
It is understood Mr McGovern’s extradition is the first one to take place between the UAE to the Republic of Ireland.
Ireland’s Minister for Justice Helen McEntee warned “there is no hiding place” for those involved in organised crime.
“Many organised crime gangs think they can evade justice by crossing borders; they cannot,” McEntee said in a statement.
“There can be no hiding place anywhere in the world for criminals.”
There can be no hiding place anywhere in the world for criminals.”
McEntee said she was “intensely engaging” with her UAE counterpart about deepening the criminal justice relationship between the two countries.
She added that “good progress” was being made in negotiations between Ireland and the UAE on bilateral treaties and mutual legal assistance.
Last October, Commissioner Harris met senior UAE police officers in Dublin as part of an international investigation into the Kinahan gang.
The delegation’s visit came one day after Minister for Justice Helen McEntee discussed the possibility of a bilateral treaty on extradition with her UAE counterpart.
The previous month, Commissioner Harris had met authorities in Dubai to discuss ways to tackle transnational crime.
Who are the Kinahans?
The Kinahans are Ireland’s wealthiest, most powerful and ruthless criminal gang.
It was founded by Christy Kinahan Sr, but it is believed its day-to-day operations are now controlled by sons Daniel, in particular, and Christopher Jr.
For more than 20 years, the group has been responsible for importing tonnes of drugs and firearms around the world, the National Crime Agency says.
The US Treasury Department previously described the Kinahan cartel as one of the most dangerous in the world, comparable to crime organisations such as Italy’s Camorra, Mexico’s Los Zetas and Japan’s Yakuza.
According to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, the gang is estimated to have made more than €1bn (£852,629,000) globally from its activities.
In April 2022, the US Federal Bureau of Investigations put up rewards of $5m (£3.8m) for the capture of the three men.
On Sunday, alleged Kinahan gang member Liam Byrne, 42, from Dublin, was detained in Spain on suspicion of firearms offences after a warrant was issued by the UK.
(BBC)
Tributes have been paid to the war photographer Paul Conroy who has died at the age of 61.
He covered conflicts around the world and was wounded in the Syrian army’s bombardment of Homs, which killed his Sunday Times colleague Marie Colvin in 2012.
Their fateful assignment was depicted in the 2018 movie A Private War, with the actor Jamie Dornan playing Conroy.
The Liverpool-born photographer died from a heart attack on Saturday in Devon, where he had lived, his brother Alan told the BBC.
“He did all his life what he wanted to do to make a difference – he found great pleasure in exposing wrongs,” Alan added.
BBC newsreader Clive Myrie posted that he was “utterly devastated” by the news, describing Conroy as “a wonderful photojournalist and a wonderful human being”.
“I counted him as a friend and a decent, principled and kind man. My brutha you will be sorely missed. RIP”
Lindsey Hilsum, international editor at Channel 4, added: “All of us who knew and loved him are devastated.”
Conroy also spent seven years with the Royal Artillery as a soldier before becoming a professional photographer and was a trustee of the Frontline Club for media professionals, diplomats and aid workers.
Its founder Vaughan Smith, who was also in the Army, said: “He was one of the characters – those people who stand out because everybody adores them and they make you feel better.”
The 2018 documentary Under the Wire was made about Conroy’s escape from the 2012 bombardment of a makeshift media centre in Homs, where his colleagues Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik were killed.
Referring to the Syrians who were killed in the area, he said: “These beautiful people who were being slaughtered, I wanted to tell their story.”
He only realised how badly injured he was when he returned to the UK.
“Obviously I knew I had a huge hole in the back of my leg,” he said.
“But in London I found out I also had a great big piece of shrapnel wedged under my kidneys. I had 23 operations on my leg and others on my abdomen and back. I was in hospital for five months.”
Conroy worked in Libya and Ukraine and had recently returned from an assignment in Cuba.
He also took photos for the British singer Joss Stone and wrote music with her.
She said she was “so grateful to have known him and honoured to call him my friend”.
“I wouldn’t be the person I am today without Paul. Paul Conroy was a legend. A wonderful person through and through. Always standing up for what was right. Always there for those in need.”
He leaves behind a wife, three sons and grandchildren.
[BBC]
Iran has begun 40 days of mourning after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in ongoing attacks by the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media.
Top security officials were also killed in Saturday’s strikes, along with Khamenei’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson. The killings mark one of the most significant blows to Iran’s leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned the killing as “a great crime”, according to a statement from his office. He also declared seven days of public holidays in addition to the 40-day mourning period.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said people were pouring into the streets of the capital following the news of Khamenei’s killing.
“There will be expected ceremonies,” he said, noting they would likely take place amid continuing bombardment across the country.
Protests denouncing Khamenei’s killing were also reported elsewhere, including Shiraz, Yasuj and Lorestan.
Footage aired by Iranian state media showed supporters mourning at the shrine of Imam Reza in Mashhad, with several people seen crying and collapsing in grief.
The killing also led to protests in neighbouring Iraq, which declared three days of public mourning. In Baghdad, protesters confronted security forces in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies.
Videos verified by Al Jazeera showed demonstrators waving flags and shouting slogans, with witnesses saying some were attempting to mobilise towards the US Embassy. Footage also showed protesters blocking vehicles at a roundabout near one of the entrances to the area.
There was also a protest in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where footage, verified by Al Jazeera, showed people setting fire to and smashing the windows of the US consulate.
However, there have also been reports of celebrations in Iran, with the Reuters news agency quoting witnesses as saying some people had taken to the streets in Tehran, the nearby city of Karaj and the central city of Isfahan.
Meanwhile, the official IRNA news agency reported that a three-person council, consisting of the country’s president, the chief of the judiciary, and one of the jurists of the Guardian Council, will temporarily assume all leadership duties in the country. The body will temporarily oversee the country until a new supreme leader is elected.
Khamenei assumed leadership of Iran in 1989 following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had led the Islamic revolution a decade earlier.
While Khomeini was regarded as the ideological force behind the revolution that ended the Pahlavi monarchy, Khamenei went on to shape Iran’s military and paramilitary apparatus, strengthening both its domestic control and its regional influence.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pledged revenge and said it had launched strikes on 27 bases hosting US troops in the region, as well as Israeli military facilities in Tel Aviv.
[Aljazeera]
A 24-year-old British man is among 19 people who were killed in a bus crash in Nepal, police say.
The bus – which had been carrying tourists – had been travelling to the capital, Kathmandu, when it lost control and fell 200m on to the bank of the Trishuli river, in the country’s central Dhading district, in the early hours of Monday morning.
There were 44 people onboard including the driver, 25 of whom suffered injuries. The bus had been travelling from Pokhara, a popular tourist spot.
Nepal’s Home Ministry has created a five-member taskforce to investigate the cause of the incident. The UK Foreign Office said it was assisting the family of the Briton who was killed.
Nepalese authorities identified him as Stewart Dominic Ethan. His name has not been confirmed by the Foreign Office.
Nepalese police say they have identified all 19 bodies, including a 40-year-old Chinese woman and a 32-year-old man from India. Among the injured is a Chinese national and a New Zealander.
All the injured had been taken to hospitals in the capital, they added. Children were among those onboard.
Multiple teams were sent to the site, including police units, the army and a rescue team of divers, authorities said.
Police spokesman Abinarayan Kafle said 17 people died at the scene, with two more dying while receiving treatment, BBC Nepali reported.
Road accidents are relatively commonplace in Nepal, due to a range of factors including poor road maintenance and narrow paths in mountainous areas.
In 2024, at least 14 people died after a bus travelling from Pokhara to Kathmandu fell into the Marsyangdi river in the Tanahun district.
“We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Nepal and are in contact with the local authorities,” a Foreign Office spokesman told the BBC.
Nepal is a popular destination for many international visitors, especially climbers, who travel there to access a key section of the Himalaya mountain range that includes Mount Everest.
Home to eight of the world’s tallest peaks, mountaineering is a significant source of revenue for the country – in 2024 climbing fees brought in $5.9m.
[BBC]
Oil prices rise after ships attacked near Strait of Hormuz
War photographer Paul Conroy dies as tributes paid
Allies of US in the Gulf bear brunt of Iran attacks
Dry weather will prevail in most parts of the island
Israel resumes attacks as Iran vows to avenge supreme leader’s death
CPC has enough fuel stocks
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