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)
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]
Mexico’s most wanted man and the leader of the feared Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) drug cartel has been killed during a security operation to arrest him, the defence ministry has said.
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho”, died on Sunday as he was being taken to the capital Mexico City, after being seriously injured in clashes between his supporters and the army.
Four CJNG members were killed in the town of Tapalpa, the central-western Jalisco state. Three army personnel were also injured. The US had given Mexico with information that assisted the operation.
CJNG retaliated by setting cars alight, building roadblocks and attacking security forces in eight states.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo later urged people to remain “calm”.
In a post on X, she wrote that “in most parts of the country, activities are proceeding normally”.
The CJNG cartel – which had its original power base in Jalisco – is now present across Mexico.
El Mencho, a 59-year-old former police officer, ran a vast criminal organisation responsible for trafficking huge quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the US.
It had offered a $15m (£11.1m) reward for information leading to El Mencho’s capture.
In a statement, the Mexican defence ministry said the operation was “planned and executed” by the country’s special forces.
Aircraft from the Mexican Air Force and the National Guard were also deployed.
It also said that several armoured vehicles and weapons – including rocket launchers – were seized during the operation.
The US had been providing information to Mexico that assisted its operation, the statement said.
Eyewitnesses have filmed plumes of smoke rising over several cities including Guadalajara – one of the host cities of the forthcoming Fifa World Cup.
In the tourist hotspot of Puerto Vallarta, on the Jalisco coast, potentially thousands of tourists are trapped in the resort around the fighting.
Throughout Sunday, there were reports of gunmen on the streets in Jalisco and elsewhere.
The governor of Jalisco, Pablo Lemus Navarro, on social media advised residents of the state to adhere to a code red warning and avoid leaving their homes.
He also said that public transport was suspended in the state.
The US Department of State issued a shelter-in-place warning for US citizens in the states of Jalisco, Tamaulipas, as well as some areas in Michoacan, Guerrero and Nuevo Leon.
Former US ambassador to Mexico and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau described El Mencho on social media as “one of the bloodiest and most ruthless drug kingpins.”
He added that El Mencho’s death was “a great development for Mexico, the US, Latin America, and the world”.
The killing of El Mencho represents a victory for the Mexican president in her fight against the country’s drug cartels.
It also could strengthen her relationship with US President Trump, who often has demanded more progress on security in Mexico.
However, if the security forces can’t bring the situation under control quickly, the Mexican administration’s victory may be overshadowed by the cartel’s violent response.
The Jalisco cartel has gained notoriety since it was formed in about 2010 for a series of attacks on security forces and public officials.
It has downed an army helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade, killed dozens of state officials, and has even been known to hang the bodies of its victims from bridges to intimidate its rivals.
[BBC]
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Unchanged India opt to bowl; Hosein replaces King for West Indies
Healy plunders 158 off 98 balls in final ODI as Australia secure huge win
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Iran begins 40-day mourning after Khamenei killed in US-Israeli attack
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