Iran has stepped up missile attacks on Israel, targeting Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion Airport after confirming the deaths of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, senior security figure Ali Larijani, and Gholamreza Soleimani in joint US-Israeli strikes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran’s political leadership remained intact despite the loss of senior figures, while Israeli emergency authorities reported two people in their 70s were killed in a missile strike on Ramat Gan.
At the same time, conflict has spread deeper into the Gulf, with drone strikes triggering a major fire at Ras Laffan Industrial City, where QatarEnergy said extensive damage had been inflicted at the world’s largest LNG export hub, though casualty figures remain unclear.
The widening confrontation has added further pressure to energy markets, with oil prices holding above US$100 a barrel.
Denis Sassou Nguesso has claimed an overwhelming victory in the Republic of the Congo presidential election, taking 94.82 percent of the vote under provisional results announced by Interior Minister Raymond Zephirin Mboulou.
His nearest challenger, Mabio Mavoungou Zinga, received 1.48 percent, with seven candidates contesting Sunday’s ballot. Officials said 3,167,909 voters were registered and turnout reached 84.65 percent.
The 82-year-old leader, first installed in power in 1979, returned to office in 1997 after civil war and is now among Africa’s longest-serving presidents. During the campaign he pledged continuity, stability and development, with a focus on infrastructure, education and economic growth. After voting, he said the oil-producing nation would maintain strong ties with Russia and other international partners.
The election took place amid opposition criticism over alleged political repression and an internet shutdown on polling day, although observers from the African Union and regional bodies described the vote as peaceful and transparent while calling for broader reforms.
Argentina has formally withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), completing the exit process one year after first requesting to leave the United Nations health agency.
Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno confirmed the move after President Javier Milei’s government notified the organisation in February 2025 and lodged the formal withdrawal request on March 17 last year. The decision follows the path taken by Donald Trump, whose administration also moved the United States out of the WHO. Quirno said Argentina would continue international health cooperation through bilateral and regional agreements while preserving sovereignty and full control over national health policy decisions.
New Zealand formally rejected the organisation’s regulation amendments earlier this week.
Argentina had been a founding member of the WHO since 1948, but the Milei administration said deep differences over the agency’s handling of the COVID-19 drove the decision.
Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni said WHO pandemic management, together with decisions taken under former president Alberto Fernández, contributed to Argentina enduring what the government described as the longest lockdown in human history and exposed the country to foreign political influence. The government maintains the withdrawal will not damage healthcare delivery, although critics argue it could weaken outbreak monitoring, reduce access to lower-cost vaccines and treatments, and remove Argentina from key international health coordination mechanisms.
Senegal has been stripped of its 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title after the Confederation of African Football ruled the final should be recorded as a 3-0 win for Morocco following a disciplinary review.
The decision came after an appeal by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation over the chaotic final in Rabat, where Senegal originally secured a 1-0 extra-time victory. CAF said under Article 84 of tournament regulations Senegal forfeited the match after coach Pape Bouna Thiaw and his players left the field for 15 minutes in protest when a late Senegal goal was disallowed and Morocco were awarded a penalty.
Although Morocco missed the penalty after play resumed, Senegal went on to score the winning goal in extra time, but CAF later ruled the walk-off invalidated the result.
Both nations were sanctioned over the disorder, with Thiaw suspended for five matches and the Senegalese federation fined about $615,000, while Morocco also received fines and player suspensions for security breaches and misconduct. Senegal’s football federation has condemned the ruling as unfair and unprecedented, saying it will challenge the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The executive director of the Firearms Safety Authority Angela Brazier, has been cleared of misconduct after an employment investigation linked to disgraced former deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming.
The investigation, led by Kristy McDonald KC, found it would have been prudent for Brazier to disclose that McSkimming was receiving harassing emails and that police were investigating them when she gave a reference to the Public Service Commission during his 2024 bid for interim police commissioner.
However, the report concluded shortcomings in the commission’s shortened seven-minute reference process — including no warning to provide full disclosure, no follow-up questions, and no advance notice of the interview — meant her conduct did not amount to misconduct or bring police into disrepute. Deputy Commissioner Mike Pannett accepted the recommendation and confirmed no further action was required.
Brazier, who is retiring in April after more than 20 years in senior police roles, told state media the investigation was a waste of taxpayers’ money and criticised police for not publicly confirming she had been cleared.
She said the process had affected her health, reputation and career prospects, and argued the reference check was conducted too quickly to allow proper reflection. McDonald’s report also highlighted that the Public Service Commission relied on a shortened vetting process because McSkimming had already undergone full checks when appointed deputy commissioner in 2023, with only three nominated referees consulted. The commission has since changed how reference checks are conducted and provided further interviewer training, while two other employment investigations arising from the same Independent Police Conduct Authority recommendations remain ongoing.
An immigration adviser caught selling a fake job at her husband’s company in taped phone conversations — after a migrant lost his first fake job there — has had her licence cancelled.
Heidi Castelucci, also known as Qian Yu, coached the migrant on how the $70,000 arrangement would work and how it should be hidden from authorities, with the Immigration Advisers Complaints and Disciplinary Tribunal upholding that complaint along with five others from visa applicants and describing the case as a “concerning pattern of behaviour”.
While working at Auckland firm Liberty Consulting, trading as Liberty Immigration, the migrant was first placed in a visa façade job that was later terminated, before being persuaded to resign and accept a second non-existent role as a $100,000-a-year business development manager at twice the salary. The tribunal found he was told to pay $70,000 for company support for his residence visa, fund his own salary and tax, and take cash-in-hand work elsewhere to support his family. He paid one $7,500 instalment before raising concerns and leaving New Zealand with his children, having paid a total of $25,588 when a reasonable immigration advice fee would have been between $2,000 and $4,000.
The tribunal said fake jobs strike at the heart of the immigration system and public trust, and that the involvement of a licensed adviser in creating such a scam was serious enough to justify cancellation of her licence, alongside a $4,000 fine.
Although Castelucci later expressed deep remorse and referred to personal, medical and psychological collapse, the tribunal concluded those circumstances arose after the scam had been set up and said it was not persuaded she had changed. Employment advocate May Moncur said the two-year maximum cancellation period was too short for dishonesty cases and argued lifetime bans should be available, warning that jobs were still being sold through “tokens” linked to accredited employers recruiting migrants.
She said some agents and proxies had recruited dozens of workers, generating millions in illegal income while migrants paid large premiums for jobs that did not exist, distorting the economy and undermining genuine employment opportunities. The Registrar of Companies has also begun action to remove Liberty Consulting from the companies register, while a new company established by Castelucci’s husband, Global Pathways Consulting, operates from the same Rosedale address.
Abbas Araghchi has said the killing of politicians by the US and Israel will not bring down the government.
The killing of senior Iranian officials by the US and Israel will not cripple the government, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said.
Araghchi made the comments shortly after Iran confirmed that Ali Larijani, the country’s security chief and one of its most powerful politicians, was killed in an airstrike in a Tehran suburb on Tuesday.
“I do not know why the Americans and the Israelis still have not understood this point: The Islamic Republic of Iran has a strong political structure with established political, economic, and social institutions,” Araghchi told Al Jazeera.
“The presence or absence of a single individual does not affect this structure,” he added.
“Of course, individuals are influential, and each person plays their – some better, some worse, some less – but what matters is that the political system in Iran is a very solid structure,” the diplomat said.
The US and Israel have killed a number of high-ranking Iranian officials and commanders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who died during the first wave of strikes on February 28. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was later appointed to succeed him.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have listed regime change in Iran as part of their rationale for the war and have called on Iranians to overthrow the government.
Larijani said earlier this month that the orderly selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts, amid ongoing airstrikes, demonstrates the resilience of Iran’s political system and society.
Six hundred sailors aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford were left without beds, the New York Times reports.
Hundreds of US military service members aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford were left without beds after a fire broke out last week, the New York Times reports.
US Central Command described the incident as “not combat-related” and said it caused no damage to the warship’s propulsion systems. The Gerald R. Ford is the largest ship in the US Navy, carrying over 4,500 sailors and pilots, and is taking part in the US-Israeli war against Iran.
The newspaper revealed on Monday that it took more than 30 hours to extinguish the fire, which originated in the ship’s main laundry area. Dozens suffered smoke inhalation, the report said, citing anonymous sources. More than 600 sailors lost their bunks and have since been sleeping on floors and tables. Many have been unable to do laundry since the incident.
The aircraft carrier was rushed to the Middle East after taking part in the military incursion in January in Venezuela that resulted in the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro, and is now entering its tenth month of deployment.
According to the NYT, crew members expected the mission to stretch into May. The US Navy typically sails aircraft carriers for six months before long port calls for maintenance and shore leave.
Previous reporting noted that the $13 billion lead ship of its class, commissioned in 2017, has been plagued by toilet problems. The sewage system, similar to those in commercial aircraft, is undersized and prone to clogging, the Government Accountability Office said in 2020. Acid flushing to remove calcium buildup in narrow pipes costs around $400,000 and can only be done in port.
NPR reported in January that the warship called for outside help 42 times since 2023, with the frequency increasing over time.
You sign up feeling proud, ready to serve in the mighty US Navy and defend your country.
Then you find out your real deployment isn’t combat, it’s fighting for your life in a full-blown toilet apocalypse.
😂😂😂
Argentina has formally launched a bid to host the Rugby World Cup in South America for the first time, with the Argentine Rugby Union confirming it will work alongside Sudamérica Rugby and the unions of Brazil, Chile and Uruguay as part of a regional proposal.
UAR president Gabriel Travaglini said the bid was “a truly federal ambition and a legacy-driven project that extends beyond our borders,” adding that a visit by Alan Gilpin to assess the proposal marked an important stage in showing the region was prepared.
Travaglini said the goal was to stage a tournament reflecting “the passion and progress the game has achieved in every corner of our country.”
World Rugby will next stage the tournament in Australia in 2027, before United States hosts in 2031, while Spain, Japan, Italy and a joint Middle East proposal involving Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar are also in contention for 2035.
Winston Peters has moved to distance Chris Hipkins’ former wife Jade Paul from New Zealand First, saying reports suggesting she currently works for the party are false.
In a statement and subsequent social media post, Peters said he would not be drawn into commenting on Hipkins’ personal circumstances, but wanted to correct what he described as misinformation circulating publicly.
“We are not interested in a politician’s current personal relationship issues and won’t be commenting at all on the matter – apart from the fact that there are lies now being spread including that the person involved works for New Zealand First – this is false,” he wrote.
Peters said Paul “does not work for New Zealand First nor has any affiliation or role with New Zealand First,” adding that she had previously worked “for a short period of time in an office then left amicably for another role around a year ago.”
We are not interested in a politician’s current personal relationship issues and won’t be commenting at all on the matter – apart from the fact that there are lies now being spread including that the person involved works for New Zealand First – this is false. This person does…
It is understood Paul had previously worked as a ministerial adviser for Casey Costello.
Peters said no further comment would be made by his party, writing: “We are not saying anything further on the matter – we have serious national and international concerns that we have to deal with.”
