![\"Ruadhan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776933188_260_O4NJECCKSVBETH7XC64SI52AQY.jpg\")
Irish Times Editor Ruadh\u00e1n Mac Cormaic <\/p>\nMain pointsKey Reads<\/p>\n
\u00d3rla Ryan – 19 minutes ago<\/p>\n
Iran behind low-level \u2018hybrid warfare\u2019 attacks in UK, Europe, analysts say<\/p>\n
Iranian intelligence services and Revolutionary Guards operatives are recruiting teenagers through criminal intermediaries to launch a wave of low-level \u201chybrid warfare\u201d attacks in Europe and the UK, according to investigators, security officials, analysts and police documents.<\/p>\n
A first wave of attacks was launched in early March, 10 days after the US and Israel began strikes on Iran, and targeted Jewish community sites in Belgium, the Netherlands and US banks. A second wave has focused on the UK, with a series of arson and attempted arson attacks on synagogues, a Jewish charity and the offices of an Iranian opposition TV network in London.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, British police said they had arrested seven people for allegedly plotting a further firebombing, and a teenager pleaded guilty to an arson attack on a synagogue in west London on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Analysts and security officials say that although there is no direct proof of Iran\u2019s involvement, multiple factors strongly suggest the attacks are part of a campaign of hybrid warfare launched by Tehran to destabilise US allies and warn of them potential cost of greater involvement in the conflict, while also harming Jewish communities seen as supportive of Israel. – The Guardian<\/p>\n
Message from the Editor<\/p>\n
Irish Times Editor Ruadh\u00e1n Mac Cormaic <\/p>\n
Thanks for reading. If you\u2019re interested in world news, The Irish Times has the largest network of foreign correspondents of any Irish news organisation. <\/p>\n
Our team provides sharp reporting, in-depth analysis and thought-provoking commentary. Receive our Global Briefing newsletter<\/a> in your inbox every morning to enjoy Denis Staunton\u2019s guide to understanding world events; what\u2019s happening, why it matters and how it affects you.<\/p>\n At The Irish Times, our journalism is free of any personal, political or commercial control. Unlike most publishers, we have no shareholders to satisfy, no media baron owner in the background telling us what we can and cannot publish.<\/p>\n We are owned by a Trust that mandates us to uphold a set of public-interest values. Those values describe a worldview that is outward-looking, tolerant, curious, interested in divergent views and attentive to the needs of minorities.<\/p>\n Our watchwords are fairness and accuracy. Our goal is to enable you to make informed and independent judgments. And any profit we make goes towards supporting our journalism. <\/p>\n Ruadh\u00e1n Mac Cormaic<\/p>\n Editor <\/p>\n To join Ireland\u2019s biggest community of news subscribers, sign up here<\/a><\/p>\n \u00d3rla Ryan – 47 minutes ago<\/p>\n European gas prices up<\/p>\n European gas prices are up 4.3 per cent, to \u20ac45.40 per megawatt hour. <\/p>\n The month-ahead UK wholesale gas contract is up 4.8 per cent at 113.7p (\u20ac1.31) per therm, its highest in over a week. Before the Iran war began at the end of February, UK gas was trading below 80p (92c) a therm, but rose as high as 180p (\u20ac2.07) \/therm in March. – The Guardian<\/p>\n Israeli strikes kill journalist in Lebanon Israeli strikes killed one journalist and wounded another in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, rattling a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Lebanese ministry of public health said the Israeli military had targeted the journalists in the town of Tayri, where they took shelter in a nearby house after an air strike struck a vehicle in front of the car they were travelling in.<\/p>\n About an hour-and-a-half later, a second strike hit the house they were hiding in, according to a statement by a Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which employed the journalist who was killed.<\/p>\n The Lebanese Red Cross said its teams came under fire while trying to evacuate the journalists from the house, forcing them to withdraw. The rescue crews were targeted by a warning strike and machine-gun fire, the Lebanese health ministry said. <\/p>\n Zeinab Faraj, a photojournalist, was rescued from the house. The other journalist, Amal Khalil, who was a reporter for Al-Akhbar, remained trapped under rubble for hours before emergency medics recovered her body, according to Lebanon\u2019s civil defence.<\/p>\n Euro zone yields climb for fourth day amid Iran-US stalemate<\/p>\n Euro zone short-dated government bond \u200cyields rose for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, as tensions surrounding \u200cthe Strait of Hormuz bolstered expectations of further European Central Bank rate hikes \u200blater this year.<\/p>\n Borrowing costs have tracked gains in oil prices, which have stoked concerns about inflation and raised the prospect of a swift hawkish \u200bresponse from the ECB.<\/p>\n Investors will closely watch PMI data later in \u2060the session, especially price indices, for clues on the inflationary \u200ceffects of \u200chigher \u200benergy costs.<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s two-year yields, more sensitive to expectations for policy rates, rose 3 basis \u2060points (bps) at 2.57 per cent. They \u200breached 2.771 per cent in late March, \u200bthe highest since July 2024.<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s 10-year government bond yield rose 4 bps to 3.04 per cent. It reached 3.13 per cent in late March, its highest level since June 2011.<\/p>\n Money markets priced in an ECB deposit facility rate at 2.59 per cent by year-end, implying two hikes and an about 35 per cent chance of a \u200cthird move, from \u2060around 2.35 per cent late Friday.<\/p>\n Italy\u2019s 10-year government bond yields rose 6 bps to 3.85 per cent. The yield gap of Italian \u200cgovernment bonds versus Bunds was at 76 bps. It was at \u200b63 bps before the attack against Iran and \u200bhit 103.62 during the conflict, the highest since June 2025. – Reuters <\/p>\n Israel buys more aerial munitions<\/p>\n The Israeli defence ministry said it has bought $200 million (\u20ac170 million) worth of aerial munitions from arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. <\/p>\n The ministry said the deal for missiles and other weaponry for strikes and interceptions was part of \u201cimproving readiness for immediate combat scenarios and preparing for a decade of strong defences\u201d. <\/p>\n A similar deal was signed between the ministry and Elbit for aerial munitions in January for $183 million (\u20ac156 million). – The Guardian<\/p>\n Senior US navy official is reportedly fired<\/p>\n The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that the US navy\u2019s top civilian official, John Phelan, the secretary of the navy, is leaving his job.<\/p>\n In a statement posted to social media, Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, said Phelan was \u201cdeparting the administration, effective immediately\u201d.<\/p>\n Hung Cao, the navy undersecretary, would become acting secretary of the navy, Parnell said.<\/p>\n Reuters, citing an anonymous source, reported Phelan had been fired by the Pentagon.<\/p>\n The sudden departure comes just a day after Phelan addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals at the navy\u2019s annual conference in Washington, DC, and spoke with reporters about his agenda.<\/p>\n Phelan\u2019s departure also comes just weeks after Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, fired the army\u2019s top officer, Gen Randy George. Hegseth also has fired several top generals, admirals and other defence leaders since taking office last year. <\/p>\n As with many of those other firings, Pentagon officials did not offer a reason for Phelan\u2019s departure. – The Guardian <\/p>\n Oil prices rise as peace talks stall<\/p>\n Oil prices extended their gains on Thursday in the wake of stalled peace talks between Iran and the United \u200bStates, and as both nations maintained restrictions on the flow of trade through the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Brent crude futures rose $1.37 (\u20ac1.17), or 1.3 per cent, to $103.28 (\u20ac88.22) a barrel on Thursday morning, after settling above $100 (\u20ac93.96) for the first time in more than two weeks on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate futures were also up $1.52 (\u20ac1.29), or 1.6 per cent, \u200bat $94.48 (\u20ac80.70).<\/p>\n Both benchmarks closed more than $3 higher on Wednesday after larger-than-expected gasoline and distillate stock draws in the US, and over the lack of progress on Iran peace \u2060talks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe oil market is repricing expectations with little sign of progress in finding a resolution in the Persian \u200cGulf,\u201d \u200csaid ING \u200banalysts in a note, adding that hopes for a resolution are fading as peace talks stall.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition, Iran\u2019s seizure of two vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz suggests disruptions \u2060to shipments are set to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n While US president Donald \u200bTrump extended a ceasefire between the countries following a request \u200bby Pakistani mediators, Iran and the US are still restricting the transit of ships through the strait, which carried about 20 per cent of \u200cdaily global oil supplies until the war began on \u200bFebruary 28th. – Reuters <\/p>\n Iran seizes ships in Strait of Hormuz ahead of possible new talks<\/p>\n Iran<\/a> seized two ships in the Strait of \u200bHormuz on Wednesday, tightening its grip on the strategic waterway amid reports that peace talks<\/a> could begin on Friday, Mark Weiss<\/a> in Jerusalem writes.<\/p>\n In a statement on Wednesday, Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the ships seized, which they identified \u2060as the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and \u200cthe Liberia-flagged Epaminodes, \u2060were detained \u200cfor \u201coperating without the required authorisation and for \u2060manipulating navigation systems\u201d and were transferred to Iranian shores.<\/p>\n The Greek-operated Epaminondas reported being fired upon off Oman. It said it had sustained damage to its bridge and that no one was hurt in the incident.<\/p>\n The ship seizures represent a serious escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, where a battle for control of the vital waterway has emerged as a major stumbling block in negotiations to end the war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Main pointsKey Reads \u00d3rla Ryan – 19 minutes ago Iran behind low-level \u2018hybrid warfare\u2019 attacks in UK, Europe,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,11829,14396,43,40,38,41,39,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-413144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-lebanon","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories","16":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Amal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2GDOD6PKIVHIDKQ3SVZO3MTUGA.jpg\")
Amal Khalil, who worked for Al-Akhbar, reporting near a destroyed bridge last month. She was killed on Wednesday. Photograph by Mohammed Zaatari\/Associated Press <\/p>\n