World Echo

Two Republican lawmakers warned United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday of a potential intelligence gap, accusing Democrats of backing away from extending key foreign intelligence legislation. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, originally enacted to regulate foreign intelligence surveillance, includes Section 702, which allows US intelligence agencies to collect communications of foreign targets without obtaining individual warrants. Supporters of the provision, introduced after the September 11 terror attacks, argue it remains a critical tool for national security. Read: Trump faces new Republican resistance in Congress as midterm pressures build Critics, however, have raised concerns about potential violations of civil liberties and the extent of surveillance powers granted under the law. Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio wrote on US social media platform X on Saturday that Senators Tom Cotton and Chuck Grassley have urged R...

Over a million people filled the ​streets of Madrid and one of its main squares on Sunday morning ‌to catch a glimpse of Pope Leo as he made his way to an open-air Mass in what was expected to be the largest event during his week-long visit to Spain. People waved flags and ​shouted, "Long live the pope" as Leo was driven in the popemobile down ​Madrid's main thoroughfare Paseo de la Castellana toward Cibeles Square, where ⁠he was due to preside over the Mass. Some tossed flower petals as ​he arrived in the square. Some 1.2 million people were in the square and its ​surrounding streets, the Vatican and local organisers said. "May Madrid remain a welcoming and inclusive city, where social life is inspired by genuine human values," Leo wrote in a guest book as he ​was handed the key to the city by its mayor. Leo began his trip on ​Saturday with meetings with migrants and the homeless and a vigil with about 600,000 young people ‌in ⁠...

Several Lebanese soldiers, including an officer, were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a military vehicle in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said on Saturday. The strike occurred on the Khardali-Nabatieh road, the army said through the US social media company X, without specifying the exact number of soldiers killed in the strike. "A Lebanese Army officer holding the rank of brigadier general and his driver were killed in an airstrike that targeted his four-wheel-drive vehicle on the Khardali-Jarmaq (a municipality in Nabatieh) road," Lebanon's state-run National News Agency also reported. Read: Iran says IAEA politicising oversight of Tehran's nuclear programme The Israeli army continues its attacks in Lebanon despite a fragile ceasefire in place and amid continued diplomatic efforts to preserve it and prevent its collapse. More than 3,550 people have been killed and over 10,800 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since March 2, according ...

Pope Leo XIV said the war being waged by the United States and Israel against Iran was not a “just war”, arguing that the centuries-old theory no longer reflected the realities of modern warfare. Speaking to journalists aboard his flight from Rome to Madrid during the fourth foreign trip of his pontificate, the pope was asked whether the conflict in Iran could be considered a just war after US Vice President JD Vance invoked the concept while defending Washington’s military actions against Tehran. “There is no just war there,” Pope Leo said. “The problem is that the just war theory comes from centuries ago, from a time when people could not imagine the weapons and destructive capacities that exist today,” he added. The pontiff’s remarks come amid previously reported tensions with US President Donald Trump over the conflict in Iran. As fighting continued, Pope Leo repeatedly called for an end to the war and criticised rhetori...

The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday urged strong public health interventions against the current Ebola outbreak, citing their models that show it could otherwise rival the scale of the 2014 West Africa outbreak. That eruption of the virus resulted in more than 28,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths. "That scale is possible," said Jason Asher, director of CDC's Centre for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, during a press briefing. Seen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: CDC is providing travelers and soccer fans with quick access to essential public health information. This effort reflects close collaboration among federal, state, and local partners to keep travelers informed and healthy.… pic.twitter.com/uwoVJGWT4A — CDC (@CDCgov) June 5, 2026 The US projections from the CDC were part of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report documents published on Friday. The worst ou...

The United States Senate handed President Donald Trump a victory early on Friday morning, passing a bill that would provide the Department of Homeland Security ​(DHS) with an additional $70 billion for immigration enforcement and sending it to the House of Representatives for final consideration. The Senate voted 52-47 to approve the legislation, with no support from ‌Democrats and no provision to ban a $1.8b "anti-weaponisation" fund that could compensate Trump's political allies for allegations that the government mistreated them. One Republican voted against the bill. Senate Republican Leader John Thune said the fund was a "settled issue", citing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's congressional testimony this week that the Department of Justice would not move forward with it, though Democrats have said his word was insufficient. Trump subsequently said he intended to nominate Blanche to lead the Justice Department, an action that...