World Echo

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented a second consecutive year of record fatalities, driven largely by Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza and what it calls an unprecedented campaign against the press. The New York-based media freedom watchdog says more than 60% of the 86 journalists killed by Israeli fire in 2025 were Palestinian reporters covering the war from inside the war-torn enclave, where UN experts and human rights organisations have described the scale and pattern of violence as amounting to genocide. According to the report, more than three-quarters of journalists killed last year died in conflict zones. Ukraine saw four deaths and Sudan nine, only slightly higher than in 2024. Gaza, by contrast, still bore far heavier losses, with Israel responsible for the majority. Since the group began tracking targeted killings of media workers three decades ago, the Israel Defense Forces have been responsible for more such deaths than any other state military. In its ...

Sri Lanka's criminal investigators arrested the country's former intelligence chief on Wednesday in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners. Police said retired Major General Suresh Sallay was taken into custody at dawn in a suburb of the capital, Colombo, in the most high-profile arrest in the long-running investigation. "He was arrested for conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks," an investigating officer told AFP. "He has been in touch with people involved in the attacks, even recently." The coordinated bombings targeted three upmarket hotels in the capital, two Roman Catholic churches, and an evangelical Protestant church outside Colombo. The attacks were blamed on a homegrown jihadist group. Read: Iran dismisses missile, nuclear claims after Trump alleges 'sinister ambitions' The Catholic church, which has spearheaded a campaign demanding justice for all victims of the...

The United States imposed a new tariff from Tuesday of 10% on all goods not covered by exemptions, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said, the rate first announced by President ‌Donald Trump on Friday rather than the 15% he promised a day later. Reacting to the US Supreme Court ruling that threw out tariffs it deemed were illegally justified on grounds of an emergency, Trump initially ‌announced a new temporary global tariff of ⁠10%. He said ​on Saturday he would increase it to 15%. But in a notice described as ​intended to "provide guidance regarding the February 20, ‌2026 Presidential Proclamation", CBP said that, aside from ​products covered by exemptions, imports would "be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of 10%". The move added to confusion surrounding US trade policy, with no explanation offered in the notice for why the lower rate had ⁠been used. The Financial Times quoted a White House official as saying the increase up to 15% would come ‌la...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed regional developments, particularly the situations regarding Iran and Afghanistan, with Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al Thani on Tuesday. Both leaders underscored the importance of dialogue, de-escalation and collective efforts to promote peace and stability in the region. According to a joint statement issued after the Doha meeting, both leaders discussed bilateral cooperation in defence and security and reaffirmed the strong and historic ties between Pakistan and Qatar. The prime minister expressed satisfaction with the ongoing collaboration between the armed forces of both countries and emphasised Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthening and expanding the defense partnership. Sheikh Saud praised the professionalism of Pakistan’s armed forces and expressed Qatar’s interest in deepening defence cooperation. The discussions also covered regional developments, particularly regarding Iran and Afghan...

Two military pilots and two market vendors were killed on Tuesday morning when an army helicopter crashed into a fruit market in central Iran, according to state media reports cited by Al Jazeera and Anadolu. The crash occurred in Dorcheh, a town in Isfahan province that hosts a major army airbase. State media said the incident was likely caused by a technical fault, though investigations are ongoing. Footage aired by state television showed the wreckage at the scene and emergency responders extinguishing flames. Read More: What does Trump want in Iran? In a statement, the Army Aviation Training Centre identified the deceased pilots as Colonel Hamed Sarvazad and his co-pilot, Major Mojtaba Kiani. Two merchants working at their stalls in the market were also killed after the helicopter crashed and caught fire. The army said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Local judiciary chief Asadollah Jafari confirmed that a case has been opened and investigators have been disp...

India’s drug regulator has inspected nearly 90% of the country’s cough syrup makers and found compliance lapses, its chief said on Monday, amid heightened scrutiny after India-made syrups were linked to the deaths of children in the country and abroad. The inspections follow the discovery of a brand of cough syrup contaminated with diethylene glycol that was linked to the deaths of 24 children in October last year. The product, named Coldrif, was made by Sresan Pharmaceutical, based in Tamil Nadu. “We took serious actions on serious non-compliances, and our belief is that the rot of cough syrup manufacturing will be removed,” Drugs Controller General of India Rajeev Raghuvanshi said at the IPA 11th Global Pharmaceutical Quality Summit in Mumbai. The regulator is looking to fix issues around cough syrup products, he said, without providing a timeline. Read More: WHO identifies India-made contaminated cough syrup in Western Pacific The agency is under pressure to tighten oversight of the...