World Echo

US President Donald Trump on Sunday escalated ​his invective against Norway, calling it a "shit house country" and ‌saying Norwegian immigrants were not welcome in the United States because the Nobel committee, based in the capital Oslo, had not awarded him a Peace ​Prize. Trump made the comments at a political rally in Port ​Huron, Michigan, ahead of next week's mid-term elections. Attributing recent unrest in ⁠France to immigration, Trump said he would welcome immigrants from some ​countries but not from Norway "because I didn't get the Nobel Prize ... ​So I don't want anybody from Norway" There was no indication that the Trump administration was adopting new official policy on Norwegian immigrants. "He knows very well that ​the Nobel Committee is independent. We have reminded them of that, ​if anyone is wondering, and that is still the case," Norwegian Foreign Minister ‌Espen ⁠Barth Eide told national broadcaster NRK on Mon...

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Monday he stood by the principles of reform to the immigration system set out by his Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, following speculation that a political backlash could force them to be watered down. Asked if he agreed with Shabana's policy of extending the time it takes to secure indefinite leave to remain to 15 years from five for some migrants, Burnham told ITV's Good Morning Britain he stood by the principle of what she had put forward. "The Home Secretary is right, in my view, to bring forward changes that are based on the principle that settlement is a right to be earned, not just something that is granted automatically," he said. "And she'll set out the final conclusion soon." “I would like to see that happen in my lifetime.” Prime Minister Andy Burnham tells Good Morning Britain he believes Brexit has weakened the UK economy and its control over immigration. But he insists the B...

Indian protesters angry over a proposed Himalayan mega-dam, intended to counter an upstream Chinese hydropower project, have clashed with police and torched buildings, officials said. The violence in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state erupted late on Friday during protests against the proposed 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project of state-run hydropower company NHPC, Chief Minister Pema Khandu told reporters on Saturday. “The mob destroyed a lot of properties, police station, the NHPC office was vandalised, several elected representatives’ homes were ransacked,” Khandu told reporters. Around 40 police personnel were injured by stones thrown by protesters, who also vandalised the NHPC’s offices. Police fired tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. Read: UN experts urge Indian authorities to cease 'use of excessive force' to curb protests Khandu urged opponents of the project to engage with the government. “Question us, ...

An Istanbul court ordered prosecutors to investigate Turkish nationals allegedly involved in the mistreatment of participants in the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla while they were held in Israel, during the first hearing of a case against 35 defendants, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court ruled that individuals identified by complainants as Turkish citizens who participated in alleged abuses against them in Israeli custody should be identified and referred to prosecutors for necessary legal action. The court also ordered that existing arrest warrants and Interpol Red Notice requests against all 35 defendants remain in effect. The case concerns Israel's armed interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Flotilla participants describe alleged mistreatment During the hearing, complainant Osman Cetinkaya said he had joined the flotilla as a doctor to deliver medical s...

Jordan's King Abdullah ordered security forces on ‌Saturday to respond with an "iron fist" as authorities searched for gunmen who opened fire and killed nine people during a church funeral service. The assailants fired for several minutes in broad daylight at the church in Karak governorate on Friday, ​and also wounded 40 people in the rare attack on Jordan's Christian minority. Security ​was stepped up at malls, foreign embassies and other locations across the country, ⁠the US embassy in Amman said. 'A sense of panic took hold' A priest described how ​he and others ordered people to get to the ground at Saint George's Greek Orthodox church, ​about 120 kilometres southwest of the capital, Amman. Read More: Pakistan condemns 'heinous terrorist attack' on church in Jordan "A sense of panic took hold among those present," Theodoros Soueiss told Reuters. "The gunfire was indiscriminate, and you never knew where a bull...

Saudi Arabia appears to be expanding its ballistic missile factory to build larger solid-fuel missiles that could fly farther or carry heavier payloads, according to two US researchers who analyzed ​more than a year of commercial satellite images. More capable missiles could help Saudi Arabia to deter attacks by Iran and make its military more self-reliant, while possibly strengthening its position in a deadly ‌conflict with Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi fighters. But they risk fueling a regional missile race and could deepen opposition in the US Congress to a US-Saudi civilian nuclear agreement that has already raised concerns about proliferation. Satellite company Planet Labs, based in the US, took images of the al-Duwadimi complex about 125 miles (200 km) west of Riyadh between April 2025 and September 2026. Read: Saudi-led coalition says it destroyed Houthi ballistic missiles fired towards Yanbu, Taif The two researchers, Sam Lair and Michael Duitsman of the F...