World Echo

Cuban security advisers and doctors have been leaving Venezuela as Interim President Delcy Rodriguez's government faces intense pressure from Washington to unwind Latin America’s most consequential leftist alliance, according to 11 sources familiar with the matter. Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has entrusted her protection to Venezuelan bodyguards, according to four of the sources, unlike deposed president Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor, the late president Hugo Chavez, who both relied on elite Cuban forces. Thirty-two Cubans were killed in the US military attack that captured Maduro on January 3, according to the Cuban government. These soldiers and bodyguards were part of a deep security agreement between Caracas and Havana that began in the late 2000s in which Cuban intelligence agents embedded throughout the military and Venezuela’s formidable DGCIM counterintelligence unit, which was fundamental to weeding out domestic opposition. “The Cuban influence w...

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that the US Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump's trade tariffs shows that it is good to have counterweights to power and the rule of law in democracies. "It is not bad to have a Supreme Court and, therefore, the rule of law," he said at the annual agricultural salon in Paris, in response to a question about Friday's ruling by the US Supreme Court that tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under an economic emergency law were illegal. "It is good to have power and counterweights to power in democracies," Macron said. He added that France would consider the consequences of Trump's new 10% global tariff and adapt, and the country wants to continue to export its products, including agricultural, luxury, fashion and aeronautical goods. Read: France repatriates stolen colonial-era 'talking drum' to Ivory Coast He said that a calm mindset was needed and that the fairest rule was "rec...

Gulf countries pledged more than $4 billion in combined financial support to United States President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, as they signalled financial backing for efforts aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and advancing regional stability. The pledges were announced during the first meeting of the Board of Peace in Washington, where Qatar and Saudi Arabia each committed $1b. Kuwait also pledged $1b over the coming years, while the United Arab Emirates announced an additional $1.2b in support for Gaza through the board. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Doha “reaffirms its commitment to the Board of Peace as it was committed to the very first day of the mediation efforts”. “Our responsibility remains to achieve a just and lasting resolution,” he said, adding that the board, under the leadership of President Trump, “will advance the full implementation of the 20-point plan without delay, ensuring fairness and justice for bot...

FIFA and the Board of Peace signed a partnership agreement on Thursday to attract investment from global leaders and institutions for sustainable development in conflict-affected regions through football. The Board of Peace, established under the United States President Donald Trump, held its first meeting focused on Gaza's reconstruction fund, aimed at rebuilding the territory once Hamas disarms. The disarmament of Hamas militants and accompanying withdrawal of Israeli troops, the size of the reconstruction fund and the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-torn population are expected to pose significant challenges to the board's effectiveness in the coming months. Read: PM Shehbaz meets global leaders at 'Board of Peace' summit in Washington The FIFA collaboration plan includes building 50 mini-pitches near schools and residential areas in Gaza, five full-size pitches across multiple districts, a state-of-the-art FIFA academy and a new 20,000-seat national stadium, FIF...

The United States is in "active negotiation" over the sale of Venezuelan oil to India, to help India diversify its sources of crude oil, US Envoy Sergio Gor said on Friday. The US has made diversification away from Russian crude a condition for cutting tariffs on goods imported from Indian, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer. "The Department of Energy is speaking to the Ministry of Energy here, and so we're hoping to have some news of that very soon," Gor told reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi where India joined the US-led Pax Silica initiative aimed at building a silicon supply chain for high-tech products. US President Donald Trump this month agreed to cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18% under an interim trade deal. He also removed a 25% punitive levy after India agreed to end the purchase of Russian oil, which the US said helps fund Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He said India would buy more oil from the US and potenti...

Owning a cat offers many health benefits, including reduced stress and emotional support, and new research suggests our feline friends might also offer clues to better treat certain cancers. That's according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Science, which investigated cancers in cats and found significant parallels with how the disease plays out in humans. Previous studies had highlighted similar links between dogs and humans, but little research focused on cats, said co-author Louise van der Weyden, a scientist at the British Wellcome Sanger Institute. Cats, just like dogs, provide "a great model for us," she told AFP, because they share an environment with humans that includes similar pollution, such as second-hand smoke. "They develop other illnesses that we do when you get cancer," Van der Weyden told AFP, explaining that cancer can be accompanied by ailments like diabetes or heart disease. Not infrequently, she said, the "animals will h...