World Echo

US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday in a new but narrower attempt to curtail birthright citizenship, once again challenging a provision of the US ​Constitution even though the Supreme Court rejected his previous effort. Limiting birthright citizenship has been one of the top priorities in the Republican president's crackdown on immigration, with the ‌White House taking particular aim at what it calls "birth tourism," in which pregnant foreigners travel to the US to give birth. After his June 30 setback in the Supreme Court, Trump called on Congress to act, but on Thursday he opted for executive orders, which set policy but do not carry the same weight as laws passed by Congress. The Supreme Court had struck down as unconstitutional Trump's earlier executive order, which targeted a wide swath of immigrants in the country ​illegally or temporarily. The administration argues the new directive falls outside the pur...

The Israeli army withdrew from the Qalandia refugee camp north of occupied East Jerusalem late Thursday after a nearly two-day military raid that left 51 Palestinians injured, Palestinian authorities said. The Jerusalem Governorate said Israeli forces pulled out after an operation involving widespread raids, searches and detentions. Several homes and other buildings were seized and turned into detention and field interrogation centres during the operation, it added. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the number of Palestinians injured since the raid began early Wednesday had risen to 51. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said earlier Thursday that Israeli forces had detained or subjected more than 60 Palestinians, including women and children, to field interrogation. Read: Over 60,000 children orphaned in Gaza since October 2023: Palestinian ministry The Israeli army launched the large-scale operation early Wednesday in Qalandia and the nearby town ...

Five months into the US war with Iran, Americans who expect the Middle East to slide toward chaos outnumber those who see the war bringing more stability ​by three to one, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The six-day poll concluded on Monday, as Republican President Donald Trump again backed away from threatened "massive attacks" on ‌Iran, underscoring uncertainty surrounding a conflict he initially predicted would bring a swift victory. Fifty per cent of poll respondents said they thought US military action in Iran would destabilize the Middle East over the next year, about three times the 17% who said the war would lead to more stability in the region. Another 16% said stability would stay about the same and 17% said they were unsure or didn't answer the question. Americans were also pessimistic about gasoline prices, which ​have risen as Iran has choked off traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil supplies. Some 58% said they...

Israel said two of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon on Wednesday while Lebanese ​authorities said Israeli retaliatory attacks killed at least one person, a ‌flare-up in violence that coincided with the latest round of talks between the two countries. The Rome talks, which began on Tuesday and are expected to continue through Thursday, come after ​the two countries agreed in June to a US-brokered security arrangement ​intended to ease hostilities along the border. Despite the ceasefire, Israel ⁠declared a buffer zone in southern Lebanon where its troops continue to operate ​to eliminate what it says is the threat of the Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, on ​its border. The two soldiers were killed and four others wounded by an explosion in a building they had entered as part of a security sweep, according to Israel's Army Radio ​on Thursday. Citing a security source, Army Radio said that it was still ​unclear when the explosive device had been planted in the bui...

FBI Director Kash Patel says he has forged new law enforcement partnerships with China and Russia, two longtime United States rivals, over the past year in hopes of gaining allies in combating transnational crime including fentanyl, cyber fraud and child sexual exploitation. The partnerships have involved personnel exchanges in which Chinese law enforcement officials have visited the US and FBI agents have traveled to China to work on cases together and share intelligence. Separately, FBI and Chinese officers have carried out joint raids and arrests under the arrangement. Patel returned from a trip to Beijing in late July, and a similar trip to Russia has been tentatively planned for October, according to FBI officials. In exclusive interviews with Reuters, Patel described the FBI's initiatives with what he called "non-traditional partners...

Russia fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Ukraine's capital Kyiv and the surrounding region on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and destroying warehouses and logistics centres of major retailers, Ukrainian officials said. Multiple explosions ripped through the area during the night, and fires lit up the dark skies over the Ukrainian capital, which has come under missile attack every three to four days in recent weeks as Russia has escalated its air war. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Ukraine's lack of missile defences had once again cost lives and urged Ukraine's foreign allies to replenish its supplies of interceptors. As of now, 44 people have been reported injured in the massive Russian strike on Kyiv and the Kyiv region. Another 17 people, tragically, were killed. My condolences to their families and loved ones. It was a heavy strike – 24 ballistic missiles, 4 Zircon/Oniks missiles, and… pic.twitter.com/4LoHXXkt8R — Vo...