World Echo

An Air India Airbus A320 dropped about 300 feet this month, injuring 24 people on board, after the aircraft registered a loss of hydraulic pressure that briefly left key flight controls unresponsive, according to a preliminary Airbus analysis reviewed by Reuters. The August 4 incident occurred on Air India ​flight AI2379 from Phuket to Delhi, which landed safely in Delhi despite the altitude loss. Airbus' initial analysis showed the plane ​registered losses in all three hydraulic systems, which use pressurised fluid to power flight controls and ⁠other equipment, in quick succession. For about four seconds, the pilots were unable to use the elevators and ailerons, movable parts on the ​wings and tail that control whether the plane points up or down and banks left or right. During that time, the aircraft ​pitched upward, Airbus said in a communication responding to an Air India request for an assessment. The first officer applied a full nose-down input, but there was "n...

A wildfire in Croatia driven by strong winds descended on the tourist ​town of Omis overnight, engulfing houses, forcing about 1,000 people to evacuate and injuring dozens, the fire brigade ‌and health officials said on Friday. Flames enveloped settlements and trees over 1,000 hectares, turning the night sky red above Omis, a scenic town on Croatia's prized Dalmatian coast surrounded by trees ​and rocky hills. Of 36 people treated by ambulance services in the city of Split, about ​25 kilometres to the north, 14 were hospitalised, and seven had ⁠life-threatening injuries, health officials said. Emergency shelters, opened in several towns on the stretch ​from Omis to Split, accommodated about 1,000 people overnight. Read: Pakistan, Croatia to expedite opening of visa facility in Islamabad "It was a strong fire, it ​swept everything in its way ... there has been huge material damage," Chief Fire Commander Slavko Tucakovic said. The fire appeared to have c...

The World War Two memorial in Washington was vandalised with bubbly soap and graffiti on Thursday, prompting vows from the ​US government to find the perpetrator. The fountain bubbled over with suds, and ‌someone painted "Clean hands Dirty $" on one surface, splattering the area with red and green paint. Uniformed police and National Guard troops converged on the scene, which was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape, keeping ​visitors away. One investigator in plainclothes bent over the site of the graffiti, ​measuring the damage with a tape measure, Reuters pictures showed. Workers arrived ⁠to remove the graffiti, the Washington Post reported, citing Park Police officers at ​the site. Read: US could not verify Israeli warnings of Iran plots against Trump, sources say Dedicated in 2004, the memorial features 56 granite pillars around the edge of an ​elliptical plaza on the National Mall as a monument to the 400,000 Americans who died and 16 million who serve...

Gaza cancer patients are dying at two to three ​times the pace they did before the start of the genocide in the territory, as Israel blocks many from travelling for treatment after destroying the only ‌local specialised facility. Israel blew up Gaza's specialised cancer hospital last year after claiming that troops found a tunnel used by Hamas running beneath it, a claim that they have yet to substantiate. That means that an estimated 17,000 Gazans with cancer have no local option for chemotherapy or other advanced therapy. Practically no Palestinians can afford to travel for treatment, and those who can face Israeli restrictions. The military imposes strict caps on daily crossings to Egypt, despite a 2025 Israel-Hamas ​"ceasefire" deal that requires free movement in and out. Asked for comment, COGAT, the Israeli military agency that controls access to Gaza, said it coordinates medical evacuations with the ​World Health Organisation. To depart, Gazans mus...

Pro-Palestinian campaigners in Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere in the Arab world have called for a boycott of Spider-Man: Brand New Day over producer Avi Arad’s support for Israel and his rejection of criticism directed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the war on Gaza. The Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon urged audiences not to purchase tickets for the film, arguing that financially supporting a production involving figures who have publicly backed Israel amounts to “cultural normalisation.” “Do we want to support a production involving individuals who have publicly expressed political support for Israel?” the group said in a social media statement ahead of the film’s release. The campaign called on the public to avoid paid screenings and said its position reflected its opposition to normalising Israel or its policies. In Jordan, the Taharrak anti-normalisation group issued a separate statement calling...

In Iranian waters, a strange trade is taking place — Pakistani fishermen exchange subsidised Iranian fuel for high-value tuna, a barter system now under threat from escalating United States-Iran tensions. Shah Zamin Khan is among thousands of Pakistani tuna traders whose lucrative business has been at a near standstill since February, when the war between the US, Israel and Iran began. The recent targeting of Iranian seaports by Washington has made matters worse. Iran's southern ports of Konarak, Pasabandar and Beris, which border Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province and serve as key fish trade hubs, are among the sites targeted by US airstrikes in recent weeks. "Our businesses were already affected by the war but the recent targeting of Iranian seaports have turned the region into a no-go area for us over the past one month," Khan told Anadolu. Boat owners, according to Khan, have completely stopped sending their vessels to the Iranian ports fo...