World Echo

Iranian National Football Team manager Amir Ghalenoei called his squad the "most repressed team in the whole World Cup," saying they were ordered to leave Los Angeles for their training base in Mexico, shortly after their Monday night opening match against New Zealand. Ghalenoei said the team had expected to remain in the California metropolis overnight and carry out a recovery session the next day, but were instead told immediately after the final whistle that they must return. "We spent so much time in the air commuting, they didn't even give us time to recover," he said through an interpreter, according to US sports outlet ESPN. "After the game today, they said to us: 'You have to leave immediately.'" Read: Iran team arrive in US for World Cup opener as the two nations reach peace deal Ghalenoei did not say who had instructed the team to leave Monday night, although Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said FIFA President Gianni Infantino had ...

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has canceled a planned family trip to the US amid difficulties in obtaining a visa, according Israeli media on Tuesday. The US Embassy told Ben-Gvir that he would need to appear in person to provide biometric fingerprints as part of the visa process, Haaretz daily reported. The requirement was interpreted in Israeli media reports as a sign of reluctance to grant him a visa. The Israeli minister was reportedly set to travel to Miami to attend the wedding of an Israeli businessman’s daughter. Haaretz previously reported that he initially sought for the businessman to fund the trip, before agreeing to cover the costs himself following criticism from the state comptroller. Ben-Gvir has frequently made headlines for his provocative actions, which have drawn widespread criticism and international condemnation. Israeli analysts say US-Iran deal ‘political victory’ for Tehran Israeli political analysts have...

The stepson of Norway's Crown Prince Haakon was found guilty ​on Monday of rape and domestic violence and sentenced to four years in prison after a seven-week trial that has further dented the ‌royal family's once picture-perfect image. Oslo District Court ruled that 29-year-old Marius Borg Hoiby, who joined the royal family when his mother Mette-Marit married Haakon in 2001, was guilty of two counts of rape, including one in the basement of the crown prince's home. He was acquitted of two other rape charges. During the trial, the court heard evidence of Hoiby's drug addiction, self-made videos of sexual ​encounters, and hundreds of incriminating electronic messages with a former partner. Prosecutors, who had sought seven years and seven months in jail, said that the four ​women accusing him of rape, in both the proven and unproven cases, had each time been too unconscious or too incapacitated ⁠to resist him after attending parties. "The court finds i...

Israeli political analysts have described a US-Iran agreement as a “political victory” for Tehran, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of making Israel “hostage” to US President Donald Trump. Trump announced Sunday that an agreement with Iran had been finalised and said he was authorising the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of a US naval blockade. In reports released before the deal's announcement and reviewed by Anadolu, Israeli commentators said the agreement would leave key Israeli concerns unresolved, including Iran’s ballistic missile program and Tehran’s support for regional allies. Writing in the Israeli daily Israel Hayom, columnist Ben-Dror Yemini said any possible agreement would effectively amount to US recognition of "a stronger and more radical Iranian regime." Yemini argued that the agreement would be seen in Iran as a “political victory” because it gives the regime inte...

Switzerland on Sunday rejected a proposal to cap its population at 10 million, a projection showed, as ​voters prioritised economic stability and ties with the European Union over worries immigration was straining public services and pushing up ‌rents. The projection by national broadcaster SRF, which traditionally calls referendum votes, showed about 45% of voters came out in favour of the proposal and 55% against. The vote, which was likened to Britain's 2016 Brexit referendum, had put businesses on edge due to concerns it could end the free movement of labour between Switzerland and the EU, the country's main ​trading partner. The proposal, championed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, stipulated that the population must not exceed 10 million before 2050, and ​that if it did so for two years, Switzerland should end freedom of movement with the EU. Urs Bieri from polling ⁠firm GFS Bern said the initiative failed to pass because although concern about pop...

Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday for the second time in a week in response to what it said was Hezbollah fire at northern Israel, while its military also carried out broader strikes on southern Lebanon. The latest escalation came despite expectations that a deal between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war could be imminent, as Tehran insists a ceasefire in Lebanon must be part of any deal. Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said a strike hit an apartment in the Ghobeiry neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh. An AFP correspondent saw smoke and dust rising near a heavily damaged apartment as debris covered the street and people searched for survivors, with panic in the area after the strike along a busy road filled with shops. Read More: Israeli ministers call for bombing Beirut despite ceasefire Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have warned that...