World Echo

US President Donald Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington DC that he is "fine" if Iran doesn't return to negotiations "I don't care if they come back or not. If they don't come back, I'm fine," Trump said, a day after the US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan failed to reach a deal. He added that the ceasefire between the US and Iran is "holding well". .@POTUS on negotiations with Iran: "I don't care if they come back or not. If they don't come back, I'm fine." pic.twitter.com/iQEV428A6F — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 13, 2026 Trump said ⁠he believed Iran would continue to negotiate and called the Islamabad discussions "very friendly." "I do believe they're going to come to the table on this, because nobody can be so stupid as to say, ‘We want nuclear weapons,’ and they have no cards," he said. But several hours later, the US president said he did not care whether a ...

A ​second flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza was due to set ‌sail on Sunday from the Spanish port of Barcelona to try to break the Israeli blockade. About 30 boats planned to leave the Mediterranean port city laden with medical aid and other supplies ​on the Global Sumud Flotilla, and more vessels are expected to join along ​the route towards Palestine. The Israeli military halted the roughly 40 boats ⁠assembled by the same organisation last October as they attempted to reach blockaded Gaza, ​arresting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and more than 450 other participants. Mission to 'open humanitarian corridor' Israel, ​which controls all access to the Gaza Strip, denies withholding supplies for its more than 2 million residents. Yet Palestinians and international aid bodies say supplies reaching the territory are still insufficient, despite ​a ceasefire reached in October, which included guarantees of increased aid. Liam Cunningham, an ​actor who starred...

Saudi Arabia has restored full oil pumping capacity through the East-West pipeline to about seven million barrels per day (bpd), it said on Sunday, days after providing an assessment of damage on its energy sector from attacks during the Iran conflict. The ministry said energy facilities and the pipeline affected by attacks during the conflict have recovered and restored operational capacity. Saudi did not specify who launched the attacks, but the kingdom has intercepted many Iranian missiles and drones in recent weeks. The strikes also disrupted operations at key oil, gas, refining, petrochemical and electricity sites in Riyadh, the Eastern Province and Yanbu Industrial City. Output recovery to help supply continuity Saudi said on Thursday the attacks had cut its oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per ​day and throughput on its East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 bpd. The East-West Pipeline has been Saudi Arabia's only crude export route amid the closure of the Stra...

The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, the provincial authority said, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, an AFP journalist said, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. "Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday's incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical," Herat's information office said in a statement. Read: Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to explore comprehensive peace solution: China The update raises a toll of seven killed, provided on Friday by the interior ministry. The attack southwest of Herat city was carried out by "unidentified armed men riding motorcycles", ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani said. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the shooting. People from different parts of Herat usually gather beside the shrine to ...

Since the start of Israeli attacks in October 2023, the total death toll in Gaza has risen to 72,328, while the number of injured has reached 172,184. The Ministry of Health in Gaza released a written statement sharing updated information regarding Israel's attacks, which have been ongoing since October 2023. The statement said that in the last 48 hours, the bodies of 11 Palestinians who died in Israeli attacks and 26 injured people were brought to hospitals in Gaza. Since the ceasefire was declared in Gaza on October 10, 749 Palestinians have lost their lives, 2,082 have been injured, and the bodies of 759 have been recovered. According to reports in the Palestinian press, the Israeli army, once again violating the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, targeted the police station in the Bureij Refugee Camp with warplanes. Six people were killed in an Israeli army attack on a police station in the camp. The Global Sumud Flotilla is setting sail from Barcelona towards Gaza this time with twi...

US President Donald Trump told reporters ​on Friday that the US will have the Strait of Hormuz "open ‌fairly soon", but did not elaborate and acknowledged that it will not be an easy step. Trump also suggested that other countries were offering help, ​but did not identify any nation. "Other countries use the ​strait. So we do have other countries coming up, ⁠and they'll help out," Trump said. "It won't be easy ... I ​would say this - we will have that open fairly soon," he ​added. The blockade of the Strait by Tehran since the start of the Iran war has caused the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history. The strait ​is a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and ​liquefied natural gas shipments. Trump has been upset at NATO allies' failure to help ‌secure ⁠the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported on Thursday that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, after meeting Trump, told European governments that the US president wants concrete co...