World Echo

A grand jury in North Carolina on Monday indicted a 17-year-old girl on suspicion of aiding and abetting the May 18 shooting that killed three people at a mosque in San Diego by recording and disseminating a live video of the attack. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill told a press conference that officials decided to bring state charges because in North Carolina the girl can be tried as an adult. She faces a potential sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted in North Carolina, while federal charges could result in a three- or four-year sentence. The three men who died in the attack were credited with thwarting more violence at a time when 140 children were at the mosque's school. The victims, security guard Amin Abdullah, 51, caretaker Mansour Kaziha, 78, and Nadir Awad, 57, the husband of a teacher at the Islamic Centre of San Diego, were hailed as heroes at a memorial service. The assailants, Caleb Vazquez, 18, an...

North Korea said on Monday the United States' hostile policy remained unchanged and vowed to continue strengthening its ​nuclear force, rejecting repeated US calls for its denuclearisation. In a statement carried by state ​media KCNA, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused Washington of maintaining a confrontational ⁠stance through its commitment to the "complete denuclearisation" of North Korea, criticism of the country's human ​rights record and planned joint military exercises with South Korea and Japan. "The Trump administration has thus ​fully reconfirmed its invariable hostile policy to wantonly violate the sovereignty, political system and security interests of the DPRK," the spokesperson said, using the initials of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of ​Korea. The spokesperson said North Korea's nuclear weapons were "an absolute guarantee for defending its sovereignty" and ​that its nuclea...

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek on Monday for a two-day visit to attend the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday, ANI news agency reported, the first meeting between the two leaders in two years. Pezeshkian was accompanied by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Iran's state-run news agency IRNA reported. During the visit, Pezeshkian will hold bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the summit, the outlet reported. Read: Iran’s Pezeshkian says Tehran ‘not looking for war’ after US attack on Larak Island Discussions will also be held with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. On the second day of his trip, Pezeshkian will deli...

Israel has become associated with “genocide” among American students, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. “For the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel, among the American public, Israel has become a negative brand,” Bennett said in a recent interview. “If you ask an American student, ‘Israel — what comes to mind?’ They say genocide. That’s the situation,” Bennett said in an interview on the "Itai Segal Podcast" on the All-in platform. Drawing a comparison with how countries are commonly associated with symbols, he added: “You say Italy — ‘pasta, spaghetti.’ You say Israel — ‘baby killers.’” Bennett rejected that perception, saying: “Obviously, that isn’t true, and it isn’t fair, but that is the situation.” Read: Israel 'deliberately targeting' Gaza children He also blamed part of the sh...

Russian Ambassador-at-large Andrey Belousov on Sunday accused the United States of viewing Europe as a potential nuclear battlefield. Speaking in an interview with the Russian RT TV channel, Belousov said the persistence with which Washington is trying to initiate discussions on Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons suggests that the US is seriously considering the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the European theatre of operations. "And, essentially, they view Europe as such a potential military theatre," he said. Belousov argued that by urging Russia to engage in a dialogue on non-strategic nuclear arsenal, the US is trying to divert international attention from the risks posed by American nuclear weapons deployed in Europe and Washington’s broader missile and nuclear programs. Read: Revolver gift leaves NATO leaders with dilemma The official said obtaining information about Russia’s non-strategic nuclear weapons through greater transpa...

The death toll from the current Ebola virus outbreak, which began in the Democratic Republic of Congo in May, surpassed 2,800 on Sunday, according to the latest data released by the country's health authorities. The Health Ministry data showed that the number of confirmed cases had reached 5,945 across six provinces. At least 1,327 people have recovered, while 896 confirmed patients are currently in isolation or in hospital. The ministry said the outbreak has already affected 60 health zones in the Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Bas-Uele and Tshopo provinces since it was declared in mid-May. Read: Are we ignoring a brewing epidemic? The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the Bundibugyo virus strain in Congo continues to evolve rapidly, with sustained transmission. The rise in cases and wider geographic spread over the past three months represent a “substantial increase” in the scale of the outbreak, according to WHO. Last week, the government...