World Echo

South Korea will lead multinational naval forces for the first time in a US-led maritime exercise starting in June, the navy said on Thursday. A South Korean admiral will command the combined maritime forces in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), scheduled in and around Hawaii from June 24 to July 31, according to Yonhap News Agency. This is the first time South Korea has taken this role in this exercise. It served as deputy commander in 2024. Read: South Korea returns remains of 12 Chinese volunteer troops killed in Korean War The biennial RIMPAC, held since 1971, aims to boost cooperation among participating countries to protect sea lines of communication and counter potential maritime security threats. South Korea has taken part in the exercise since 1990. This year's exercise will include a multinational force of over 25,000 personnel, as well as some 40 surface ships, five submarines and 140 aircraft. South Korea is expected to deploy its Aegis destroyer Jeongjo the Grea...

A French teen facing criminal charges in Singapore for a straw licking stunt was granted permission on Wednesday to leave the country for three weeks on pledges to return. The 18-year-old is accused of posting to social media a video of himself putting the straw he licked back into the dispenser on an orange juice vending machine. Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien's clip went viral and triggered a backlash that led to his arrest in Singapore, which has a reputation for not tolerating bad behaviour. The teen's lawyer sought permission from a judge for him to travel to Manila from May 2-25 for an internship, a key requirement for him to graduate. The judge granted the request after the prosecution posed no objection, but asked that he must remain contactable while overseas and required a SG$5,000 ($3,900) bond. His next appearance in the Singapore court was also rescheduled from May 22 to May 29. The teen, who is studying in Singapore and is out on bail, was charged last Friday over...

Multiple pro-Iranian accounts were sharing a video since Tuesday on the social media platform X, claiming that it shows missile attacks in Iran without specifying who carried them out during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. However, the clip is old and shows Israel’s attack on Tehran’s oil depot on March 7. Israel and the United States launched joint military strikes on Iran on February 28, killing former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials. Tehran responded by launching strikes on US bases and other facilities in seven Gulf states and Israel. A US-Iran ceasefire was announced on April 7 by President Donald Trump to begin April 8, mediated by Pakistan following weeks of conflict. The initial two-week, conditional truce was extended indefinitely on April 21, to allow for ongoing peace negotiations However, the failure of the talks led to the US military initiating a blockade of all Iranian ports and coastal areas on April 13. According to the US militar...

Israel has set a two-week deadline for reaching an agreement with Lebanon during their US-mediated negotiations, warning of renewed military escalation if talks fail, according to Israeli media on Wednesday. The public broadcaster KAN said Tel Aviv has established a “limited timeframe” for the talks, not exceeding two weeks, in a bid to secure what it described as a “real agreement” between the two sides. The outlet said Israel has linked the current ceasefire arrangement – extended until mid-May – to reaching a substantive deal with Lebanon within that period. “We cannot wait indefinitely… we will give negotiations only an additional two weeks,” KAN said, citing an unnamed Israeli official. Read: Israel warns civilians against returning to southern Lebanon despite ceasefire According to the broadcaster, Israeli assessments indicate that failure to achieve tangible progress within this timeframe could lead to a resumption of fighting and the launch of intensified military operation...

A fire destroyed at least 30 makeshift wooden homes in Malaysia's Sabah state early Wednesday, officials said, in the second reported blaze in the area in fewer than two weeks. The Sabah Fire and Rescue Department said the pre-dawn blaze swept through a settlement in Sandakan district in Sabah's northeast, where some of Malaysia's poorest residents, including indigenous and stateless communities, live in closely packed, wooden houses. No injuries or fatalities were reported, it said. It was the second such fire in Sandakan since April 19, when a massive fire razed 1,000 homes and displaced thousands of people in a coastal village. "It is estimated that about 186 residents are affected. We're still investigating the cause of the fire," Sandakan Fire and Rescue station chief Jimmy Lagung told AFP by telephone from Sandakan on Wednesday. In a statement, the fire department said 21 firefighters were deployed to put out the blaze, managing to prevent the flames fro...

Israeli strikes killed three Palestinians, including a nine-year-old boy, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said. Medics said an Israeli drone killed ​the child, Adel Al‑Najjar, in eastern Khan Younis in the south of ‌the enclave, while an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle in Gaza City, killing two people and wounding several others. At Nasser Hospital’s ​morgue, relatives arrived to bid farewell to the small, white‑shrouded body of ​Najjar. Women cried next to the body, lying on a medical ⁠stretcher on the floor, and men held a special prayer before carrying him ​to the cemetery for burial. The boy was collecting cardboard that the family uses ​in cooking, relatives said. There has been no electricity in Gaza since the fighting began in October 2023, and Palestinians have complained of Israeli restrictions on the entry of cooking gas. Read More: New wave of Israeli strikes kills 4 Palestinians in Gaza "We ​don't have gas. We collect cardboard to bake, they wan...