World Echo

World leaders are "feeding" wars instead of the hungry, Pope Leo ‌said on Monday, telling the UN food aid agency that global priorities were badly skewed. Leo, who has been more outspoken on political issues in recent months, urged governments to increase their spending ​to combat hunger and not subject food aid to limits based on geopolitical ​concerns. "Conflicts are 'fed' more readily than people are nourished," the first US ⁠pope said in a visit to the Rome headquarters of the World Food ​Programme (WFP). "This reality reflects not only operational shortcomings but also a fundamental imbalance in political ​and moral priorities," he said. The WFP is the largest provider of food aid worldwide. Its biggest donor is the US, which announced a new $800 million contribution last week, following earlier cuts by President ​Donald Trump that more than halved planned US funding. Pope says access to food is a fundame...

The Indian government is in talks with the UAE to sell some of its flagship defence systems, including the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos, four Indian sources said, as the Gulf nation steps up arms ​procurement following the war in the Middle East. The discussions, which have not been previously reported, include the potential sale of India's air defence system Akashteer, two sources ‌with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. "UAE has shown interest for a number of our weapon systems including BrahMos and Akashteer. The talks between India and UAE are at initial stages and are progressing fast," said a third source with direct knowledge of the matter. Indian officials and the UAE foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment. BrahMos, jointly developed by India and Russia, is among the world's fastest cruise missiles and can be launched ​from land, sea and air platforms, while Akashteer is a fully automated air defence system develop...

Scottish police said on Sunday they had charged a 36-year-old man after a series of attacks in Edinburgh on Friday, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer said ​appeared to have an anti-Muslim motive. Five men sustained injuries in the attacks ‌and three required hospital treatment for non-life-threatening injuries, police had previously said. Videos on social media showed a half-naked, tattooed, white man who appeared to be carrying a large weapon chasing an Asian man and ​then attempting to break his way into a restaurant, before later being handcuffed ​on the ground by police. The BBC reported that the attacks appeared ⁠to have begun near a mosque in the west of the Scottish capital before ​continuing at other locations in the city. 🚨 BREAKING: A 36-year-old white Scottish man is being investigated by Counter Terrorism Police after five people were stabbed in Edinburgh He said after his arrest: "I'm protecting the country from these fucking Muslim bastards rapin...

Pakistan and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye on Sunday reaffirmed the importance of continued consultation and coordination among the four countries in support of peace and stability, while welcoming the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran. The R-4 Ministerial meeting was held in Cairo, where FM Ishaq Dar, Saudi Arabia's Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Turkiye's Hakan Fidan and Egypt's Dr Badr Abdelatty discussed regional and international developments. According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, the foreign ministers met in Cairo at the invitation of Egypt. “The ministers expressed their deep appreciation to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for sharing his vision of the region's future as a guidance to the group's efforts aiming at bringing stability to the Middle East,” the statement said. Read: US-Iran talks begin in Switzerland, says Qatar It added ...

India's 2.2 million aspiring medical students sit a re-examination under tight security on Sunday, after the last test was scrapped following a paper leak that triggered widespread outrage. The failure of the hugely competitive exam, along with a separate marking fiasco in high school tests, sparked an outcry and fuelled youth protests demanding the education minister’s resignation. The authorities say they have deployed more than 200,000 officials, including police, and restricted the Telegram messaging app. The National Testing Agency (NTA) said it had put in place a "multi-layered security framework to ensure a fair and transparent examination". That includes biometric authentication, AI-enabled camera surveillance, and GPS tracking of question papers, it said. The examination is scheduled to begin at 2 pm (local time). The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the gateway to India’s medical colleges, is taken annually by millions of cand...

Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed at ‌least 16 people on Saturday, Lebanese Civil Defence said, hours after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect, with Israel saying it was responding to projectiles fired by the Iran-backed group. Lebanon's National News Agency said Israeli warplanes and drones had hit multiple locations in the south and the Bekaa Valley. An Israeli military official ​said Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight, prompting strikes on what ​the official said were "Hezbollah targets". The Israeli military, which has occupied swathes of southern Lebanon, said ⁠in a statement that Hezbollah's attacks constituted repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement. العربي الجديد: وقف إطلاق النار يدخل حيّز التنفيذ بعد 47 شهيداً بغارات إسرائيلية https://t.co/cKLcR0jOuQ — National News Agency (@NNALeb) June 20, 2026 It said it remained committed to the ​truce in accordance with political ...