World Echo

The United Nations weather agency forecast on Tuesday a moderate or possibly a strong El Nino that could drive up global temperatures and increase the risk of extreme weather over the coming months. El Nino is a periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, ​which typically lasts between nine and 12 months, according ​to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The WMO said warm ocean waters were driving El Nino’s development and predicted above-average temperatures in most parts of the world from June to August. The WMO said it is likely El Nino will continue until November. It also said it remained uncertain how strong El Nino will be as models differ on its severity, but officials warned of the need to be ready. “We need to prepare for a potentially strong El Nino event - which will exacerbate drought and heavy rainfall and increase the risk of heatwaves both on land and in the ocean," said WMO Secretary-General C...

Under the shade of recently planted poplars in northeastern Afghanistan, village leader Ghulam Ali Poya is proud to see residents rediscover the value of trees after years of wartime deforestation. "There were forests of pistachio trees," he told AFP, gesturing to the bare mountains that surround Char Bagh's mud homes. "During the conflicts and the civil war, they were destroyed; no one could stop the logging." From the 1979 Soviet invasion until the fall of the first Taliban government in the early 2000s, "around 50 percent of Afghanistan's forest cover was lost", said Mohammad Nasir Shalizi, a researcher at North Carolina State University. In eastern Afghanistan, timber smuggling to Pakistan drove massive logging, while in the more arid central and northern "pistachio belt", residents used wood for heating and cooking. But in the last two decades, deforestation has slowed "substantially", Shalizi said. Forest cover ...

South Korea and the United States held inaugural talks this week to discuss nuclear cooperation under a joint fact sheet on security agreed by US President Donald Trump and South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung last year, Seoul said on Wednesday. The talks, held on Tuesday and Wednesday, were due to cover Seoul's push for expanded uranium enrichment and spent-fuel reprocessing rights to support its plan to build nuclear-powered submarines, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said previously. South Korea's delegation was led by First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo, while the US side was headed by Allison Hooker, the State Department's under secretary for political affairs, the ministry said. Read: South Korea says it cannot stop US forces from redeploying weapons to Middle East The meeting agenda included both "the issue of expanding enrichment and reprocessi...

At least 21 people were killed in a fire at a hotel in Delhi on Wednesday, police said, in one of the worst such incidents in the national capital in recent years. The hotel was located in Malviya Nagar in south Delhi, they said, a predominantly residential area popular with students and young professionals. The fire reportedly broke out at around 8:50am local time (0320GMT). A Delhi Police statement confirmed the death toll, adding that over 40 people were rescued and shifted to nearby hospitals for medical treatment. Television visuals showed a building on fire, smoke billowing out and charred exteriors as residents watched from a narrow lane nearby. They also showed two people jumping from a higher floor of the building. "There was reportedly a restaurant operating on the ground floor of the building; it is most likely that the fire was connected to that restaurant," local administration official Jitendra Kumar told reporters. Read: Fire breaks out on Tezgam ...

Multiple people on social media platform X have been sharing a video since Monday, claiming it shows an Iranian strike on United States military bases in Kuwait. However, the footage is from Malta and shows an explosion at a fireworks factory. Over the past week, fighting between the United States and Iran has intensified despite an April 8 ceasefire. The US military said it struck Iranian radar, drone, and air-defence sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island after Tehran allegedly shot down a US drone over international waters. Iran, meanwhile, claimed it targeted a US-linked airbase involved in an attack on a communications tower on Sirik Island in Hormozgan Province. Iranian-backed attacks and interceptions were also reported in Kuwait on Monday. Kuwait condemned Iranian attacks on its territory. At sea, tensions have remained high around the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has continued to challenge commercial shipping and the US has maintained pressure through a naval blockade of I...

Italian police have arrested two Pakistani nationals for the murder of four Pakistani farm workers found dead in a burnt-out minivan in southern Italy, Corriere della Sera daily reported Tuesday. The burnt-out vehicle was found at a petrol station near the village of Amendolara in a vast farming area in the Calabria region. CCTV images from the petrol station showed two people blocking the van's doors from the outside and throwing liquid inside, Corriere della Sera reported, citing law enforcement sources. The images showed a fire breaking out and the two people running away, the report said. Firefighters found the bodies inside after putting out the fire. "This is definitely murder, we just have to work out the details," local police chief Antonio Borelli was quoted by Corriere as saying. Read: Pakistan, Italy agree to visa-free travel for diplomatic passports The paper said there had been 14 cases of arson involving cars and minivans carrying Pakistanis i...