World Echo

United States President Donald Trump on Friday vowed to hit Iran hard economically, a day after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington would impose measures on Tehran that have "never been seen" as soon as next week. The US, ‌United Nations and European Union have applied sanctions, implemented trade embargoes and frozen assets since the late 1970s over Iran's nuclear program, human rights violations and support for militant groups. Since the Iran war began in February, Washington has levied additional maritime, energy and financial sanctions and started a naval blockade. Read: Middle East powder keg inches closer to blast Data from the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) shows the agency has imposed sanctions on more than 1,000 people, vessels and aircraft since Trump began his second term. Recent measures have targeted Iran's shadow oil fleet; shipping insurers; entities and people ena...

Yemen's years-long civil conflict killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted millions and drove the country to the brink of famine before a 2022 truce restored relative calm. Now, renewed hostilities between the Houthi rebels and the government have many fearing the return of all-out war. Hodeida native Anwar, a father of two, recalls fleeing the advance of the Iran-backed Houthis, seeking refuge in the city of Mokha. Last week, explosions startled him and his children as the rebels hit Mokha port, reviving fears of another cycle of displacement and violence. "I do not want our lives to be haunted by constant panic caused by Houthi terror. Mokha used to be a safe city and a haven for many Yemenis," he told AFP. "The hardest part is not fearing for my own safety, but fearing for my children and family," he said. Read: 38 Yemeni troops killed in Houthi attacks Yemen, which has been embroiled in more than a decade of civil conflict, last month becam...

At least seven people were killed and three others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Lebanon early Saturday, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported. Israeli warplanes struck the house on the outskirts of the town of Ansar, in the Nabatieh district, toward the nearby town of Zrariyeh, destroying the building, the agency said. Emergency and rescue teams were working to remove rubble and recover the bodies and injured from the site, transferring the casualties to hospitals in Nabatieh. Read: Israel damaged heritage sites across south Lebanon, minister says The attack was the first Israeli airstrike to reach this geographical depth inside Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect two months ago, according to NNA. Separately, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes targeting the Ali al-Taher hill on the outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, the agency reported. Despite the signing of a framework agreement between Beirut and Tel Aviv on Jun...

In the weeks before a rush of more than 70,000 migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, border workers warned Spain's central government that more people, spurred on by social media, were arriving by sea, adding they feared an escalation. Spain's government did not heed their warnings and took little action, they told Reuters. A Spanish court ruling, published on June 29, stated migrants could only be immediately pushed back from entering Ceuta if they crossed a physical barrier, specifying that anyone swimming to the enclave did not. News of this ruling and videos of migrants successfully entering Ceuta encouraged more and more to try their luck. Read: As Europe migration debate rages, Bologna businessman's death highlights human cost Spain's government blamed the deadly rush of July 29-30 on misinformation about the ruling spread by criminal networks. However, public and ...

Reliance Industries said on Friday it planned to partner with Britain's Rolls-Royce to develop and manufacture ​an engine for India's fighter jet programme, as the country ‌aims to build its most advanced stealth combat aircraft. A prototype of the jet, known as the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, is expected to roll out in 2028 and play ​a key role in India's future air combat strategy. Last year, India approved a framework to build its most advanced stealth fighter jet and ⁠invited interest from defence firms, weeks after a military conflict with ​nuclear-armed neighbour Pakistan. Read: India seeks proposals for fifth generation combat jets: report In a move to reduce its dependence on imported defence equipment, ​the country also opened the door for domestic companies to participate in developing the twin-engine stealth fighter, approving the execution model for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. Under the ​proposed partnership announced...

An Air India Airbus A320 dropped about 300 feet this month, injuring 24 people on board, after the aircraft registered a loss of hydraulic pressure that briefly left key flight controls unresponsive, according to a preliminary Airbus analysis reviewed by Reuters. The August 4 incident occurred on Air India ​flight AI2379 from Phuket to Delhi, which landed safely in Delhi despite the altitude loss. Airbus' initial analysis showed the plane ​registered losses in all three hydraulic systems, which use pressurised fluid to power flight controls and ⁠other equipment, in quick succession. For about four seconds, the pilots were unable to use the elevators and ailerons, movable parts on the ​wings and tail that control whether the plane points up or down and banks left or right. During that time, the aircraft ​pitched upward, Airbus said in a communication responding to an Air India request for an assessment. The first officer applied a full nose-down input, but there was "n...