World Echo

An Israeli drone struck the Nabatiyeh area in southern Lebanon on Saturday, Lebanon's state news agency said. The reported strike came a day after Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered security arrangement aimed at reducing tensions along their border following months of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah. Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington on Friday following several days of talks to secure an end to fighting ‌between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanese Ambassador Nada Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter signed the trilateral document with the US at the State Department in Washington. "Today we've taken the first step in what will be a difficult journey, without a doubt, but an important and an essential and a necessary one," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before ​the agreement was inked. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah broke out when the armed group fired at Israel on March 2, days after ...

Bahrain announced on Saturday that its territory was targeted by Iranian drone attacks, condemning and calling it "a blatant violation" of its sovereignty and international law. The Bahraini Foreign Ministry, in a statement carried by the Bahrain News Agency, condemned the attack, saying it involved "a number of Iranian drones," without disclosing the exact location or nature of the target. The ministry said the incident early in the day endangered civilian lives and undermined regional efforts to de-escalate tensions, reaffirming Manama's "full and legitimate right to defend its sovereignty" and calling on the UN Security Council to hold Tehran accountable. Read: Khamenei's adviser warns US, Israel against new war, says Washington failed to uphold commitments The attack came hours after the US said its forces struck Iranian missile, drone, and radar sites late Friday, accusing Tehran of targeting a commercial vessel crossing the Strait of...

Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned on Saturday that any new military confrontation initiated by the United States or Israel would result in heavy casualties, saying Tehran had entered talks in Switzerland "seriously and swiftly" while Washington had failed to uphold its commitments. Speaking to US-based NewsNation television, the former commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said Iran was prepared to respond forcefully if confronted again. "If the United States or Israel makes even the slightest threat against Iran, the next war will not resemble the previous one," he said. "[US] President Donald Trump should know that this time they would suffer extensive human losses." According to Press TV, Rezaei questioned Washington's commitment to ongoing diplomatic efforts, saying the Iranian negotiating team had entered recent talks in Switzerland "seriously and swiftly," wh...

 Rescuers worked through the night on Friday to save hundreds of Venezuelans trapped in rubble and find thousands ​more missing after two of the biggest earthquakes in Latin America's modern history smashed areas in and around the capital Caracas. The government said 235 dead had been taken to ‌medical centers but did not give a total casualty estimate from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors that struck about 160 km (100 miles) west of Caracas on Wednesday. A website created to track missing people and shared by opposition leaders from the politically polarized nation listed more than 49,600 people as unaccounted for, while the US Geological Survey predicted more than 10,000 deaths. Read: Thousands feared dead in Venezuela quakes Spain's foreign ministry said three of its nationals had died, four were trapped under rubble and another 99 ​were unaccounted for. With foreign rescue teams arriving, firefighters, soldiers and...

The US State Department announced on Friday that the fifth round of Lebanon-Israel negotiations in Washington had been extended by one day after media reports said that talks failed to bridge a deepening rift over the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. Israel's public broadcaster KAN, citing unnamed sources, said the main dispute centres on what Israel calls the "Yellow Line," or "Anti-tank Line," established in April — an imaginary line extending roughly 8 kilometres (5 miles) inside Lebanese territory from the Israeli border. Israel refuses to withdraw from areas within the Yellow Line and insists on maintaining its presence at the Beaufort Castle hilltop in southern Lebanon. KAN said Israel is considering a partial and conditional withdrawal from some seized areas, while Lebanon is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from all villages and towns within the line, including Majdal Zoun, Zibqin, Beit Lif, Tayri and Kounine. The ...

The interim US-Iran peace accord gives UN nuclear inspectors access to Iran, the watchdog's top official said ​on Friday, after Tehran indicated key sites would remain off-limits ‌until a final deal with Washington was reached and sanctions lifted. The US and Iran last week signed a memorandum of understanding paving the ​way for 60 days of talks to resolve thornier ​issues, including those related to Iran's nuclear programme. Iran's ⁠deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on Wednesday there were ​no plans to grant access to inspectors. But International Atomic Energy Agency ​boss Rafael Grossi said on Friday that inspections had to happen. "There is an agreement, and to comply with that agreement, the IAEA will have to ​have access and inspect," he told a press conference in Japan. "We ​hope to be there soon." Read: UN halts escort of ships through Hormuz after vessel comes under attack UN inspectors have already held an initial ...