World Echo

The Venezuelan government and the opposition are close to an agreement to transfer the central bank's gold reserves, worth about $4 billion, to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from the Bank of England, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, which cited four people familiar with the discussion. Under the proposed deal, the interim government of Delcy Rodriguez would gain legal control of the gold but would be unable to sell the holdings immediately, the report said. Instead, the reserve could be used as collateral for government borrowings, including for reconstruction following June’s twin earthquakes, the newspaper added. A spokesperson for the British foreign office said the government was "not a party in the legal case to determine who should have control of Venezuelan gold held in the Bank of England". United Kingdom Courts and the Bank of England are independent of government, the spokespe...

North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong on Friday warned of a stronger response to United States-led multinational military exercises in the Asia-Pacific, saying Pyongyang would continue strengthening its nuclear deterrence. Kim, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior ruling Workers’ Party official, accused Washington of being the “main source” of worsening tensions on the Korean Peninsula and across the region, according to a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). She singled out Pacific Vanguard 2026, a multinational naval exercise near Guam involving the US, South Korea, Japan, and other countries. Kim called the exercise a threatening “war game” and accused Washington of seeking to expand its military influence through alliances in the Asia-Pacific. She also criticised growing US-Japan-South Korea military cooperation, claiming North Korea was its primary target. Read: North Korea says hostile US poli...

A UN fact-finding mission on Iran said on Thursday it had reasonable grounds ​to believe the United States was behind two military strikes on a school and sports facility in Iran in February, and that ‌these constituted war crimes. It also found that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their deadly crackdown on anti-government protests. The findings in a new report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, to be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, examined the US's conduct during the Iran war that began in February and the Iranian government's response to nationwide ​unrest that began in late December. The Iranian and US permanent missions in Geneva did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. US officials ​have previously said military operations are conducted in accordance with the law of armed conflict, while Iran has consistently rejected ⁠allegations of systematic rights violations. ...

The US State Department said on Wednesday that it would extend visa sanctions denying entry to members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA), days before the UN General Assembly convenes in New York. The State Department said it reported to Congress that the PLO and PA had again failed to meet commitments under US laws, citing actions at international organisations including "taking actions to internationalise the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ)." It also cited Palestinian officials’ efforts to "bypass negotiations through seeking unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state. The department also accused the PLO and PA of continuing to pay stipends to terrorists and "glorifying terrorism". Read: Trump administration plans $2.8 billion munitions sale to Israel, sources say “As a consequ...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union is opening the door for Canada to become its first "associate member", a status that is not set out in the bloc's treaties. Von der Leyen's announcement is a significant shift in EU policy. The bloc has historically resisted flexible categories and EU members were lukewarm in reacting to Germany's proposal in May of associate membership for Ukraine as a stepping stone to full accession. "Partnerships are a strategic choice for Europe. But they also respond to the fracture in the international rules-based system," von der Leyen said in her annual State of the European Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. "We see the world with the same eyes: from AI to climate change, from the Arctic to geopolitics. And we have stood together: on Ukraine, on defence, on raw materials and on supply chains. But above all...Europe and Canada beli...

The US military used as many as 70 Patriot interceptors and more than a dozen THAAD anti-missile interceptors to counter a recent Iranian ballistic missile attack on Jordan, highlighting growing pressure on American air defence stocks, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. US forces fired between 60 and 70 Patriot interceptors against an attack involving about 20 ballistic missiles, while more than a dozen Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) interceptors were also launched, the newspaper reported, citing US and regional officials familiar with the matter. The number of interceptors expended was roughly equivalent to what US forces have used during an entire week at other points in the conflict, according to the report. Iran reportedly used warheads that separated into multiple projectiles as they approached their targets, complicating efforts to intercept them. The defences did not stop all incoming threats, with Iran striking fighter jets and other aircraft at Muw...