World Echo

Iran’s critical water and energy infrastructure have suffered extensive damage due to US and Israeli strikes, the country’s energy minister said on Sunday. Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran on February 28, killing the Islamic republic’s supreme leader and sparking a war that has since spread across the Middle East. “The country’s vital water and electricity infrastructure has suffered heavy damage following terrorist and cyber attacks by the United States and the Zionist regime,” said energy minister Abbas Aliabadi, according to ISNA news agency. “The attacks targeted dozens of water transmission and treatment facilities and destroyed parts of critical water supply networks,” he noted, adding that efforts were underway to repair the damage. Read More: Iran's president says immediate cessation of US-Israeli aggression needed to end war Earlier on Sunday, US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran’s power plants if it failed to reopen the strate...

A strike on a hospital in Sudan’s East Darfur state killed 64 people and wounded 89 others, including 13 children, the World Health Organization said Saturday. The attack on El-Daein Teaching Hospital in the state capital occurred on Friday, damaging the pediatric, maternity, and emergency departments and leaving the facility non-functional. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for an end to the nearly three-year conflict. “Enough blood has been spilled,” he said. “Health care should never be a target. Peace is the best medicine”. Human toll and emergency response Among the dead were two female nurses, one male doctor, and multiple patients. Eight health staff were reported among the wounded. The WHO is supporting local health partners to treat the injured and fill urgent gaps in medical services with essential supplies. Read: Drone strikes in Sudan kill 33 Sudanese rights group Emergency Lawyers reported that the hospital was struck by a drone. The paramilitary Rapid...

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz ​said on Sunday that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the military to accelerate the demolition of Lebanese homes in "frontline villages" to end threats to Israeli communities. The military was instructed to immediately destroy all bridges over Lebanon's Litani River, which he said were used for "terrorist activity", Katz said in a statement released by his office. The Israeli military said early on Saturday it was striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut after issuing an evacuation warning for seven neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israel has been stepping up airstrikes against Lebanon in the third week of its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah. The Hezbollah-Israel conflict has become the deadliest spillover of the US-Israeli war on Iran since the Lebanese fighter groups fired at Israel in support of Tehran on March 2, with mor...

A record early heat wave striking the western United States on Friday is a one-in-500-year event and almost certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say. The heat has been toppling records this week and is set to continue into the weekend across western cities while expanding eastward. Four locations in the desert area near the California-Arizona border registered 44.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, a US national record for March. The readings were recorded near Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, and around Winterhaven and Ogilby in California. Read: Intense heatwave grips US, triggering record-breaking temperatures Already, 65 cities have recorded new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported. Death Valley reached 40°C on Thursday, while typically cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29°C. In Colorado, skiers were seen hitting the slopes shirtless. The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warni...

President Donald Trump ends the third week of the Iran war confronting a crisis that seems to be slipping out of his hands: global energy prices are surging, the United States stands isolated from allies and more ​troops are preparing to deploy despite his promise that the war would be only a "short excursion". A defensive Trump called other NATO countries "cowards" for refusing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and insisted the campaign was ‌unfolding according to plan. But his declaration on Friday that the battle "was militarily won" clashed with the reality of a defiant Iran that is choking off Gulf oil and gas supplies while launching missile strikes across the region. Read: Iran's Natanz nuclear facility attacked by US-Israeli airstrikes again: report Trump, who took office promising to keep the US out of "stupid" military interventions, now appears to control neither the outcome nor the messaging of a conflict he helped to initiate. ...

Muslims across the world marked Eidul Fitr, celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramazan, during which they fast from dawn to dusk. The festival begins with the sighting of the new moon, signalling the start of Shawwal. As some countries depend on physical moon sightings, the date of Eid can differ by region. Consequently, nations such as Mali, Niger and Afghanistan observed the occasion on Thursday, while much of the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia celebrated on Friday. Worshippers offer congregational Eid prayers at the Kaaba in Makkah [AFP] Eid prayers offered by worshippers. — AFP Read: In pictures: Muslims celebrate Eidul Fitr around the world Eidul Fitr, which lasts for two days, is distinct from Eidul Azha that coincides with the Hajj pilgrimage. The celebrations typically begin with a congregational prayer held in open spaces, followed by gatherings of family and friends and festive activities. Sunni Muslim worshippers exchange greetings after Eid al-Fitr prayers at ...