World Echo

Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes killed 20 Palestinians, including four children, in Gaza on Wednesday, and Israel halted the passage of patients through the Rafah border crossing, Palestinian officials said. Among the dead was a medic who rushed to help victims of a strike in the southern city of Khan Younis and was then killed by a second attack on the same location, health officials said. Other strikes hit Gaza City in the north, where health officials said a 5-month-old boy was killed. Israeli tanks had fired on Gaza, and airstrikes had been launched after a gunman shot at Israeli soldiers and injured a reservist near the armistice line, the Israeli military claims. The strikes targeted Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Younis. A Gazan health official told Reuters that Israel had also halted the passage of patients through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, two days after it had reopened, allowing a trickle of Palestinians to cross for the first time in months. Read: Gaz...

The most wide-ranging modelling to date suggests that reductions in overseas aid could result in over 22 million preventable deaths by 2030, including 5.4 million children under five. Researchers writing in The Lancet Global Health note that child deaths from infectious diseases have dropped sharply over the past 20 years, largely because donor-funded programs supported health efforts in developing countries. However, they warn that sudden funding cuts by donors such as the US and UK could undo much of that progress. To estimate the impact, the team analyzed how changes in aid levels related to death rates in recipient countries from 2002 to 2021, then projected outcomes under three scenarios: a status quo scenario, a mild reduction where aid declines similarly to recent years, and a severe reduction where aid falls to roughly half of 2025 levels through the end of the decade. In the severe scenario, the model projects about 22.6 million additional deaths by 2030, including 5.4 million...

Iranian police said 139 foreign nationals have so far been arrested in the central province of Yazd for their participation in recent protests, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday, without specifying their nationalities. Yazd, a predominantly desert province with a relatively small population above 1 million, was one of many provinces affected by nationwide protests in January. The protests, which started in December over economic hardships and quickly turned political, were repressed in the most violent crackdown since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The official death toll stands at 3,117, although rights groups say many more people have been killed. US-based rights group HRANA has said that nearly 50,000 people have so far been arrested. Authorities blame Israel and the United States for fomenting the violence. "These (foreign) individuals played an active role in organising, inciting, and directing riotous actions, and in some cases were in contact with netwo...

India’s main opposition party has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of quietly conceding too much in a newly announced trade deal with the United States, after President Donald Trump revealed the agreement following a call with Modi. Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement. When two large economies and the… — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 2, 2026 In a series of statements on Tuesday, the Indian National Congress said the government should take parliament and the public “into confidence” and disclose the deal’s full terms, warning that lowering trade barriers could hurt domestic industry, small traders and farmers. Just like the ceasefire, the announcement of the trade deal was also made by US President Trump. It has been stated that the trade deal is being do...

Israel reopened the border between Gaza and Egypt on Monday for a limited number of people on foot, allowing a small number of Palestinians to leave the enclave and some of those who escaped the conflict to return for the first time. The crossing, in Israeli-held territory in what was once a city of a quarter of a million people that Israel has since completely demolished and depopulated, is the sole route in or out for nearly all of Gaza's more than 2m residents. It has been largely shut for most of the conflict, and reopening it to give even a small number of Gaza residents access to the outside world is one of the last major steps required under the initial phase of a United States-brokered ceasefire reached in October. A Palestinian source said that on the first day 50 Palestinians were expected to enter Gaza, where they will face stringent Israeli security checks, and a similar number would be permitted to leave. Those allowed to enter would be among the more than 100,000...

India will spend a record amount on infrastructure and defence, the finance minister said in her national budget speech on Sunday, with plans for high-speed rail, submarines and fighter jets. New Delhi plans to spend $133 billion on infrastructure and $85b on defence, a respective rise of around 9% and 15% compared to last year's budget. Data centres, artificial intelligence, and the mining and processing of rare earths will also receive government support, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told parliament. She said public spending on infrastructure had increased dramatically from around $21b in 2014-15 and that it was now at an "all-time high". Read: India denies reports of exit from Chabahar port amid US sanctions The defence spending hike comes after a four-day conflict with arch-rival Pakistan last May that killed at least 70 people, and saw both sides make extensive use of drones as well as intense missile and artillery barrages. 'Best interest' Defence Min...