World Echo

South African judge Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, 85, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday "for her efforts to promote peace and international law", the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. Pillay ​held states and national leaders accountable and brought hope to ​victims of violence and conflict, and demonstrated a firm moral ⁠compass in her long career, the committee said. "A common thread runs ​from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood ​up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time," the committee said. Read: Nobel Peace Prize haunted by the 'spectre' of Trump Navi Pillay was chair of ​the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory ​that concluded last year that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel dismissed the ‌report ⁠as "scandalous". The peace prize is the fifth Nobel awarded this week, after literature...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused the United States of being unwilling to help Ukraine after a Russian bomb attack on Thursday killed at least 35 people in the east, sending the two-day death toll from Russian strikes to over 70. Hours after the strike on the embattled city of Kramatorsk tore through two buses, Zelenskiy criticised Washington's effort to pursue economic ties with Russia while also seeking to mediate the more than four-year war. City authorities reported a new drone attack in the evening that killed two people. That brought to 35 the total death toll in the city. Local authorities reported that a Russian guided aerial bomb killed two people in a village in southeastern Dnipropetrovsk and one person died in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk. Read: Trump tells Ukraine's Zelenskiy to stop hitting Russian diesel The attacks were launched a day after a mass Russian drone and missile assault killed dozens across Ukraine — 22 of them...

Iraqi Airways resumed direct flights to Iran on Thursday after a seven-month suspension that began amid the US-Israeli war on Iran in early March, according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA). The national carrier said regular daily flights would operate from Najaf International Airport to Tehran, Mashhad and Isfahan. The resumption followed efforts by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Transport Minister Wahab al-Hasani after the necessary regulatory and technical requirements were completed, the airline said. Read: Trump says Iran deal 'isn't really something that I want to do' It added that restoring the routes aims to facilitate passenger travel and expand Iraq’s regional air connections, particularly for religious, medical and educational purposes. Iraqi Airways suspended its flights to Iran in early March as a precautionary measure following the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on Feb. 28. Iraq also closed its airspace as regional mi...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday claimed Iran’s armed forces had destroyed 81 US military aircraft, citing the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which he said had previously reported the loss of 42 aircraft. In a post on X, Araghchi wrote, “In May, the Congressional Research Service admitted that Iran’s Armed Forces had taken out 42 US military aircraft. Now: 81.” The Iranian foreign minister claimed that the actual number was significantly higher. “Real toll is far higher,” he said. Araghchi also questioned US Central Command’s (CENTCOM) refusal to allow a sitting senator to inspect military bases that it claimed were in good condition. He wrote, “Proof? CENTCOM won’t let a sitting senator inspect bases it claims are fine”. “You can fool all the people some of the time...” he added. In May, the Congressional Research Service admitted that Iran’s Armed Forces had taken out 42...

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of a "devastating toll" in Yemen amid an escalating conflict. "The escalating conflict in Yemen is taking a devastating toll. Nearly 1000 people have been killed, more than 4200 injured, and almost 198,000 displaced since the latest escalation, amid outbreaks of cholera and measles," Tedros said. WHO's immediate funding requirement more than tripled from $9 million to $31 million due to growing needs, he said on US social media company X. "We urgently call on donors to step up. Lives depend on humanitarian and health aid," Tedros added. Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government. Clashes between government forces and the Houthis resumed in July, marking the most intense fighting since a pe...

The global economy faces dual pressures from a negative energy supply shock and a positive artificial intelligence (AI) demand shock, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday. Kristalina Georgieva delivered a speech in Singapore ahead of the upcoming annual meetings in Thailand, highlighting that the global economy must navigate three major crosscurrents, which are the rapid arrival of AI, persistently high energy prices and record levels of public debt. STARTING NOW: What are the key challenges and opportunities shaping the global economy? Tune in as IMF Managing Director @KGeorgieva delivers the 2026 Annual Meetings Curtain Raiser in Singapore ahead of the #IMFMeetings. Watch live. https://t.co/vuTotVuMxP — IMF (@IMFNews) October 7, 2026 She noted that global public debt tracks to soon exceed 100 per cent of the gross domestic product, reaching its highest levels since the end of World War II. Advanced economies stand out as the worst offenders w...