World Echo

Pakistan and China on Thursday held the fourth round of maritime dialogue to review the bilateral maritime cooperation. During the session, an in-depth exchange of views on the entire spectrum of bilateral maritime cooperation was held, including naval exchanges, regional cooperation, development of maritime infrastructure, collaboration in fisheries, science and technology, search and rescue missions, maritime disaster management and combating maritime pollution, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office spokesperson. Director General (China) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Mohammad Aamir Khan and Deputy Director General of Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs of Chinese MFA Wang Jinfeng co-chaired the consultations. Jinfeng later called on Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, the additional secretary (Asia-Pacific) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two sides expressed satisfaction at time-tested Pakistan-China friendship and All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partner...

With a month to run, 2023 will reach global warming of about 1.4 degrees Celsius (2.5 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, adding to "a deafening cacophony" of broken climate records, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday. The WMO's provisional State of the Global Climate report confirms that 2023 will be the warmest year on record by a large margin, replacing the previous record-holder 2016, when the world was around 1.2C warmer than the preindustrial average. It adds to the urgency world leaders face as they wrestle with phasing out fossil fuels at the United Nations annual climate summit COP28, which begins on Thursday in Dubai. "Greenhouse gas levels are record high. Global temperatures are record high. Sea level rise is record high. Antarctic sea ice record low," WMO Secretary General Peterri Taalas said. The report's finding, however, does not mean the world is about to cross the long-term warming threshold of 1.5C that scient...

The launch of a climate "loss and damage" fund drew praise and hundreds of millions of dollars in pledges at the UN's COP28 talks on Thursday but also warnings that much more is needed to help vulnerable nations. "We have delivered history today," the UAE's COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber told delegates who stood and applauded after the decision's adoption in Dubai. The announcement was followed immediately by financial pledges, including 225 million euros ($246 million) from the European Union, $100 million from the United Arab Emirates, another $100 million from Germany, $40 million from Britain, $17.5 million from the United States and $10 million from Japan. After years of dragging their feet on the issue, wealthy nations backed the fund in a landmark agreement at the COP27 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, last year. Its launch on the first day of COP28 follows fraught negotiations on the mechanics of the fund, which will be housed at the World Bank...

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar arrived in Dubai on Wednesday to attend the 28th United Nations Conference of Parties (COP-28). Minister for Justice of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UAE Faisal Niaz Tirmizi and the Pakistani diplomatic staff welcomed the prime minister at Dubai’s Al-Maktoum airport, the Prime Minister Office’s media wing said in a press release. The premier will head the Pakistani delegation at the 28th Conference of Parties (COP-28), and will also attend the World Climate Action Summit, scheduled for December 01-02. Caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani, Caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Caretaker Minister for Climate Change Ahmed Irfan Aslam and Caretaker Energy Minister Muhammad Ali will also be participating in the globally popular climate change event. The COP28 summit is being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from today; it will run through December 12. COP refers to si...

A truce between Israel and Hamas was extended on Thursday just before it was due to expire, the two sides announced, with mediator Qatar reporting it would continue for one day under the same conditions that saw captives released in exchange for prisoners. Minutes before the halt in fighting was due to expire at 0500GMT, Israel's military said the "operational pause" would be extended. "In light of the mediators' efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue," it said. The prime minister's office subsequently confirmed the extension, saying it had received a new list of captives. "A short time ago, Israel was given a list of women and children in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the truce will continue," it said, without specifying a timeframe. Hamas meanwhile said there was an agreement to "extend the truce for a seventh day...

Henry Kissinger, a diplomatic powerhouse whose roles as a national security adviser and secretary of state under two presidents left an indelible mark on US foreign policy and earned him a controversial Nobel Peace Prize, died on Wednesday at age 100. Kissinger died at his home in Connecticut, according to a statement from his geopolitical consulting firm, Kissinger Associates Inc. No mention was made of the circumstances. It said he would be interred at a private family service, to be followed at a later date by a public memorial service in New York City. Kissinger had been active past his centenary, attending meetings in the White House, publishing a book on leadership styles, and testifying before a Senate committee about the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. In July 2023 he made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the 1970s in the midst of the Cold War, he had a hand in many of the epoch-changing global events of the decade while serving as n...

An Indian government official directed an unsuccessful plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist on US soil, the US Justice Department said on Wednesday, in announcing charges against a man accused of orchestrating the attempted murder. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Nikhil Gupta, 52, worked with the Indian government employee, whose responsibilities included security and intelligence, to assassinate a New York City resident who advocated for a Sikh sovereign state in northern India. Prosecutors did not name the Indian official or the target. Gupta was arrested by Czech authorities in June and is awaiting extradition. He could not be reached for comment. "The defendant conspired from India to assassinate, right here in New York City, a US citizen of Indian origin who has publicly advocated for the establishment of a sovereign state for Sikhs," Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in a statement. India's embassy in Washington did not immediatel...

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday told United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres that Israel must be held accountable in international courts for what he called war crimes it committed in Gaza, the Turkish presidency said. Israel has mounted an offensive by air and ground against Hamas fighters in Gaza in which more than 15,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities. The offensive was launched after Hamas went on a rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage. In a phone call ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza planned for Wednesday, Erdogan and Guterres discussed the "expectations of the international community regarding Israel's unlawful attacks", access of humanitarian aid into the enclave, and efforts for a lasting peace, the Turkish presidency said. "During the call, President Erdogan said Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, the laws of war, an...

NASA will train an Indian astronaut for a voyage to the International Space Station as early as next year, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on Wednesday, amid deepening space ties between India and the United States. "There is an opportunity to share science," Nelson said, speaking at an event in Bengaluru, where he is due to inspect the NISAR satellite on Thursday. NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a low-Earth orbit observatory system jointly developed by NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). Roughly the size of an SUV, the satellite is set to be launched from India in the first quarter of next year, with a target launch set for January. NISAR will map the entire planet once every 12 days, providing data for understanding changes in ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, ground water and natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides. India is aiming to increase its share of the global satellite launch market fivefold wit...

 A U.S. military aircraft carrying six people crashed into the sea in western Japan on Wednesday, killing at least one crew member with the condition of at least two hauled from waters unclear. Japan's coast guard said it found what appeared to be wreckage from the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey and one person who was later confirmed to have died some 3 km (2 miles) from Yakushima island. Fishing boats in the area found three people in the surrounding waters, a representative of a local fisheries cooperative said, adding their condition was unknown. Another Osprey landed safely at the island's airport on Wednesday afternoon around the time of the crash, a spokesperson for the local government said. U.S. forces in the region were still gathering information, a spokesperson said. The US has about 54,000 U.S. troops in Japan, many in the strategically important southern island chain, amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the South China Sea. The crash happened just before 3 p.m....

When heavy machinery broke down trying to break through the debris trapping 41 workers in a tunnel in the Indian Himalayas, authorities called in a group of people whose profession is effectively banned in the country - "rat-hole mining". While augur machines managed to horizontally drill through nearly three-quarters of the debris, it fell on half a dozen miners adept at burrowing in tight spaces to reach the trapped workers on Tuesday. Rescuers successfully pulled out the workers in wheeled stretchers through a wide pipe that was pushed through the debris after a 17-day ordeal. "It was a difficult task, but for us nothing is difficult," said a beaming Firoz Qureshi, one of the miners, standing with his fellow workers outside the tunnel, their faces patched with white dust after overnight drilling. Read  All trapped Indian workers rescued from Himalayan tunnel, say officials The "rat miners" started working late on Monday after a second drilling machine a...

 A truce between Israel and Hamas enters its sixth day Wednesday after additional captives were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, with mediators pushing for a "sustainable" ceasefire. After a 48-hour extension of an initial four-day truce, a new group of 12 captives was freed from Gaza on Tuesday, with 30 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons. The final 24 hours of the extended agreement begins later Wednesday, with one more exchange of captives for prisoners expected, but mediator Qatar said it was hoping for a more durable arrangement. "Our main focus right now, and our hope, is to reach a sustainable truce that will lead to further negotiations and eventually to an end... to this war," foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told a Doha news conference. "However, we are working with what we have. And what we have right now is the provision to the agreement that allows us to extend days as long as Hamas is able to guarantee the release o...

Israeli forces and Hamas fighters largely held their fire on Tuesday following the extension of a four-day ceasefire in Gaza by at least two extra days to allow for the release of more hostages. With both sides expressing hope of further extensions, mediator Qatar hosted the spy chiefs from Israel's Mossad and the United States' CIA at a meeting to "build on progress", a source briefed on the visits told Reuters. A US official confirmed that CIA Director William Burns was in Doha "for meetings on the Israel-Hamas conflict including discussions on hostages", without elaborating. The truce, which began on Friday, has brought the first respite to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in seven weeks, during which Israel had bombed swathes of the territory into a desolate moonscape. Palestinians walk at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip November, 21, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS Although conditions on the ground in Gaza remain...

Police in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have arrested seven university students under tough anti-terrorism laws for alleged intimidation after they celebrated Australia's victory over India in the Cricket World Cup final. Police said Tuesday that the students were arrested following "anti-India sloganeering and intimidation of others who did not agree with them" after the match. Hosts India were favourites to capture the one-day cricket crown in the November 19 final but they lost to Australia in a six-wicket defeat. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the high-altitude territory in full, but administering separate portions of it. Freedom fighters have waged an insurgency in IIOJK since 1989, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead. Police said the Kashmiri students at an agriculture university were arrested last week after a co...

Iran has finalised arrangements for the delivery of Russian made Sukhoi su-35 fighter jets and helicopters, Iran's deputy defence minister told Iran's Tasnim news agency on Tuesday, as Tehran and Moscow forge closer military relations. Iran's air force has only a few dozen strike aircraft, including Russian jets as well as ageing US models acquired before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. "Plans have been finalised for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters, and Yak-130 jet trainers to join the combat units of Iran's Army," Iran's deputy Defence Minister Mehdi Farahi said. Read also: Iran launches Noor-3 satellite into orbit amid tensions with US The Tasnim report did not include any Russian confirmation of the deal. In 2018, Iran said it had started production of the locally-designed Kowsar fighter for use in its air force. Military experts believe the jet is a carbon copy of the F-5, first produced in the United States in the 1960s. from La...

A truce between Israel and Hamas will be extended by two days, mediator Qatar said hours before the pause was due to end Tuesday, as more captives were freed from Gaza in exchange for the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners. "The Palestinian and Israeli sides have reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian pause in Gaza for two additional days under the same conditions," Qatar's foreign ministry said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. Palestinian resistance group Hamas also confirmed the extension and Israeli media reported the government had received a new list of 10 more captives who would be freed. However, there was no official word from Israel. The news of the extension came as 11 more captives were freed from Gaza overnight, along with the release of another 33 Palestinian prisoners -- the last exchange under the existing deal. The extension of the truce, which had been scheduled to end at 7:00am (0500 GMT), was welcomed internationally. UN Secretary...

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused his British counterpart Rishi Sunak of cancelling a scheduled meeting in London on Tuesday in a diplomatic row over the status of the Parthenon Sculptures. Greece has repeatedly asked the British Museum to permanently return the 2,500-year-old sculptures that British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon temple in the early 19th century when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. "I express my annoyance that the British Prime Minister cancelled our planned meeting just hours before it was due to take place," Mitsotakis said in a statement. "Greece's positions on the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures are well known. I had hoped to have the opportunity to discuss them with my British counterpart. Anyone who believes in the rightness and justice of his positions is never afraid of confronting arguments," he said. The Greek government has been in discussions with British Museum chair George Osborne on a pos...

The suspect in the shooting in Vermont of three college students of Palestinian descent over the weekend pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder on Monday and was ordered by a judge to be held without bond. The suspect, Jason J. Eaton, 48, appeared at an arraignment at the Chittenden County Criminal Court in Burlington via a remote video feed from the county jail, where he has been held since his arrest on Sunday. Police say Eaton used a pistol to shoot the three victims on the street near the University of Vermont in Burlington on Saturday evening and then ran away. The attack is also under investigation as a suspected hate-motivated crime. At the time of the attack, two of the men were wearing a keffiyeh, the traditional black-and-white checkered scarf commonly worn in Middle East, police said. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit at the three-minute hearing, Eaton responded "yes, sir" when asked by the judge if he understood the charges against him. B...

A senior Indian diplomat faced confrontation from pro-Khalistan Sikhs at a Gurdwara in New York, leading to his abrupt departure from the place of worship. The activists questioned the diplomat, Taranjit Sandhu, about his alleged role in a failed Indian state plot to assassinate Sikh leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a prominent figure associated with Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and the global Khalistan Referendum campaign. Pro-Khalistan Sikhs, led by Himmat Singh at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York, confronted Ambassador Taranjit Sandhu over his alleged involvement in the failed assassination plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The activists also accused Sandhu of India's role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the President of Surrey Gurdwara and the coordinator for the Canadian Chapter of the Khalistan Referendum. The questioning in public agitated the diplomat, prompting him to abruptly leave the Gurdwara without providing any answers to the raised questions. Diplomat San...

Iran on Monday called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to stop Israel's "crimes" in the territory as the truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final day. With the four-day truce is approaching its scheduled end early Tuesday, Hamas has said it is willing to extend the pause and free more hostages. The pause that began Friday has seen dozens of hostages freed, with over 100 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in return. "As the Islamic Republic of Iran, we want and expect... that the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people will be stopped completely," said Nasser Kanani, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman. Kanani told reporters during his weekly press conference that Iran is "following" the extension of the truce "with the regional party active in this field, the state of Qatar". Iran's Foreign Minster Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was on a visit to the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday. Read also: Iran says it f...

At least 18 people were killed in lightning strikes across western India's Gujarat state during unseasonably intense storms on Sunday, officials said. Such big rainstorms are not expected in Gujarat during winter months, and fierce downpours caught many off guard. While flash floods and lightning kill dozens of people in India each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events. Read also: India to declare dead 79 people missing in Himalayan lake floods At least 20 people were killed during the heavy rains, with at least 18 of them due to lightning, Gujarat state authorities said in a statement late Sunday. At least 40 animals were also killed. Home minister Amit Shah said he was "deeply saddened" by the deaths, in a post on social media platform X. from Latest World News, International News | Breaking World News https://ift.tt/NOCq41j

Rescuers on Monday brought in "rat miners" to drill through a narrow pipe and help pull out 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel in the Indian Himalayas for more than two weeks after high-powered machines failed, officials said. The men, low-wage workers from India's poorest states, have been stuck in the 4.5km (3 miles) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it collapsed on Nov. 12. The men have been getting food, water, light, oxygen and medicines through a pipe but efforts to dig a tunnel have run into a series of snags with machines. Attempts to drill a tunnel horizontally through the debris trapping the men have been plagued by damage to machinery and rescuers will resort to drilling by hand, after clearing away the broken equipment inside the narrow evacuation pipe. Read also: Rainy weather closing in on Indian rescuers trying to reach trapped men The drilling from inside the pipe, which is 900 millimetres (3 feet) wide, will be done by a team of six "rat min...

Israel hosted Elon Musk on Monday, saying it had reached an agreement in principle for using his SpaceX company's Starlink communications in the Gaza Strip, where a pause to the war against Hamas coincided with the tech entrepreneur's visit. Musk's office has yet to comment on the trip. Israeli President Isaac Herzog has scheduled an afternoon meeting with Musk. They will be joined by relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and will also discuss "the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online", Herzog's office said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also due to meet Musk on Monday to discuss the security aspects of artificial intelligence and hold a live online discussion, Netanyahu's office said. When they last met, in California on Sept. 18, Netanyahu urged Musk to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over antisemitism on X - the former Twitter. Last month, as the war raged f...

Against the backdrop of Christmas songs, 100 South Korean men and women gathered at a hotel near Seoul dressed in their best with name tags hanging on their clothes, hoping to find love. The government hopes they make babies. They were participants at a mass blind-dating event hosted by Seongnam city, an attempt by the local government to reverse a falling birth rate in a country where the popularity of marriage and enthusiasm towards parenthood have nosedived. The participants, in their 20s and 30s, sat quietly next to one another until a relationship coach kick started the event with a rock-paper-scissor game, quickly filling the room with chatter and laughter. The city appeared determined to arrange a match, preparing red wine, chocolates, games, free make-up services, and even background checks for the participating singles. Lee Yu-mi, 36, who works for the city government, said she had to apply three times to finally get a spot at the event. "I had no idea it would be this co...

A US Navy warship responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker in the Gulf of Aden that had been seized by armed individuals and the vessel is now safe, US officials said on Sunday. The tanker, which had been carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid, was identified as the Central Park by the vessel's company. The officials did not identify the attackers. In a statement, the US.military said the USS Mason, with help from allied ships, demanded that the commercial ship be released by the attackers. Five armed individuals tried to escape on a fast boat but were chased by the US warship and they eventually surrendered. The statement added that two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi controlled parts of Yemen towards the general direction of the Mason and Central Park, but they landed about 10 nautical miles away from them and there was no damage or injuries. The incident is the latest in a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since a brutal war between Israel and t...

The truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final 24 hours Monday, with the Palestinian resistance group saying it was willing to extend the pause after it freed more hostages. The pause that began Friday has seen dozens of captives freed, with over 100 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in return. Attention now has turned to whether the truce will be extended before its scheduled end early on Tuesday morning. "That's my goal, that's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza," US President Joe Biden said Sunday. He said he would like the fighting to be paused for "as long as prisoners keep coming out." "I get a sense that all the players in the region are looking for a way to end this so the hostages are all released and... Hamas is completely no longer in control of Gaza." Al-Qassam Brigades release video of the rel...

A second group of captives were released by Hamas late Saturday night in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel after United Nations' aid trucks reached northern Gaza. Despite the four-day ceasefire, Al Jazeera reported Israeli forces were warning Gazans from heading north. A Palestinian journalist said on Sunday IDF forces were arresting and shooting Palestinians in northern Gaza.  Israel is arresting Palestinians and shooting at them on the ground in the north of Gaza. No one is able to get count of those being detained or shot because there is no media or civil defense or medics. This is while the ceasefire is ongoing mind ya'll. — Mariam Barghouti مريم البرغوثي (@MariamBarghouti) November 26, 2023 Around 39 Palestinians - six women and 33 minors - were freed from Israeli prisons and reunited with their families on Saturday. Even after the releases, more than 8,000 Palestinians remain in Israeli custody, including more than 2,200 administrative detainees held wit...

The world's largest iceberg is on the move for the first time in more than three decades, scientists said on Friday. At almost 4,000 square km (1,500 square miles), the Antarctic iceberg called A23a is roughly three times the size of New York City. Since calving off West Antarctica's Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986, the iceberg — which once hosted a Soviet research station — has largely been stranded after its base became stuck on the floor of the Weddell Sea. Not anymore. Recent satellite images reveal that the berg, weighing nearly a trillion metric tonnes, is now drifting quickly past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, aided by strong winds and currents. It's rare to see an iceberg of this size on the move, said British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Oliver Marsh, so scientists will be watching its trajectory closely. As it gains steam, the colossal berg will likely be launched into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. This will funnel it toward the Southern Ocea...