World Echo

Israel carried out its heaviest airstrikes in Gaza in weeks on Saturday, killing 27 people, including three children, in attacks on a police station, houses and tents, Palestinian health officials said. The Israeli military said it had targeted commanders and sites belonging to Hamas and its ally, Islamic Jihad, in response to a breach of a United States-brokered ceasefire agreed last October after two years of fighting in Gaza. Hamas, which retains control of just under half of Gaza, said Israel had violated the truce. It did not say whether any of its members or sites were struck in today's attacks. Israel carried out the attacks a day before the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was due to reopen under US President Donald Trump's plan to end a conflict that has left much of Gaza in ruins. Read More: Hamas seeks role for its police in Gaza ahead of disarmament talks, sources say The fighting began after Hamas-led gunmen attacked southern I...

An explosion occurred at Iran's southern port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, Iranian media reported, without giving a cause for the blast. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was targeted in the explosion were "completely false". Rumor of IRGC Navy Commander's Assassination Proved False Tasnim News Agency's investigation confirms that the rumor of IRGC commander’s assassination is entirely baseless. pic.twitter.com/jiz6UA3wi1 — Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) January 31, 2026 Iranian media said the blast was being investigated but gave no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment. Director General of Crisis Management of Hormozgan Province said: This incident involved an explosion at a residential house on Moallem Boulevard in Bandar Abbas.https://t.co/wYurukt2y5 pic.twitter.com/rpojgJOY0W — Tehran Times (@TehranTimes79) January 31, 20...

More than 200 people were killed this week in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the province where the mine is located, told Reuters on Friday. Rubaya produces around 15% of the world's coltan, which is processed into tantalum, a heat-resistant metal that is in high demand by makers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines. The site, where locals dig manually for a few dollars per day, has been under the control of the AFC/M23 rebel group since 2024. The collapse occurred on Wednesday and the precise toll was still unclear as of Friday evening. Read: Iran president says US, Israel, Europe exploited unrest, economic woes "More than 200 people were victims of this landslide, including miners, children and market women. Some people were rescued just in time and have serious injuries," Muyisa said, adding that about 20 injured people w...

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that US, Israeli and European leaders had exploited Iran's economic problems, incited unrest and provided people with the means to "tear the nation apart” in recent protests. The two-week-long nationwide protests, which began in late December over an economic crisis marked by soaring inflation and rising living costs, have abated after a bloody crackdown by the clerical authorities that US-based rights group HRANA says has killed at least 6,563, including 6,170 protesters and 214 security forces. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told CNN Turk that 3,100, including 2,000 security forces, had been killed. The US, Israeli and European leaders tried to "provoke, create division, and supply resources, drawing some innocent people into this movement," Pezeshkian said in a live state TV broadcast. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced support for the demonstrators, saying the US was prepared to take action...

Israel’s military has accepted that around 70,000 Palestinians were killed during the fighting in Gaza, Israeli media reported on Friday, citing senior military officials, marking a shift from its earlier scepticism over death tolls issued by Gaza’s health authorities. The United Nations has long treated casualty figures recorded by Gaza’s health ministry as credible.  The Gaza health ministry publishes the names and ages of those it records as killed and now says the death toll has exceeded 71,000, including more than 480 people killed in Israeli attacks since the start of a United States-brokered ceasefire in October. It says thousands more are believed to be buried under rubble in Gaza’s devastated cities. Read More: School materials allowed into Gaza after two years of Israeli blockages, UN agency says The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but says most of those killed were women or children. Israeli news outlet Ynet and other leading media repor...

South Africa on Friday declared Israel’s top diplomat in the country persona non grata and ordered him to leave within 72 hours, citing repeated violations of diplomatic norms, including public insults directed at President Cyril Ramaphosa. In a statement, the South African foreign ministry said Israel’s chargé d’affaires, Ariel Seidman, had committed “a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty”. MEDIA STATEMENT 30 January 2026 The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has informed the Government of the State of Israel of its decision to declare Mr. Ariel Seidman, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Israeli Embassy, persona non grata. pic.twitter.com/IINt3ixnCO — DIRCO South Africa (@DIRCO_ZA) January 30, 2026 “These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks” on President Ramaphosa, the ministry said. It also accused the Israeli...

It will be many years before the United States' allies can contemplate dispensing with the need for its military might or challenging the tech supremacy of its Silicon Valley giants. But in an ironic twist, given US President Donald Trump's love of tariffs, they are discovering that the trade in goods is one area where they have more options than they may have thought and where they have the ability to adapt relatively quickly. No one is seriously trying to decouple outright from a US market which remains the most lucrative in the world despite a bipartisan protectionist drift seen well before Trump 2.0. Instead, the re-drawing of the global trade map that has accelerated with a rash of bilateral pacts in recent weeks is aimed more modestly at "de-risking" ties with the US - a term that until recently was mostly applied to China. As with any insurance policy, this comes at a cost, be it reconfiguring supply chains or making unpalatable compromises with countries whose...

There is a low risk of the deadly Nipah virus spreading from India, the World Health Organisation said on Friday, adding that it did not recommend travel or trade curbs after two infections reported by the South Asian nation. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are among the Asian locations that tightened airport screening checks this week to guard against such a spread after India confirmed infections. "The WHO considers the risk of further spread of infection from these two cases is low," the agency told Reuters in an email on Friday, adding that India had the capacity to contain such outbreaks. "There is no evidence yet of increased human-to-human transmission," it said, adding that it has coordinated with Indian health authorities. But it did not rule out further exposure to the virus, which circulates in the bat population in parts of India and neighbouring Bangladesh. Carried by fruit bats and animals such as pigs, the virus can cause fever a...

European Union foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the bloc's list of terrorist organisations, putting the powerful guards in a category similar to that of the militant groups Islamic State and al Qaeda, and marking a symbolic shift in Europe's approach to Iran's leadership. "Repression cannot go unanswered," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on social media platform X.   Repression cannot go unanswered. EU Foreign Ministers just took the decisive step of designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation. Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise. — Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) January 29, 2026 "EU foreign ministers just took the decisive step of designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation. Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise", Kallas said. Read More: Pakistan alar...

Pakistan-born newspaper vendor Ali Akbar has been homeless, experienced extreme poverty and had been attacked. On Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron made Akbar, believed to be the last newspaper hawker in Paris, a knight in the national order of merit in recognition of his service to France. The French president praised Akbar's "incredible destiny", thanking the septuagenarian for arriving from Pakistan decades ago, selling newspapers for 50 years and carrying France in his heart. "Dear Ali, thank you for bringing political news to our terraces at the top of your lungs, for warming the hearts of the Flore, the Deux Magots, the Lipp brasserie," Macron said in his speech at the Elysee Palace, referring to some of the French capital's iconic cafes. "You are the accent of the 6th arrondissement. The voice of the French press," Macron told Akbar, who was surrounded by his family. Akbar, who is known for inventing sensational headlines, sells his wares...

Texas state police officers on Wednesday used tear gas to disperse a demonstration outside a US immigration detention facility where protesters demanded the release of a 5-year-old Ecuadoran boy, among others swept up in the Trump administration's immigration clampdown. About 100 protesters gathered at the South Texas Family Residential Centre in Dilley on Wednesday, carrying signs accusing the federal agents of terrorising communities. "We want Kristi Noem impeached. We want the US Senate to defund ICE, to not give it any more money. And we need people to pay attention to the midterm elections this year," local elected official Christina Morales told AFP. Texas state law enforcement responded to the protest in riot gear, deploying tear gas cannisters, including one that landed near two AFP journalists, striking and temporarily incapacitating one of them. Read More: Trump threatens to use military over Minnesota anti‑ICE protests Earlier, Democratic congressmembers Joaqui...

Two cases of the deadly Nipah virus in India have prompted authorities in Thailand and Malaysia to step up airport screening to prevent the spread of the infection.  Pakistan also subsequently ordered strict and enhanced health surveillance at all entry points following regional alerts. But what is the Nipah virus, and how worried should people be? What is Nipah virus? Nipah is a rare viral infection ‍that spreads largely from infected animals, mainly fruit bats, to humans. It can be asymptomatic but it is often very dangerous, with a case fatality rate of 40% to 75%, depending on the ‌local healthcare system's capacity for detection and ‍management, the World ‌Health Organisation (WHO) says. However, while it can also spread from person to person, ⁠it does not do this easily, and outbreaks ​are usually small and fairly contained, according to experts and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Candidate vaccines are under development, altho...

The Trump administration’s newly formed “Board of Peace” on Wednesday announced 26 countries designated as founding members of the initiative, including Pakistan. A week after United States President Donald Trump formally introduced the “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the body launched an official account on US social media company X. "The Board of Peace welcomes Pakistan as a founding member of our growing international organisation," said a welcome post on X. The Board of Peace welcomes Pakistan as a founding member of our growing international organization. pic.twitter.com/nyAy69v9g8 — Board of Peace (@BoardOfPeace) January 28, 2026 The list of founding members includes Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Albania, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, El Salvador, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Vietna...

US President Donald Trump urged Iran on Wednesday to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear ‍weapons or the next US attack would be far worse. "Hopefully Iran will quickly 'Come to the Table' ‌and negotiate a fair and ‍equitable ‌deal - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS - one that is ⁠good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!" Trump wrote in a social media post. The Republican US president, who during his first White House term pulled out of world powers' 2015 nuclear ⁠deal with Tehran, noted that his last warning to Iran was followed by a military strike in June. https://ift.tt/zlsXoLt "The next attack will be far ‌worse! Don't make that happen again," ⁠Trump wrote. He also repeated that a US "armada" was heading toward the Islamic Republic. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said he had not been in contact with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in recent days or requested negotiations, state media reported on Wednesda...

Hamas is seeking to incorporate its 10,000 police officers into a new United States-backed Palestinian administration for Gaza, sources said, a demand likely to be opposed by Israel as the group debates whether to surrender its arms. The group retains control of just under half of Gaza following an October ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump. The agreement ties further Israeli troop withdrawals to Hamas giving up its weapons. A 20-point plan to end the conflict, now in its second phase, calls for governance of Gaza to be handed to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a Palestinian technocratic body with US oversight that is meant to exclude Hamas. Read More: School materials allowed into Gaza after two years of Israeli blockages, UN agency says Hamas urges personnel to cooperate In a letter to staff on Sunday seen by Reuters, Gaza’s Hamas-run government urged more than 40,000 civil servants and security personnel to cooperate with the NCAG, whi...

The UN children’s agency said on Tuesday it had, for the first time in two-and-a-half years, been able to deliver school kits with learning materials into Gaza after they were previously blocked by Israeli authorities. Thousands of kits, including pencils, exercise books and wooden cubes to play with, have now entered the enclave, Unicef said. Read: Israeli airstrikes shatter Gaza 'ceasefire' "We have now, in the last days, got in thousands of recreational kits, hundreds of school-in-a-carton kits. We're looking at getting 2,500 more school kits in, in the next week, because they've been approved," Unicef spokesperson James Elder said. COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into the Gaza Strip, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Children in Gaza have faced an unprecedented assault on the education system, as well as restrictions on the entry of some aid materials, including school books and pencils, meaning teachers h...

A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced Dhaka’s fugitive former police chief and two senior colleagues to be hanged for crimes against humanity committed during the rule of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina. All three, including the capital’s former police chief, Habibur Rahman, were tried in absentia, and their whereabouts are not known. The verdict comes ahead of elections on February 12, the first in the South Asian country of 170 million people since Hasina’s overthrow in August 2024. Five other ex-police officers were sentenced to varying terms. The case concerned the killing of six protesters in Dhaka on August 5, 2024, the day Hasina fled to India as protesters stormed her palace. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations. Read More: Bangladesh criticises India over fugitive leader Hasina's speech “The police forces … opened fire with lethal weapo...

Bundled up in a yellow hat and black puffer jacket, Taylor was one of hundreds of protesters marching after the killing of a second United States citizen this month by federal agents carrying out an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. The violence has put new pressure and scrutiny on US President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign, which has drawn demonstrators onto the streets of the Midwestern city. “I think it was completely senseless, it was murder,” said the young woman, who did not want to give her last name. Federal agents shot to death 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, claiming he intended to harm them during a confrontation on Saturday. However, a video shared widely on social media and verified by US media showed Pretti never drawing a weapon, with agents firing at him seconds after he was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant and thrown to the ground. “I think the way that the government is bringing ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in to take a...

The European Union and India will explore possibilities for Indian participation in European defence initiatives, according to a draft security and defence partnership document seen by Reuters. The new partnership comes at a time when Europe is seeking to reduce its dependence on the US and China and deepen its diplomatic and economic ties to other regions. "The EU and India will consult on their respective defence initiatives, including through exchanges on defence industry-related matters," the draft partnership, which is set to be signed on Tuesday, said. "They will explore, where there are mutual interest and alignment of security priorities, possibilities for India's participation in relevant EU defence initiatives, as appropriate, in line with respective legal frameworks," it added. The partnership envisages an annual dialogue between the EU and India on security and defence, as well as deepening cooperation on maritime security, cyber issues, and countert...

Taiwan is monitoring what it calls "abnormal" changes to China's military leadership after its most senior general was put under investigation, and will not lower its guard as the threat level remains high, the defence minister said on Monday. China announced on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, and another senior officer, Liu Zhenli, were under investigation for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. "We will continue to closely monitor abnormal changes among the top levels of China's party, government, and military leadership. The military's position is based on the fact that China has never abandoned the use of force against Taiwan," Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo told reporters at parliament. Read: China holds talks with OIC chief amid rising Middle East tensions Zhang has long been seen as Xi's closest military ally, and is one of the...

British police arrested 86 people on suspicion of aggravated trespass after protesters breached the grounds of a prison in west London during a demonstration in support of a Palestine Action activist, authorities said on Sunday. The Metropolitan Police said the arrests were made Saturday evening outside HMP Wormwood Scrubs, where demonstrators gathered to protest the detention of a prisoner reportedly on hunger strike. Police said the group refused to leave when ordered, blocked prison staff from entering and leaving the facility, and made threats toward officers. Some protesters also gained access to a staff entrance area of one of the prison buildings, according to authorities. A spokesperson for the Justice Ministry described the incident as “deeply concerning," The Independent reported. Read More: Officials deny Pakistani troops will be deployed to Gaza “While we support the right to peacefully protest, reports of trespassing and threats being made to staff and police officers...

European Council president Antonio Costa arrived in India on Sunday, as the EU and New Delhi seek to seal a free trade pact, capping nearly two decades of negotiations between the economic behemoths. Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are chief guests for this year's Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Monday before an EU-India summit Tuesday, where they hope to shake hands on the accord, described as the "mother of all deals". "President Costa is in New Delhi for the 16th EU-India summit taking place on Tuesday," the EU Council said on X. President Costa is in New Delhi for the 16th #EUIndia summit taking place on Tuesday. The summit will be an opportunity to build on the EU-India strategic partnership and further strengthen collaboration across key policy areas. Read the agenda → https://t.co/0wl24sWN9X pic.twitter.com/Nu21CUMWYp — EU Council (@EUCouncil) January 25, 2026 "The summit will be an opportunity to build on the E...

United States President Donald Trump on Saturday praised "brave" British soldiers, calling them warriors, a day after remarks he made about NATO troops in Afghanistan were described as "insulting and appalling" by Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump provoked widespread anger in Britain and across Europe after he said European troops had stayed off the front lines in Afghanistan. Britain lost 457 service personnel in Afghanistan, its deadliest overseas war since the 1950s. For several of the war's most intense years, it led the allied campaign in Helmand, Afghanistan's biggest and most violent province, while also fighting as the main US battlefield ally in Iraq. "The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added, "In Afghanistan, 457 died, many were badly injured, and they were among the greatest of all warriors. It's a bond too stro...

A social affairs minister for Sudan's army-backed government said that women are the main victims of the brutal conflict ongoing since April 2023. Sulaima Ishaq al-Khalifa said Sudanese women are facing "the world's worst" sexual violence, with reports of rape often perpetrated as the family witnessed the crime. Women are the main victims of abuse in Sudan's war, facing "the world's worst" sexual violence and other crimes committed with impunity, a rights activist turned social affairs minister for the army-backed government said. The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict since April 2023 that has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced around 11 million and been marked by widespread sexual violence. Sulaima Ishaq al-Khalifa said abuses against women routinely accompanied looting and attacks, with reports of rape often perpetrated as "the family witnessed" the crime. "...

India and Europe hope to strike the “mother of all deals” when European Union (EU) chiefs meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi next week, as the two economic behemoths seek to forge closer ties. Facing challenges from China and the United States, India and the European Union have been negotiating a massive free trade pact — and talks, first launched about two decades ago, are nearing the finishing line. “We are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this week. Von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa will attend Republic Day celebrations on Monday before an EU-India summit on Tuesday, where they hope to shake hands on the accord. Securing a pact, described by India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal as “the mother of all deals”, would be a major win for Brussels and New Delhi as both seek to open up new markets in the face of US tariffs and Chinese export controls. But officials have been eager to st...

The 2026 National Defence Strategy (NDS) released by the Pentagon document on Friday said that the US military will prioritise protecting the homeland and deterring China while providing "more limited" support to allies in Europe and elsewhere. The 2026 National Defence Strategy (NDS) marks a significant departure from past Pentagon policy, both in its emphasis on allies taking on increased burdens with less backing from Washington and its softer tone on traditional foes China and Russia. "As US forces focus on homeland defence and the Indo-Pacific, our allies and partners elsewhere will take primary responsibility for their own defence with critical but more limited support from American forces," the strategy said. The previous NDS, released under President Donald Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, described China as Washington's most consequential challenge and said that Russia posed an "acute threat." The new document, however, urges "respectfu...

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators will tackle the vital issue of territory during two days of talks in Abu Dhabi starting on Friday, each side said, with no sign of a softening of their positions to end the four-year war. Ukraine is under mounting pressure from the United States to reach a peace deal in the war triggered by Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, with Moscow demanding Kyiv cede its entire eastern industrial area of Donbas before it stops fighting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the territorial dispute would be a top priority of the next round of talks in the United Arab Emirates. Read: Trump sends message to Putin 'war has to end' after good meeting with Zelensky "The question of Donbas is key. It will be discussed how the three sides ... see this in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow," he said, responding to questions in a WhatsApp media chat a day after talks with US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos that ...

US President Donald Trump withdrew on Thursday an invitation for Canada to join his Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts. Trump's about-face follows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he openly decried powerful nations using economic integration as a weapon and tariffs as leverage. "Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post directed at Carney. Neither Carney's office nor the White House immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment on Thursday evening. Last week, Carney's office said he had been invited to serve on the board and planned to accept. Carney received a rare standing ovation in Davos after the speech, in which he urged nations to accept the end of a rules-based...

US President Donald Trump on Thursday launched his Board of Peace, initially aimed at solidifying the fragile Gaza ceasefire, but which he envisions taking on a broader role, raising concerns among other global powers. Trump said the board would coordinate with the United Nations. Trump, who will chair the board, invited dozens of world leaders to join, stating that he wants it to address challenges beyond Gaza, stirring misgivings that it could undermine the UN’s role as the primary platform for global diplomacy and conflict resolution. Regional powers, including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, along with major emerging nations such as Indonesia, have joined the board, while traditional Western allies and top global powers have been more cautious. Representatives from Israel and the Palestinian Authority were notably absent from the signing ceremony. Read: Trump launches ‘Board of Peace’ as allies fear challenge to UN role Trump said permanent members would be required to cont...

United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had secured total and permanent US access to Greenland in a deal with Nato, whose head said allies would have to step up their commitment to Arctic security to ward off threats from Russia and China. News of a framework deal came as Trump backed off tariff threats and ruled out taking Greenland by force, bringing a degree of respite in what was brewing to be the biggest rupture in transatlantic ties in decades. But the details of any agreement were unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island was not up for discussion. Denmark's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump's latest comments. "It's really being negotiated now, the details of it. But essentially it's total access. It's — there's no end, there's no time limit," Trump told Fox Business Network in an interview from Davos, where he is attending the World Economic Forum. After meetin...