World Echo

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held its first straw poll Thursday to assess candidates seeking to replace Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose second term is set to conclude at the end of the year. Speaking to reporters after the closed-door informal vote, Zenon Mukongo Ngay, the Democratic Republic of Congo's UN ambassador and current SC president, said the results would be communicated to the ambassadors of the countries that nominated candidates as well as to the General Assembly president. Ngay declined to disclose the results publicly, saying this is done to keep the process confidential and avoid speculation. "The thinking behind [it] is to keep everything close, and we want transparency at the same time, [and] efficiency, but we don't want speculations on that," he said. Read: UNGA moves stalled UNSC reform talks to its 81st session Asked whether withholding the results is compatible with transparency, Ngay said the procedure was ...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said early on Friday that Israeli forces had blown up a tunnel system used by the Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon. In a joint statement, they said the tunnels in the Beaufort area formed a key part of Hezbollah’s plan to infiltrate communities in the Galilee. They noted that around 700 tons of explosives were used in the operation, describing it as part of an ongoing campaign to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon. The statement said the operation came after Hezbollah’s “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon. Earlier, Lebanese media reported a series of explosions as Israeli forces detonated explosives in the town of Hadatha, the outskirts of Deir Mimas near Beaufort Castle and the area between Arnoun and Yahmar. The developments came despite the signing of the US-sponsored "framework formula" agreement between Lebanon a...

A French teenager was fined in Singapore on Thursday after pleading guilty to a public nuisance charge for a straw-licking stunt that landed him in hot water in the city state. Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien, 19, was handed a Sg$600 ($465) fine after admitting to posting to social media a video of himself putting a straw he had licked back into the dispenser on an orange juice vending machine. The clip went viral on Instagram shortly after the incident on March 12, triggering a backlash that led to his arrest in Singapore, which is known for its strict enforcement of public order and hygiene rules. Handing down the sentence, Judge Kelly Ho said given Maximilien's "age and nature of the offence", alternatives like probation or a community-based sentence would not be imposed. Prosecutors agreed to the defence's proposal for a fine, saying the offence was at the "lower end" of its seriousness and while hygiene was compromised, no member of the public u...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday admitted there was a decrease in popularity of Israel and his administration among the American public, blaming the change on social media. Public opinion toward Israel in the US has grown increasingly negative, according to several recent polls, reflecting mounting concern over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. One July survey by the Pew Research Centre found that Americans have become more critical of both the Israeli people and government in recent years. The poll said that in 2026, 42% of Americans viewed the Israeli people unfavourably, up from 28% in 2019. Favourable views of the Israeli government fell to 32% from 41% over the same period. Also Read: IRGC vows to carry out attacks on ‘aggressor’ after US struck Iran overnight In an interview with ABC News released on Wednesday, Netanyahu said “there's been a change because of the proliferation of social media, and the fact that sov...

Beijing's embassy in New Zealand said it had raised an official complaint Thursday after top diplomat Winston Peters told a lawmaker of Chinese descent to "go back to your own country". Populist NZ First leader Peters was asked by China-born Green Party member Lawrence Xu-Nan: "Are you vaccinated?" during a heated debate about New Zealand's response to the Covid pandemic on Wednesday. In response, Peters said the lawmaker, who was born in the Chinese city of Tianjin but grew up in New Zealand, had "come here five minutes ago". "Go back to your own country. That's where they lie like a flatfish, but they don't lie like that here," Peters said. "This is called a democracy, unlike what you're used to. Go back to where you've come from, you loudmouth." The comments sparked a rare intervention from the Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, Wang Xiaolong. Wang said on X on Thursday that while he preferred to st...

As the US and Israel went to war on Iran this year, a transformative moment seemed to have arrived for Reza Pahlavi, son of the autocratic shah who was overthrown in 1979. Despite not having set foot in Iran in almost half a century, Pahlavi had been actively campaigning in the US and Europe, giving speeches about a bright new future for his homeland, raising money and meeting elected officials. “The Iranian people have called on me to lead the transition after the regime is gone,” he declared on X shortly after the war began in late February. “I have accepted that responsibility.” In Texas this March, Pahlavi received one of the most enthusiastic receptions at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). As he took the stage, staunch supporters of President Donald Trump and a large contingent of Iranian Americans, many draped in the pre-revolution Iranian flag that flew during his father’s rule, lavished him with a 45‑second standing ovatio...

US President Donald Trump said late on Tuesday his meetings with Ukrainian ​President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were positive. Netanyahu and Zelenskiy were in Washington to attend a memorial service for Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican who died earlier this ​month and was an influential advocate for Israel and Ukraine. In separate ​short posts on Truth Social, Trump said he discussed ⁠various topics with them, without giving specifics. "Had a very good ​meeting! Obviously, many important subjects were discussed," Trump wrote on meeting ​Netanyahu. Trump voiced irritation with Netanyahu ahead of the meeting, complaining that details of Netanyahu's planned talking points on Iran had surfaced publicly. Read: Trump to host Netanyahu, Zelenskiy as Ukraine, Iran wars reach critical stages The US and ​Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Tehran respond...

An Iranian military official on Wednesday denied Tehran's involvement in projectiles launched from Iraq toward Saudi Arabia, rejecting accusations that Iran was behind recent attacks on the kingdom. Responding to a statement by the Saudi defence minister, the official told Iran's state broadcaster IRIB that attributing attacks against United States interests in the region to Tehran was "a grave mistake stemming from ignorance of the situation in the region." The official also "strongly denied any connection between projectiles fired from other countries toward targets in Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran." The remarks came after Saudi Arabia's Defence Ministry said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed several drones that attempted to target petroleum facilities in the kingdom's Eastern Province. صرح المتحدث الرسمي باسم وزارة الدفاع اللواء الركن تركي المالكي أنه إلحاقاً للبيانين الصادرين من وزارة الدفاع يومي الاثنين (١٣ صف...

Israel spent tens of millions of dollars on a digital influence campaign designed to shape how artificial intelligence systems respond to questions about the Gaza war, according to a report published Tuesday by Drop Site News. The report alleges that Brad Parscale, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, and his firm, Clock Tower X, built a network of websites under a $46.5 million contract with the Israeli government to promote Israeli narratives and influence AI platforms including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. According to documents cited by Drop Site, Clock Tower X produced hundreds of articles across multiple websites covering the war in Gaza, Israel's military operations and US-Israel relations. The report said the campaign aimed to influence responses generated by large language models (LLMs) by creating content designed to be indexed by search engines and incorporated into AI systems, a practice sometimes referred to as "LLM poisoning....

A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Japan's southern Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, knocking out power to thousands of homes, rupturing roads and leaving some trapped and others presumed dead inside a partially collapsed shopping mall. Speaking to reporters at her office in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said authorities were still assessing the full extent of the damage in the area, which was devastated by a deadly quake a decade ago. "We have already been informed that people have been injured. Power outages and fires have occurred in some areas, and there has also been damage to roads and bridges and the collapse of buildings," Takaichi said. "I ask everyone to take action to protect themselves, including evacuating to a safe location." Around 300,000 people have been instructed to go to evacuation centres, the disaster management agency said, while Takaichi said 3,600 soldiers would be deployed to help with the disaster recovery a...

India's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the release of under-18s arrested during the youth protests over exam leaks and said authorities must ensure surveillance footage is preserved after petitioners alleged police brutality against demonstrators. Indian media reports said Chief Justice Surya Kant also directed authorities to preserve the digital and personal data of people who participated in the demonstrations and barred any coercive action against them. The reports said Kant took interim steps in response to petitions filed by student protesters and activists seeking action against police and paramilitary forces for what they said was the use of excess force and pellet guns during the weeks-long demonstrations in the national capital and other cities. He called for the preservation of all footage, including from drones, body cameras, and CCTV footage, and directed authorities to ensure protesters' data was not made public. Government mulls tougher punishment for p...

The next round of United States-led talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Rome next week, with negotiators seeking to build on recent progress toward implementing a security framework agreement, US media reported Monday. "We are entering these discussions with significant momentum following the successful launch of the first pilot zone in southern Lebanon and President Joseph Aoun's productive meeting with President Donald Trump last week," local media cited a US State Department official as saying. According to the official, technical working groups meeting in Rome on August 4 to 6 will focus on advancing full implementation of last month’s framework agreement. Read: Lebanese president sets 3 conditions for Hezbollah disarmament, including Israeli withdrawal The agenda will include expanding the pilot zone initiative, resolving outstanding border disputes, and working toward a comprehensive peace and security agreement between Israel and Leb...

South Korea plans to introduce a special bill that would legally reaffirm its commitment not to develop or possess nuclear weapons while advancing its program to build nuclear-powered submarines, according to a Yonhap News Agency report on Tuesday citing government sources. The proposed legislation, expected to be announced for public consultation by the Defence Ministry, outlines five basic principles for the country's nuclear-powered submarine project. If passed, it would mark the first time South Korea's pledge not to develop or possess nuclear weapons is explicitly codified in domestic law. Read: South Korea, Japan reaffirm denuclearisation goal, closer defence ties Under the bill, the government would be prohibited from developing, manufacturing, possessing, or using nuclear weapons, as well as engaging in activities involving nuclear materials intended exclusively for nuclear weapons purposes or actions that could undermine the global nuclear non-proliferatio...

A majority of Americans believe the ongoing war with Iran has proven more difficult than initially anticipated by the United States administration, according to a new survey. The poll, conducted by CBS News in collaboration with YouGov between July 22 and 24, found that 76% of respondents said the conflict had been “more challenging” than expected. In contrast, 20% felt the war had unfolded as anticipated, while only 4% believed it had been easier than expected. Read More: Trump warns of 'strong military action' if Iran talks fail Public sentiment surrounding the conflict appeared largely unsettled. The survey showed that 58% of respondents felt uncertain about the situation, while 57% reported feelings of frustration. Moreover, 36% expressed pessimism, compared to just 19% who said they felt optimistic. The findings also suggested limited confidence in the US position, with only 22% of respondents believing Iran currently held the a...

India’s youth-led “cockroach” movement, whose protests have forced the education minister’s resignation, urged authorities on Monday to release all demonstrators detained in weeks of rallies nationwide. The online Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which organised protests over exam paper leaks and other irregularities, said they had received reports of students held in detention, particularly in the states of Assam, West Bengal and Bihar. “Any failure to release those detained or withdraw criminal cases would amount to a breach of public trust,” the protest group said in a statement, adding they would take “further necessary steps” if their demand was not met. 🚨STATEMENT We are deeply concerned by multiple reports reaching us of students and other protestors being targeted, detained, or arrested by various state agencies, particularly in Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar. The Cockroach Janta Party had called off its nationwide protest...

Ukraine wants a prototype for a European anti-ballistic system codenamed Freyja to be ready within the first half of next year, a senior official said, as Kyiv pushes its allies to help deliver a weapon capable of downing Russian missiles. Davyd Aloian, deputy secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, who oversees the Freyja project, said that an international steering committee tasked with estimating the research and development costs was due to convene for the first time soon. Leaders from 10 European countries, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as well as around a dozen defence manufacturers gathered at a summit in Paris two weeks ago to officially launch the anti-ballistic coalition. "Since we're working within such a tight timeframe, we have an ambitious goal: to have an MVP (minimum viable product) ready by the first half of next year," Alo...

Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham "will always put Britain's interests first", he ‌told the BBC in an interview when asked whether he was willing to call out US President Donald Trump. Burnham's predecessor Keir Starmer, who announced he was stepping down last month, had a fraught relationship with Trump due to differences over the US-Israeli war on Iran, immigration, ​energy and tech regulation. While Trump initially described Starmer's successor as "extremely liberal", he said this week he ​had a "very good conversation" with Burnham, who became Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade ⁠on Monday. READ: Britain's new prime minister, Andy Burnham, vows to end years of instability In his first major interview since taking office, parts of which were released on Sunday, BBC ​journalist Laura Kuenssberg asked Burnham if he was willing to call out Trump if he thought it was the ​right thing to do. "All le...

An Israeli airstrike killed Gaza's internal security chief in central Gaza on Sunday, while nine more Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the territory over the past 24 hours. According to the territory’s interior ministry, the Israeli army killed the head of the Internal Security Directorate in central Gaza and another officer in an airstrike targeting their vehicle in Deir al-Balah, . In a statement, the ministry said Col Wael Mousa al-Ladawi, 44, and Maj Ramez Tawfiq Abu Zureiq, 49, were killed in the strike. The ministry said the two police officers were travelling in a vehicle in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza when it was hit by an Israeli aircraft. The attack came despite a ceasefire agreement in effect in Gaza since Oct 10, 2025. وزارة الداخلية في #غزة تعلن اغتيال مدير جهاز الأمن الداخلي في المحافظة الوسطى ومرافقه، إثر غارة إسرائيلية استهدفت مركبتهما، وتُظهر مشاهد متداولة قصف الاحتلال المركبة للمرة الثانية، خلال محاولة مواطنين تفقدها وانتشال الشهد...

Mediators Pakistan and Qatar have intensified the exchange of messages between the US and Iran after the two warring sides communicated their responses to a joint formula to end their months-long war, Pakistani government sources told Anadolu on Sunday. The development came after US President Donald Trump ordered a "pause" in the latest bombing campaign on Iran after two weeks of consecutive nights of strikes, the sources added. Earlier this week, Islamabad and Doha proposed a joint de-escalation formula, urging the US and Iran to return to their pre-July 9 positions "as a first step" to resume stalled talks to permanently end the conflict, according to an official familiar with the matter. Although the sources did not elaborate on details of the responses, they said both sides have communicated their consent for dialogue and diplomacy to end the latest hostilities and return to negotiations. The sources said the pause in strikes from both sides has raised ...

An impending "super" El Niño is likely to inflict a combined $10 billion to $20 billion hit on affected African countries and trigger mass migration from hard-hit areas, the African Development Bank's top climate expert told Reuters. Forecasters are warning that the El Niño weather pattern — which often drives severe droughts, flooding and storms in Africa — could turn into one of the strongest ever seen if current Pacific Ocean warming trends continue. As well as the threat to food and water security, government finances and banking sectors could also be undermined if disasters damage infrastructure and leave cash-strapped countries struggling to repay the connected loans. "Just this event is going to reduce heavily affected countries' GDP by 1% to 2% on average, which is about $10 billion to $20 billion across the contin...

The prospect of retaking one of India's most competitive exams was so daunting for 19-year-old Sheikh Sana that a day before the test, the pressure became unbearable. Instead of preparing again for the exam, she wrote "I am sorry" on a plain sheet of paper and took her own life, her family said. Her death, along with the suicides of other aspiring students ​who sat medical college entrance exams only to face retakes after it emerged that test papers had been leaked, has become a focus for thousands of young protesters demanding accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. On Saturday, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned over ‌the protests. About two months of protests have evolved from demands for action over the leaks into a broader expression of frustration over education, opportunity and accountability in a country where 65% of the population is under the age of 35. More than two million students sat the pen-and-paper...