World Echo

US CIA Director John Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence officials ​during his visit to Moscow on Tuesday but did ‌not meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had been briefed on ​the outcome of Ratcliffe's talks, which come ​as the war in Ukraine is escalating and ⁠as efforts to reach a lasting peace deal between ​the US and Iran have stalled. Peskov declined to disclose ​what had been discussed or to provide any further details, however. Read: Kremlin says British missile help for Ukraine 'adds fuel to the fire' "All I can tell you is that there have been contacts ​via the security services. I can tell you that ​there have been no meetings with the Russian president. Naturally, President ‌Putin ⁠is kept informed of everything without delay," said Peskov. Asked if visits by such senior US officials could help improve the dire state of US-Russia relations,...

US employers seeking to hire skilled foreign workers can use the federal government's H-1B visa program for a fee, allowing tech and other professionals from abroad to work in the United States for a few years. US President Donald Trump, who has pursued a ​broad immigration crackdown since taking office last year, has lambasted the program and wants to permanently raise the fee ‌from between $2,000 and $5,000 to more than $100,000 Despite criticism that some companies use the visas to hire lower-paid foreign workers instead of Americans, business groups and companies say they help recruit highly skilled professionals and address a lack of qualified US workers in some industries. The visas, established by Congress in 1990, are especially critical for ​tech companies seeking to recruit from India and China. Consultancy companies such as Deloitte, PwC and Ernst & Young, as well as outsourcing ​giants such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Tech and LTIMindtree,...

Saudi Arabia and France reaffirmed support for Palestinian statehood and called for Israel to withdraw from all Lebanese territory, according to a joint statement issued Monday at the end of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to France. The statement followed talks between bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, where they also chaired the first meeting of the Saudi-French Strategic Partnership Council. The two leaders stressed a shared approach to regional stability based on state sovereignty, international law and political and diplomatic solutions to conflicts. On Palestine, Riyadh and Paris firmly rejected attempts to undermine the Palestinian people’s right to establish an independent state on the 1967 borders and called for an end to Israel’s settlement policy and violence by Israeli occupiers, saying they threaten the two-state solution. They also stressed the need to create conditions for a sustainable ceasefire in G...

After decades of urging the United States to attack Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally got his wish. But after six months of inconclusive hostilities, Israel may ultimately find itself in a worse position than it was before the war. The Islamic republic, which Netanyahu has long cast as an existential threat, has not only survived but appears emboldened. Underlying Netanyahu's dilemma have been the wild swings in the approach of US President Donald Trump, who joined Israel in launching the conflict in late February, but by April abruptly called a ceasefire and sought a negotiated settlement in the face of souring public opinion and soaring oil prices. "It's a colossal failure of Israeli strategy regarding Iran," said Danny Citrinowicz, a former top Israeli intelligence analyst on Iran who is now at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies. "Yes, we had operational achievements, but strategically we've failed....

Attacks by Israeli occupiers across the West Bank surged 63% from January through July compared with the same period last year, a Palestinian government agency said Monday. The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said it recorded 4,113 attacks during the seven-month period, up from 2,524 a year earlier, an increase of 1,589 incidents. The commission said the surge coincided with the expansion of illegal settlement outposts, particularly pastoral ones, as well as the arming of Israeli occupiers and the incorporation of some into security formations. It also cited Israeli military protection and declining accountability as factors behind the rise. The agency said weak international deterrence and accountability had helped turn attacks by Israeli occupiers from isolated incidents into an organised tool to impose new realities on the ground and push Palestinian communities toward displacement. Read: Gazans say Trump's plan jars with grim reality On Saturday, the com...

India's top security official arrived in Beijing on Monday for talks on the countries' disputed Himalayan border, ahead of a BRICS summit next month that New Delhi hopes President Xi Jinping will attend. India's foreign ministry said that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for talks on Tuesday. "Doval, India's Special Representative (SR) on the India-China Boundary Question, arrived in Beijing on a two-day visit earlier this afternoon," the ministry said. Doval will also meet China's Vice President Han Zheng, it added. The two sides have met repeatedly for talks about their border since a deadly 2020 clash. "At this meeting, the two sides will, in accordance with the spirit of the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, continue to engage in in-depth communication on the boundary question and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas," Chinese foreign ministr...

The Kremlin said on Monday that Britain's decision to hand Ukraine classified information on British-made components used to make SCALP long-range cruise missiles would "add fuel to the fire" and was regarded by Moscow extremely negatively. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrived in Kyiv on Monday on his first overseas trip since taking office and was due to announce British support to help Kyiv improve its domestic production of long-range missiles. Asked about the visit and the support, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Britain of doing everything it could to prevent any progress towards an eventual peace deal. "Britain is involved in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime. Britain methodically and regularly adds fuel to the fire and methodically and regularly hatches schemes to prevent even the slightest progress in the peaceful settlement process," Peskov told reporters. Peskov said that the Russian military was already systematically gat...