Author: EchoAsiaNews

Oil prices drifted on Friday but were poised for a second consecutive weekly decline, pressured by fading geopolitical risk and forecasts of a global oil supply surplus in 2026. Brent crude futures traded around $67.5 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) held about $62.8, each rebounding slightly after sharp losses the day before. Both benchmarks were tracking lower on the week, with Brent down roughly 0.8% and WTI around 1.1%. Market sentiment shifted as U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that Washington and Tehran could reach a diplomatic understanding within weeks, reducing the near‑term likelihood of a U.S.–Iran conflict…

Donald Trump will not attend the 39th annual African Union summit, which begins Friday, but his policies continue to shape discussions among the continent’s 55 member states, according to Al Jazeera. Trump’s historic cuts to foreign aid, overhaul of trade policy, and sweeping changes to immigration have had a significant impact on Africa, even as the continent receives only minimal mention in his broader global agenda, Al Jazeera reports. The administration has increasingly pursued bilateral agreements with African countries, prioritizing security and resource-focused deals over multilateral engagement. “US policy toward Africa has introduced a degree of uncertainty that will shape…

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to extend the maturity of a $2 billion deposit placed with Pakistan for another two months, according to a report published on Friday. The decision comes as Islamabad prepares for key discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The assurance followed recent contact between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and senior UAE officials. A senior official confirmed that the extension will run until April 17, 2026. The rollover has been granted at an interest rate of 6.5 percent, though formal confirmation from the relevant authorities is still awaited and expected shortly.…

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secured a commanding two-thirds majority in Bangladesh’s general election on Friday, a result widely viewed as a turning point after months of political turbulence triggered by the removal of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising. According to domestic television projections, the BNP and its allies captured at least 212 of the 299 contested seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, or House of the Nation. The opposition Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and its partners secured 70 seats, establishing themselves as the principal opposition bloc. The BNP’s return to power after two decades marks one of the…

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to unveil a multi-billion-dollar Gaza reconstruction funding plan and detail commitments for a multinational stabilization force when he hosts the inaugural meeting of the newly formed Board of Peace on Feb. 19 in Washington, D.C., senior U.S. officials said. The Board of Peace, a U.S.-led initiative endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution, is designed to coordinate international support for Gaza’s reconstruction and the fragile ceasefire that took effect in October 2025 following years of conflict. At next week’s session, Trump will announce the establishment of a new reconstruction fund intended to mobilize…

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi faced intense questioning from lawmakers on Wednesday as she was accused of concealing the identities of powerful individuals connected to documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. During a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Republican Representative Thomas Massie accused Bondi and the Justice Department of redacting names of wealthy and influential people from FBI files released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, despite the law’s requirement to make such documents public. Massie specifically cited the redaction of billionaire Leslie Wexner’s name in some documents, although Bondi said that name was quickly…

Britain’s Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has issued a public interest intervention notice regarding the proposed acquisition of Telegraph Media Group by Daily Mail owner Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), the government announced on Thursday. Nandy’s decision requires regulators to examine the deal for potential impacts on media plurality and competition before it can proceed. The intervention notice formalises scrutiny of the £500 million ($682 million) transaction, which would bring the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph titles into the same corporate group as the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Metro and i Paper. Under the process, the media regulator Ofcom…

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri rejected claims that social media can cause clinical addiction as he testified Wednesday in a high-profile California trial over whether platforms like Instagram and YouTube are intentionally addictive to children. The civil lawsuit centers on a 20-year-old woman, identified as Kaley G.M., who alleges severe mental harm from early exposure to social media. According to the plaintiff, she began using YouTube at age six, joined Instagram at 11, and later moved on to Snapchat and TikTok. The case raises questions about whether tech giants deliberately engineered their platforms to hook young users for profit. Mosseri, appearing…

Politicians around the world are experiencing a sharp increase in violence, threats and harassment, a major survey published this week by the global Inter‑Parliamentary Union (IPU) warns, in a trend that analysts say could have serious consequences for democratic governance. The report, based on responses from lawmakers in more than 80 countries and detailed questionnaires from 519 elected officials in Argentina, Benin, Italy, Malaysia and the Netherlands, found that 71 % of respondents reported experiencing violence from the public, particularly in digital spaces where attacks are often anonymous and amplified by social media and new technologies. IPU Secretary‑General Martin Chungong, speaking…

Uber Eats has rolled out a new AI‑powered feature called “Cart Assistant” aimed at dramatically simplifying grocery shopping within its app. The tool, currently in beta for U.S. users, allows customers to generate a filled‑out grocery cart from something as simple as a text shopping list or a photograph of a handwritten list or recipe ingredients. By tapping the purple Cart Assistant icon on a grocery store’s page in the Uber Eats app, users can upload their list and have the AI automatically populate their cart with available items, showing real‑time prices, store availability and applicable promotions. Users still retain…