Author: EchoAsiaNews

Volunteers, doctors and former patients have begun restoring Al‑Tijani Al‑Mahi Hospital for Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases, one of Sudan’s oldest mental health facilities, more than two years after it was severely damaged and looted during the country’s civil war. The initiative comes as Sudan’s already fragile healthcare system continues to collapse under persistent conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has driven millions into displacement and left many medical facilities in ruins.  The hospital, founded in 1971 and long regarded as a regional centre for psychiatric care, was stripped of equipment, furniture and infrastructure…

Bangladesh has announced the early closure of all public and private universities as part of emergency measures to conserve electricity and fuel amid a deepening energy crisis, authorities said. The government said that universities will begin the Eid al‑Fitr holidays early, starting Monday, in an effort to reduce strain on the country’s fragile power system, which is facing mounting uncertainty due to disruptions in global energy markets linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Officials said university campuses consume large amounts of electricity for residential halls, classrooms, laboratories and air conditioning, and that shutting them early is expected to…

New York City police have confirmed that a device thrown during protests outside Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, on Saturday was an improvised explosive device (IED) capable of causing serious injury or death. The NYPD Bomb Squad’s preliminary analysis found the device — described as a jar wrapped in black tape and packed with nuts, bolts, and screws with a fuse — was not a hoax or simple smoke device. A second similar device recovered at the scene is still being examined. The explosions did not detonate; the first device extinguished itself, and there were no reported injuries…

At least 42 people have been killed and widespread damage reported after days of heavy rainfall triggered severe flooding across Kenya, authorities said on Monday. The national death toll, nearly double earlier estimates, reflects the toll of flash floods that inundated low‑lying neighbourhoods, swept away vehicles and disrupted daily life in Nairobi and other regions. Intense rains that began on Friday overwhelmed drainage systems in the capital and other counties, leading to widespread inundation of homes and roads and forcing emergency responders to carry out search and rescue missions. In Nairobi alone, 26 deaths were recorded, many from drowning after…

Azerbaijan has reopened its border crossings with Iran to cargo traffic after temporarily suspending them following a cross-border drone incident earlier this week, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Monday. The border points, which form one of the shortest land routes connecting Iran to its ally Russia, were closed after what Azerbaijani officials described as an Iranian drone strike in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The temporary closure had halted the movement of cargo vehicles, affecting bilateral trade and regional transit. The crossings were restored early on March 9, according to Azerbaijani government sources, signaling a partial return to economic…

India’s government on Monday defended its decision to allow an Iranian naval vessel to dock at a southern Indian port, saying the move was the “right thing to do” on humanitarian grounds amid escalating conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran. External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told reporters that Iran had sought permission for three of its ships to enter Indian ports, and New Delhi granted the request on March 1 after one of the vessels reported technical difficulties while operating in the Indian Ocean. “The government believed that it was the right thing to do,” Jaishankar said, indicating…

Lawyers representing Naveed Akram, the man accused of carrying out a deadly shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, asked an Australian court on Monday to impose a gag order preventing media outlets from publishing identifying details of his family, citing concerns over their safety. Akram’s legal team requested that the court prohibit the publication of the names, home address, workplaces and schools of his mother, brother and sister. The defence argued that intense global media coverage of the case had placed the family at risk of harassment and potential threats. Magistrate Greg Grogan extended an interim suppression order during a…

Global commodity markets were rocked on Monday as oil prices surged by about 25% while gold declined, following escalating war involving Iran, the United States and Israel that raised fears of major supply disruptions in the Middle East. Benchmark Brent crude climbed to around $119.50 per barrel, marking its highest level since mid-2022 and one of the largest single-day price jumps in years. The surge was driven by mounting concerns that the conflict could disrupt oil shipments from the Gulf region and threaten supply routes through the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for global energy trade. Traders…

Pakistan’s stock market suffered a dramatic sell-off on Monday as escalating war in the Middle East triggered panic among investors, sending the benchmark KSE-100 Index plunging more than 9,000 points during trading. The sharp decline at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) came amid growing fears that the widening conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States could disrupt global energy supplies and destabilize regional economies. Market analysts said uncertainty over oil prices and geopolitical risks prompted both institutional and retail investors to rapidly offload shares. Trading opened under heavy pressure as selling intensified across multiple sectors, including banking, cement, energy,…

Iran has appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the country’s new supreme leader following the death of his father, Ali Khamenei, in recent United States–Israeli strikes, state media announced Monday, as the conflict between Iran and Israel intensified across the region. The decision was made by the powerful Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical body responsible for selecting the leader of the Islamic Republic. The council declared that Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, had been chosen as the third supreme leader of Iran since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. In a statement broadcast on Iranian state television, the Assembly said the decision had been…