United News of Bangladesh

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel and Hamas are “very shortly expected to move into the second phase of the ceasefire,” after Hamas returns the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza. Netanyahu spoke during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and stressed that the second phase, which addresses the disarming of Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, could begin as soon as the end of the month. Hamas has yet to hand over the remains of Ran Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer who was killed in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. His body was taken to Gaza. The ceasefire's second stage also includes the deployment of an international force to secure Gaza and forming a temporary Palestinian government to run day-to-day affairs under the supervision of an international board led by U.S. President Donald Trump. A senior Hamas official on Sunday told The Associated Press the group is ready to discuss “freezing or storing or laying down” its weapons as part of the ceasefire in a possible approach to one of the most difficult issues ahead. Netanyahu says second phase will be challenging Netanyahu said few people believed the ceasefire’s first stage could be achieved, and the second phase is just as challenging. “As I mentioned to the chancellor, there’s a third phase, and that is to deradicalize Gaza, something that also people believed was impossible. But it was done in Germany, it was done in Japan, it was done in the Gulf States. It can be done in Gaza, too, but of course Hamas has to be dismantled,” he said. The return of Gvili’s remains — and Israel's return of 15 bodies of Palestinians in exchange — would complete the first phase of Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan. Hamas says it has not been able to reach all remains because they are buried under rubble left by Israel’s two-year offensive in Gaza. Israel has accused the militants of stalling and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned. A group of families of hostages said in a statement that “we cannot advance to the next phase before Ran Gvili returns home.” Meanwhile, Israeli military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Sunday called the so-called Yellow Line that divides the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza from the rest of the territory a “new border.” “We have operational control over extensive parts of the Gaza Strip and we will remain on those defense lines," Zamir said. "The Yellow Line is a new border line, serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity." Germany says support for Israel is unchanged Merz said Germany, one of Israel’s closest allies, is assisting with the implementation of the second phase by sending officers and diplomats to a U.S.-led civilian and military coordination center in southern Israel, and by sending humanitarian aid to Gaza. The chancellor also said Germany still believes that a two-state-solution is the best possible option but that “the German federal government remains of the opinion that recognition of a Palestinian state can only come at the end of such a process, not at the beginning.” The U.S.-drafted plan for Gaza leaves the door open to Palestinian independence. Netanyahu has long asserted that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger Hamas-run state on Israel’s borders. Netanyahu also said that while he would like to visit Germany, he hasn’t planned a diplomatic trip because he is concerned about an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, the U.N.'s top war crimes court, last year in connection with the war in Gaza. Merz said there are currently no plans for a visit but he may invite Netanyahu in the future. He added that he is not aware of future sanctions against Israel from the European Union nor any plans to renew German bans on military exports to Israel. Germany had a temporary ban on exporting military equipment to Israel, which was lifted after the ceasefire began on Oct. 10. Israel kills militant in Gaza The Israeli military said it killed a militant who approached its troops across the Yellow Line. Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 370 Palestinians since the start of the ceasefire, and that the bodies of six people killed in attacks had been brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours. In the original Hamas-led attack in 2023, the militants killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 others hostage. Almost all the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed at least 70,360 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says that nearly half the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas government and its numbers are considered reliable by the U.N. and other international bodies.

At least 18 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in an inflatable boat died when it capsized south of the island of Crete, Greek authorities said Saturday. The half-sunken boat was located Saturday by a passing Turkish merchant vessel, authorities said. Two survivors were rescued and a rescue operation to find more was ongoing. Greece is a major entry point into the European Union for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and f atal accidents are a common occurrence. The short but perilous journey from Turkey’s coast to nearby Greek islands in inflatable dinghies or small boats, often in poor conditions, used to be the major route until increased patrols and alleged pushbacks reduced crossing attempts. In recent months, arrivals from Libya to Crete have surged. Authorities have not yet determined where the boat came from. A ship and a plane from European border agency Frontex, a Greek Coast Guard helicopter and three merchant vessels are taking part in the search operation.  

Nobel week was underway in Stockholm and Oslo with laureates holding news conferences and lectures before they will be awarded the prestigious prizes. Hungarian László Krasznahorkai, who won the Prize in literature for his surreal and anarchic novels that combine a bleak world view with mordant humor, was expected to give a lecture in Stockholm on Sunday in one of his rare public appearances. When the Nobel judges announced the award in October, they described the 71-year-old as “a great epic writer” whose work “is characterized by absurdism and grotesque excess.” “Krasznahorkai’s work can be seen as part of a Central European tradition," the Nobel Prize organization said. ”Important features are pessimism and apocalypse, but also humor and unpredictability." Last year’s winner was South Korean author Han Kang. The 2023 winner was Norwegian writer Jon Fosse, whose work includes a seven-book epic made up of a single sentence. Meanwhile, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Kristian Harpviken, said Saturday that Venezuelan Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader María Corina Machado will come to Oslo this week to receive her award in person. The 58-year-old, who won for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, has been hiding and has not been seen in public since January. Harpviken told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that Machado was expected to personally pick up the prize on Wednesday. “I spoke with the Peace Prize winner last night, and she will come to Oslo,” Harpviken said, according to NRK. Nobel Prize award ceremonies are held on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. The award ceremony for peace is in Oslo and the other ceremonies are in Stockholm.

A fire ripped through a popular nightclub in India’s Goa state, killing 25 people, including tourists, the state’s chief minister said Sunday. The blaze occurred just past midnight in Arpora village in North Goa, a party hub, some 25 kilometers (15-miles) from the state capital, Panaji. Goa’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said most of the dead were the club’s kitchen workers, as well as three to four tourists. Six people were injured and are in stable condition, he said. All the bodies have been recovered. The fire was caused by a gas cylinder blast and has been extinguished, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting local police. However, witnesses told the agency that the fire began on the club’s first floor, where nearly 100 tourists were on the dance floor. Several rushed to the kitchen below in the chaos and got trapped along with staff, it said. Fatima Shaikh said the commotion began as flames erupted, according to the news agency. “We rushed out of the club only to see that the entire structure was up in flames,” she said. The nightclub, located along the Arpora River backwaters, had a narrow entry and exit that forced the firefighters to park their tankers about 400 meters (1,300 feet) away, delaying the efforts, the news agency said. Sawant said the club had violated fire safety regulations. The state government ordered an inquiry to determine the exact cause of the fire and responsibility, he said, adding that authorities would act against the club management and officials who allowed it to operate despite the violations. Local village council official Roshan Redkar told the news agency that authorities had earlier issued a demolition notice for the club, which didn't have construction permit from the government. But higher officials rolled back the order, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a social media post called the fire "deeply saddening# and said he spoke with Sawant. Modi said the government “is providing all possible assistance” while offering condolences to the victims’ families. Accidents, particularly involving gas cylinders and electric short circuits, aren’t uncommon in India and often result in casualties, underlining the need for authorities to implement stringent safety protocols. “This is not just an accident; it is a criminal failure of safety and governance,” Rahul Gandhi, a top leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, wrote in a social media post. He called for a transparent probe to "fix accountability and ensure such preventable tragedies don’t occur again.” The western coastal state of Goa is one of India’s most popular tourist destinations, known for its sandy beaches.

Japan lodged a strong protest with China after a Chinese military aircraft locked its radar on Japanese fighter jets near Okinawa, escalating tensions between the two countries amid already strained relations over remarks by Japan’s prime minister on Taiwan. Japan’s Defense Ministry said a Chinese J-15 fighter, operating from the aircraft carrier Liaoning, “intermittently” locked its radar onto Japanese F-15 jets twice on Saturday — once for about three minutes in the late afternoon and again for roughly 30 minutes in the evening. The radar targeting was detected by separate Japanese fighters that scrambled in response to a possible airspace intrusion, though no violation of Japanese territory occurred and no damage or injuries were reported. Officials said it was unclear whether the same J-15 was involved in both incidents. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi called the radar lock “a dangerous act beyond what is required for safe aircraft operations,” adding that Japan has filed a strong protest and demanded strict measures to prevent a recurrence. The incident occurred as the Liaoning passed between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island while conducting takeoff and landing drills in the Pacific. Japanese jets monitored the Chinese aircraft at a safe distance and avoided provocative maneuvers, according to officials quoted by Kyodo News. Radar locks are considered serious because the systems can be used to guide missiles. This is believed to be the first case of such targeting between Japanese and Chinese aircraft, though a Chinese warship locked its radar on a Japanese destroyer in 2013. The confrontation comes weeks after Beijing reacted sharply to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments suggesting Japan’s military could intervene if China moved against Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.

A mass shooting carried out Saturday by multiple suspects in an unlicensed bar near the South African capital left at least 11 people dead, police said. The victims included three children aged 3, 12 and 16. Another 14 people were wounded and taken to the hospital, according to a statement from the South African Police Services. Police didn’t give details on the ages of those who were injured or their conditions. The shooting happened at a bar inside a hostel in the Saulsville township west of the administrative capital of Pretoria in the early hours of Saturday. Ten of the victims died at the scene and the 11th died at the hospital, police said. The children killed were a 3-year-old boy, a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Police said they were searching for three male suspects. “We are told that at least three unknown gunmen entered this hostel where a group of people were drinking and they started randomly shooting,” police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe told national broadcaster SABC. She said the motive for the killings was not clear. The shootings happened at around 4.15 a.m., she said, but police were only alerted at 6 a.m. South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides. The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, authorities say. There have been several mass shootings at bars — sometimes called shebeens or taverns in South Africa — in recent years, including one that killed 16 people in the Johannesburg township of Soweto in 2022. On the same day, four people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in another province. Mathe said that mass shootings at unlicensed bars were becoming a serious problem and police had shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales. Recent mass killings in South Africa have not been confined to bars, however. Police said 18 people were killed, 15 of them women, in mass shootings minutes apart at two houses on the same road in a rural part of Eastern Cape province in September last year. Seven men were arrested for those shootings and face multiple charges of murder, while police recovered three AK-style assault rifles they believe were used in the shootings.  

Thousands of refugees around the world have been unable to enter the United States due to new policies under President Donald Trump. Many had prepared for their move, sold belongings, and secured travel documents before the program was suspended. Trump restarted the refugee program in October but set the lowest limit ever of 7,500 people, mostly from South Africa. Additional restrictions were introduced after a security incident involving an Afghan national. The administration cited economic and security concerns for the changes. About 600,000 refugees were in process when the program was halted. Only a small number have been admitted since, largely due to court actions seeking to restore the program. Advocates warn that many families remain stranded. Some refugees have waited for years. The Dawood family fled Syria and settled in Iraq, hoping to reunite in the U.S. for better medical care for their daughter. Only two children reached Connecticut in November 2024, while the parents and other siblings remain in Irbil, unable to work or travel. Chinese pastor Lu Taizhi has lived in Thailand for over a decade, seeking safety from persecution. Despite being approved for resettlement in the U.S., multiple flights were canceled after Trump took office. Lu now lives apart from his family and earns a living teaching and preaching. In East Africa, refugee Louis arrived in the U.S. in 2024, but his wife and two young children remain in a camp in Uganda due to policy freezes. Separation has caused emotional strain on both Louis and his family, who worry about growing apart over time. Refugee advocates stress that Trump’s policies have left many vulnerable families in legal limbo, delaying reunions and access to safety in the United States.  

Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, said Friday that his father has chosen him to run for president in the 2026 election. Flávio Bolsonaro, representing his father’s political group, confirmed the decision in a post on X, calling it a “great responsibility” to continue their national project. Jair Bolsonaro, who was arrested last month and sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting a coup, is barred from running for office until 2030 due to a separate legal case. Flávio visited his father in prison on Tuesday, according to his office. Flávio Bolsonaro will challenge President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, as the Liberal Party candidate. Flávio has served as a senator since 2018 after a career as a state legislator in Rio de Janeiro. The senator has faced allegations of embezzling public funds from his family’s political offices, but the case was dismissed, and he has denied any wrongdoing. Many political observers had considered Sao Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, a former cabinet member under Jair Bolsonaro, as a likely successor. However, Bolsonaro’s inner circle favored his son as the candidate to carry the far-right coalition into the 2026 race. Opinion polls indicate that Jair Bolsonaro remains a central figure in Brazil’s polarized political landscape. Analysts say any opposition candidate must secure his explicit support to be competitive against Lula.  

An international authority that will oversee the next phase of Gaza’s U.S.-brokered ceasefire is expected to be announced before the end of the year, an Arab official and a Western diplomat told the Associated Press on Friday. Under the ceasefire terms, the authority — known as the Board of Peace and chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump — will supervise Gaza’s reconstruction under a two-year, renewable U.N. mandate. It is expected to include about a dozen leaders from the Middle East and the West, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A committee of Palestinian technocrats responsible for running day-to-day administration in post-war Gaza is also set to be unveiled. The Western diplomat said the announcement will likely coincide with Trump’s upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this month. The ceasefire agreement also calls for an armed International Stabilization Force to provide security and ensure the disarming of Hamas, a key Israeli demand. The step would mark significant progress in implementing Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, which has suffered two years of Israeli military operations against Hamas. The truce, in place since Oct. 10, has come under strain due to sporadic violence and accusations of violations. The first phase is nearing completion, though Hamas has yet to hand over the remains of the final Israeli hostage required under the deal. Talks are continuing over which countries will contribute troops to the international force. The Arab official said deployment is expected in the first quarter of 2026, a timeline echoed by a U.S. official who said “boots on the ground” could become a reality early next year. Axios first reported the anticipated announcement. Intense negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire are expected to begin soon, focusing on the difficult issue of Hamas disarmament. The plan requires Israeli forces to withdraw from the areas of Gaza they still control as the international force deploys. Funding for Gaza’s reconstruction remains unresolved, and some Palestinians have raised concerns over the absence of Palestinian representation in the governing authority and the lack of a clear commitment to eventual statehood. Netanyahu’s government opposes a Palestinian state, while the deal offers only a vague pathway contingent on future conditions. Israel meanwhile said it intends to reopen the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the coming days, as outlined in the ceasefire. That could allow Palestinians to leave Gaza after nearly two years of extremely limited movement. But Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar voiced “deep concern” on Friday, insisting the crossing must permit movement in both directions. Egypt says Palestinians must be able to return to Gaza and will only support reopening if two-way movement is allowed. Israel says returns will not be permitted until the remains of the last Israeli hostages are recovered. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the eight countries said the Rafah crossing must allow full “freedom of movement” and reiterated their rejection of any attempt to expel Palestinians from their land. Fresh violence also shook the region on Friday. Israel’s military said its forces killed a man in northern Gaza who approached troops with another man carrying “suspicious objects.” Another Palestinian man was killed in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the 38-year-old was shot by Israeli forces, while the military said he had thrown a rock. The incidents added to fears that tensions could undermine the fragile ceasefire. The latest Israel-Hamas war erupted after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. Israel’s ensuing offensive in Gaza has killed more than 70,100 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose casualty figures are widely viewed as credible by international agencies.  

President Donald Trump met Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in person for the first time on Friday during the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington, a long-delayed meeting that centered on next year’s tournament but also touched on trade and tariffs. The two leaders spoke in the president’s box at the Kennedy Center and later joined Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney onstage for the draw. A senior White House official said the three leaders also held a private discussion afterward. Sheinbaum, who had said before leaving Mexico that she intended to raise U.S. tariffs on automobiles, steel and aluminum, posted on X after the meeting that they discussed the “great opportunity” of co-hosting the 2026 World Cup and agreed to continue working through trade issues. Mexico remains the United States’ largest trading partner, and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, crafted during Trump’s first term, is still in force. But Washington is reviewing the deal ahead of a joint assessment set for July, and Trump has repeatedly threatened broad tariff hikes, though many of those threats have not been carried out. Before Friday, Trump and Sheinbaum had spoken frequently by phone on issues ranging from fentanyl trafficking to tariff disputes, but despite meetings with other major world leaders, the two had not managed an in-person session until now. Sheinbaum has earned a reputation for managing a sensitive relationship with Washington by balancing respect with occasional humor and polite pushback. Mexican officials have been working to ease the impact of existing U.S. tariffs and prevent new ones, particularly measures that could hit the country’s crucial automotive sector. Mexico also continues to negotiate over import levies of 25 percent on the automotive industry and 50 percent on steel and aluminum. At the same time, Sheinbaum’s government has been working to protect millions of Mexican nationals living in the United States as the Trump administration expands mass deportation operations. A new 1 percent U.S. tax on remittances sent from the United States to Mexico is set to take effect on January 1. Immigration, though once at the center of bilateral tensions, has taken a lower profile amid a sharp drop in illegal border crossings. Recent discussions have focused more on persuading countries to take back their nationals and integrate them to reduce migration pressures — a key White House objective. On security, Mexico has extradited dozens of cartel suspects to the United States and expanded authority for its security chief, steps that U.S. officials say have improved cooperation on fentanyl and organized crime. Still, disagreements persist. Trump has criticized Sheinbaum for rejecting his suggestion that U.S. forces could conduct operations in Mexico, an idea she has firmly dismissed. Sheinbaum also objected to U.S. maritime strikes on suspected drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Trump, in turn, has accused her of being constrained by cartel violence. She avoided escalating the dispute, choosing not to respond directly to the remarks. Friday’s meeting, though largely framed around the World Cup, offered the two leaders their first opportunity for direct talks as both sides navigate a complex agenda involving trade, migration and security ahead of 2026.