United News of Bangladesh

President Donald Trump has been sued by preservationists seeking to halt his White House ballroom project until it undergoes independent reviews and receives congressional approval. The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court, arguing that the project, which involved demolishing the East Wing, violates federal laws and exceeds the president’s constitutional authority. The group is demanding comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public input, and debate and ratification by Congress before construction continues. “No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review, or build a ballroom on public property without public input,” the lawsuit said. The Trust added that work should stop until all required reviews and approvals are completed. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did not respond immediately to questions about the lawsuit or whether Trump plans to seek congressional approval. Trump has said the project is privately funded, including his own money, but federal rules still apply because the White House is government property. Trump has argued that a new ballroom is necessary, as large events often require outdoor tents due to the limited capacity of existing rooms. The White House is expected to submit detailed plans for the ballroom to the National Capital Planning Commission before the end of the year, three months after construction began. Will Scharf, chairman of the commission, said the panel will review the plans at a “normal and deliberative pace” once submitted, marking the start of the official review process.  

The European Union is expected on Friday to lock up Russia’s assets held in Europe until it gives up its war in Ukraine and compensates its neighbor for the heavy damage that it has inflicted for almost four years. The move is an important step that would allow EU leaders to work out at a summit next week how to use the tens of billions of euros in Russian Central Bank assets to underwrite a huge loan to help Ukraine meet its financial and military needs over the next two years. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in Europe – accused the European Commission, which prepared the decision, “of systematically raping European law.” A total of 210 billion euros ($247 billion) in Russian assets are frozen in Europe. The vast majority of the funds — around 193 billion euros ($225 billion) at the end of September — are held in Euroclear, a Belgian financial clearing house. The money was frozen under sanctions that the EU imposed on Russia over the war it launched on Feb. 24, 2022, but these sanctions must be renewed every six months, and all 27 member countries must approve them for that to happen. Hungary and Slovakia oppose providing more support to Ukraine. Friday’s expected decision, which is based on EU treaty rules allowing the bloc to protect its economic interests in certain emergency situations, would prevent them from blocking the sanctions rollover and make it easier to use the assets. Orbán said on social media that it means that “the rule of law in the European Union comes to an end, and Europe’s leaders are placing themselves above the rules.” “The European Commission is systematically raping European law. It is doing this in order to continue the war in Ukraine, a war that clearly isn’t winnable,” he wrote. He said that Hungary “will do everything in its power to restore a lawful order.” In a letter to European Council President António Costa, who will chair the summit starting on Dec. 18, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that he would refuse to back any move that “would include covering Ukraine’s military expenses for the coming years.” He warned “that the use of frozen Russian assets could directly jeopardize U.S. peace efforts, which directly count on the use of these resources for the reconstruction of Ukraine.” But the commission argues that the war has imposed heavy costs by hiking energy prices and stunting economic growth in the EU, which has already provided nearly 200 billion euros ($235 billion) in support to Ukraine. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot described the expected move as “a major decision that will undoubtedly influence the course of the war and accelerate peace.” “Because Europeans do not want to let anyone else decide for them ... we have decided to lock those sums (assets) for as long as necessary,” Barrot said on France Info news broadcaster. The decision would also prevent the assets from being used in any way without European approval. A 28-point peace plan drafted by U.S. and Russian envoys stipulated that the EU would release the frozen assets for use by Ukraine, Russia and the United States. That plan was rejected by Ukraine and its backers in Europe. Belgium, where Euroclear is based, is opposed to the “reparations loan” plan. It says that the plan “entails consequential economic, financial and legal risks,” and has called on other EU countries to share the risk. Russia’s Central Bank, meanwhile, said on Friday that it has filed a lawsuit in Moscow against Euroclear for damages it says were caused when Moscow was barred from managing the assets. Euroclear declined to comment. In a separate statement, the Central Bank also described wider EU plans to use Russian assets to aid Ukraine as “illegal, contrary to international law,” arguing that they violated “the principles of sovereign immunity of assets.”

A 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook northeastern Japan and caused small tsunami waves but no apparent damage Friday, days after a stronger quake in the same region. Friday's quake occurred off the east coast of Aomori prefecture, in the north of Honshu, the main Japanese island, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) at 11:44 a.m., according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which issued a tsunami advisory that was lifted about two hours later. Small waves were reported in Hokkaido and Aomori prefectures, but no serious damage or injuries were reported. The quake followed a 7.5 magnitude earthquake Monday that caused injuries, light damage and a small tsunami on Japan's Pacific coast. At least 34 people were injured in that quake, power was knocked out temporarily in places, and tsunami waves more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) above tide levels were measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture. Authorities had warned of possible aftershocks. Officials said after Monday's quake there was also a slight increase in the risk of a megaquake, at magnitude 8 or stronger, and a possible tsunami occurring along Japan’s northeastern coast from Chiba, just east of Tokyo, to the northernmost main island of Hokkaido. The agency urged residents in the area to monitor their emergency preparedness, reminding them that the caution is not a prediction of such a strong earthquake. The recent quakes occurred around the area where the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011 killed nearly 20,000 people and destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Thailand’s Parliament was dissolved Friday for new elections early next year as the country engaged in deadly fighting with Cambodia. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved the House of Representatives after getting approval from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, whose endorsement became effective Friday with its publication in the Royal Gazette. Anutin had signaled the move with a Facebook post late Thursday saying: “I’d like to return power to the people.” The election must be held 45 to 60 days after the royal endorsement, a period during which Anutin will head a caretaker government with limited powers that cannot approve a new budget. The move comes at a tricky political moment, as Thailand is engaged in large-scale combat with Cambodia over a longstanding border dispute. Anutin has only been prime minister since September Anutin has been prime minister for just three months, succeeding Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who served only a year in office before losing office over a scandal that erupted out of a previous round of border tensions. Anutin won the September vote in Parliament with support from the main opposition People’s Party in exchange for a promise to dissolve Parliament within four months and organize a referendum on the drafting of a new constitution by an elected constituent assembly. The party, which runs on progressive platforms, has long sought changes to the constitution, imposed during a military government, saying they want to make it more democratic. The issue of constitutional change appeared to trigger the dissolution, after the People’s Party prepared to call a no-confidence vote Thursday. That threat came after lawmakers from Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party voted in favor of a bill to amend the constitution that the opposition party felt ran against the spirit of the agreement they had reached in September. The People's Party holds the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives and is seen as the main challenger to Bhumjaithai. As news of the pending dissolution circulated late Thursday, its leaders said they hoped Anutin would still honor the agreement to arrange a constitutional referendum. Anutin served in Paetongtarn’s former government but resigned from his positions and withdrew his party from her coalition government as she faced controversy over a phone call with Cambodia's Senate President Hun Sen in June. Paetongtarn, daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was suspended from office ahead of the July fighting, after being found guilty of ethics violations over the politically compromising call. Warring parties are waiting for calls with Trump With Thailand now again engaged in heavy combat against Cambodia, Anutin has embraced an aggressive military posture to appeal to nationalistic public sentiment, and has said Thailand will keep fighting until its sovereignty and safety are guaranteed. After the five days of border fighting in July, U.S. President Donald Trump pushed the two countries to agree on a ceasefire by threatening to withhold trade privileges from them. Trump has vowed again to make peace between them after widespread fighting flared up again this week. If he employs the cudgel of high tariffs on Thai exports should Thailand fail to comply with his peacemaking effort comply, it could cause serious damage to its already sluggish economy. Trump said twice this week that he expects to speak by phone with the Thai and Cambodian leaders, expressing confidence that he would persuade them to stop the fighting. Anutin on Friday confirmed that he is scheduled to speak with Trump on Friday night, saying he would brief him on the latest situation along the border. As of Thursday, about two dozen people had been reported killed in this week’s fighting, while hundreds of thousands have been displaced on both sides. The Thai military estimates that 165 Cambodian soldiers have been killed, though no number has been officially announced by Phnom Penh. Thailand’s leader may gain from hawkish posture “Anutin has capitalized on the renewed border tensions with Cambodia to portray himself as a leader willing to take a nationalist, hard-line stance in defending Thailand’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” commented Napon Jatusripitak, director of the Center for Politics and Geopolitics at Thailand Future, a Bangkok-based think tank. “This emerging narrative has, at least for now, eclipsed criticisms of his handling of the floods in Southern Thailand and muted scrutiny over lingering questions of his potential involvement with scam networks,” said Napon, who is also a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. Purawich Watanasukh, a political scientist as Bangkok’s Thammasat University said that the standing of Anutin’s Bhumjaithai Party has slipped in recent weeks due to the southern flood crisis, which took more than 160 lives, and his government’s mishandling of major scam scandals, which tainted some officials and figures in the Thai business community. “However, the recent clash between Thailand and Cambodia has provided Anutin with an opportunity to reframe himself as a defender of national sovereignty, potentially boosting his popularity, ” Purawich told The Associated Press in an email interview. “Dissolving the House at this moment allows Bhumjaithai to capitalize on this shifting sentiment.

Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago. The findings, described in the journal Nature, push back the earliest known date for controlled fire-making by roughly 350,000 years. Until now, the oldest confirmed evidence had come from Neanderthal sites in what is now northern France dating to about 50,000 years ago. The discovery was made at Barnham, a Paleolithic site in Suffolk that has been excavated for decades. A team led by the British Museum identified a patch of baked clay, flint hand axes fractured by intense heat and two fragments of iron pyrite, a mineral that produces sparks when struck against flint. Researchers spent four years analyzing to rule out natural wildfires. Geochemical tests showed temperatures had exceeded 700 degrees Celsius (1,292 Fahrenheit), with evidence of repeated burning in the same location. That pattern, they say, is consistent with a constructed hearth rather than a lightning strike. Rob Davis, a Paleolithic archaeologist at the British Museum, said the combination of high temperatures, controlled burning and pyrite fragments shows “how they were actually making the fire and the fact they were making it.” Iron pyrite does not occur naturally at Barnham. Its presence suggests the people who lived there deliberately collected it because they understood its properties and could use it to ignite tinder. Deliberate fire-making is rarely preserved in the archaeological record. Ash is easily dispersed, charcoal decays and heat-altered sediments can be eroded. At Barnham, however, the burned deposits were sealed within ancient pond sediments, allowing scientists to reconstruct how early people used the site. Researchers say the implications for human evolution are substantial. Fire allowed early populations to survive colder environments, deter predators and cook food. Cooking breaks down toxins in roots and tubers and kills pathogens in meat, improving digestion and releasing more energy to support larger brains. Chris Stringer, a human evolution specialist at the Natural History Museum, said fossils from Britain and Spain suggest the inhabitants of Barnham were early Neanderthals whose cranial features and DNA point to growing cognitive and technological sophistication. Fire also enabled new forms of social life. Evening gatherings around a hearth would have provided time for planning, storytelling and strengthening group relationships, which are behaviors often associated with the development of language and more organized societies. Archaeologists say the Barnham site fits a wider pattern across Britain and continental Europe between 500,000 and 400,000 years ago, when brain size in early humans began to approach modern levels and when evidence for increasingly complex behavior becomes more visible. Nick Ashton, curator of Paleolithic collections at the British Museum, described it as “the most exciting discovery of my long 40-year career." For archaeologists, the find helps address a long-standing question: When humans stopped relying on lightning strikes and wildfires and instead learned to create flame wherever and whenever they needed it.

Japan on Friday issued a tsunami advisory after a 6.7 magnitude earthquake shook the country’s northeast, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The quake occurred off the east coast of Aomori prefecture, in the north of Honshu, the main Japanese island, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) at 11:44 a.m. local time, JMA said. The Pacific coast of Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures could see a tsunami of up to 1 meter (3.2 feet), the agency added. Damage and injuries weren’t immediately clear. An advisory is a lower level of caution than a warning. Friday’s quake followed a 7.5 magnitude earthquake earlier this week in the north that caused injuries, light damage and a tsunami in Pacific coastal communities. At least 34 people were injured in that quake on Monday off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan’s main Honshu island. A tsunami more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) above tide levels was measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture before all tsunami advisories were lifted. Power was knocked out for hundreds of homes but was mostly restored Tuesday morning. Authorities had warned of possible aftershocks. Officials said after Monday's quake there was also a slight increase in risk of a magnitude 8-level quake and possible tsunami occurring along Japan’s northeastern coast from Chiba, just east of Tokyo, to Hokkaido. The agency urged residents in 182 municipalities in the area to monitor their emergency preparedness in the coming week, reminding them that the caution is not a prediction of a big one. The quakes occurred in the coastal region, where a magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011 killed nearly 20,000 people and destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

U.S. strategic bombers joined a fleet of Japanese fighter jets in a joint military exercise meant to demonstrate their military cooperation around Japan's airspace, defense officials said Thursday, as tensions with China escalate. The exercise showcasing joint Japanese-U.S. air power came a day after Chinese and Russian bombers flew together around western Japan, prompting Tokyo to scramble fighter jets, though there was no airspace violation. It also follows China's military aircraft locking radar on Japanese jets Saturday, another incident that has caused Tokyo-Beijing relations to further deteriorate. Early Friday, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his U.S counterpart, Pete Hegseth, held telephone talks on “increasingly severe security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, including the radar incident,” the Japanese defense ministry said in a statement. It did not mention the flight drills. It said the ministers expressed serious concern over any actions to increase regional tensions, as “China's actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability.” Koizumi reiterated that Japan will firmly and steadily continue surveillance and monitoring activities in the airspace and waters surrounding the country. Japan's Air Self Defense-Force and the U.S. military conducted the joint exercise Wednesday as “the security environment surrounding our country is becoming even severer,” the Japanese Joint Staff said. It said the allies “reaffirmed the strong resolve to prevent unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force and the readiness between the SDF and the U.S. forces.” Two U.S. B-52 strategic bombers and three Japanese F-35 stealth fighter jets and three F-15 jets conducted their joint flight drills near Japan’s western airspace, above the waters between the country and South Korea, officials said. Exercises held as the security environment grows more tense The Joint Staff denied that the exercise was conducted in response to a specific incident, but acknowledged Chinese military aircraft’s recent radar-locking on Japanese jets and the China-Russia joint bomber exercises Tuesday as examples of a worsening security environment around Japan. Relations between Japan and China have deteriorated after Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in early November that Japan's military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. The row escalated over the weekend when separate Chinese drills involving a carrier near southern Japan prompted Tokyo to scramble jets and to protest that Japanese aircraft were targeted by repeated radar-locking — a move considered as possible preparation for firing. Tokyo protested to Beijing, asking for an explanation and preventive measures. China denied the allegation and accused Japanese jets of interfering and endangering the Chinese exercise. Washington stressed its “unwavering” alliance with Japan, saying the incident was not “conducive to regional peace and stability." The exercise came one day after Chinese and Russian strategic bombers conducted joint long-distance flight from the waters between Japan and South Korea down to the Pacific, the Joint Staff said. Two Russian strategic bombers Tu-95 that flew down from the airspace east of the Korean Peninsula joined a pair of Chinese H-6 bombers over the East China Sea for a joint flight down to the Pacific off the southern coast of Japan's Shikoku island. The four bombers were also joined by four Chinese J-16 fighters as they flew back and forth between two Japanese southwestern islands Okinawa and Miyako, the area where China is expanding its military presence.

An airstrike by Myanmar ’s military destroyed a hospital in an area controlled by a leading rebel armed force, killing 34 patients and medical staff, according to a rescue worker and independent media reports Thursday. About 80 other people were injured in the attack Wednesday night on the general hospital in Mrauk-U township, an area controlled by the ethnic Arakan Army in the western state of Rakhine. The military, which took over Myanmar's government in 2021 and has been fighting ethnic militias and armed resistance forces since then, has not mentioned any attack in the area. Wai Hun Aung, a senior official for rescue services in Rakhine, told The Associated Press that a jet fighter dropped two bombs at 9:13 p.m. with one hitting the hospital’s recovery ward and the other landing near the hospital’s main building. He said he arrived at the hospital early Thursday to provide assistance and recorded the deaths of 17 women and 17 men. He said that most of the hospital building was destroyed by the bombs, and taxis and motorbikes near the hospital were also damaged. Rakhine-based online media posted photos and videos showing damaged buildings and debris including medical equipment. The hospital has been the main source of health care for people in Rakhine, where most hospitals have closed because of Myanmar’s civil war, said Wai Hun Aung. It was reopened after doctors gathered in Mrauk-U to provide much-needed medical services. Mrauk-U, located 530 kilometers (326 miles) northwest of Yangon, the country’s largest city, was captured by the Arakan Army in February 2024. The Arakan Army is the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, which seeks autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It began its offensive in Rakhine in November 2023 and has seized a strategically important regional army headquarters and 14 of Rakhine’s 17 townships. Rakhine, formerly known as Arakan, was the site of a brutal army counterinsurgency operation in 2017 that drove about 740,000 minority Rohingya Muslims to seek safety across the border in Bangladesh. There is still ethnic tension between the Buddhist Rakhine and the Rohingya. Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government, established by elected lawmakers who were barred from taking their seats in 2021, condemned the airstrike. The organization urged the international community to pressure the military to end its actions, take action against perpetrators and provide humanitarian assistance as soon as possible. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army took power in 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition. Many opponents of military rule have since taken up arms, and large parts of the country are now embroiled in conflict. The military government has stepped up airstrikes ahead of planned Dec. 28 elections against the armed pro-democracy People’s Defense Force, which is closely associated with the National Unity Government. Opponents of military rule charge that the polls will be neither free not fair, and are mainly an effort to legitimize the army retaining power.

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States had seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a rare military intervention amid escalating pressure on President Nicolás Maduro. Video shared by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi showed Coast Guard personnel fast-roping from a helicopter onto the ship, later moving through the vessel with weapons drawn. The tanker, identified as the Skipper, carried about 2 million barrels of heavy crude, roughly half owned by a Cuban state-run oil importer. The vessel, previously known as M/T Adisa, had been sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 for involvement in a shadow tanker network supporting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. The seizure was conducted under U.S. law enforcement authority with Coast Guard support from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently in the Caribbean. Trump described the tanker as the largest ever seized and said it was taken “for a very good reason,” though he provided no further details about the oil’s fate. Venezuelan authorities condemned the move as “blatant theft” and international piracy, claiming it targeted the country’s natural resources. The seizure follows a series of U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, as the administration builds a large military presence in the region. Critics, including some Democrats, argue these actions are part of a push for regime change rather than drug interdiction. Senator Chris Van Hollen described the seizure as evidence that the U.S. is seeking to remove Maduro by force. Analysts say the action could disrupt Venezuelan maritime commerce, potentially affecting the country’s oil-dependent economy. Maduro, speaking at a Caracas rally, did not address the seizure directly but warned that Venezuela is prepared to resist U.S. aggression. The U.S. military also flew fighter jets near Venezuelan airspace Tuesday, raising further concern over potential escalation. Lawmakers have demanded unedited footage of prior strikes, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said is still under review.

Bulgaria’s government stepped down on Thursday as mass protests swept the country, coming just weeks before its planned entry into the eurozone. The minority coalition, led by the center-right GERB party, submitted its resignation minutes before parliament was set to vote on a no-confidence motion brought by the opposition over economic mismanagement and deep public frustration over corruption. “Ahead of today’s vote of no confidence, the government is resigning,” Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told reporters in parliament. The latest demonstrations erupted after large protests last week against the government’s proposed 2026 budget, which included higher taxes, increased social security contributions and expanded spending. The government later withdrew the budget plan, but calls for its resignation intensified. Zhelyazkov acknowledged the pressure from the streets, saying, “The decisions of the National Assembly are meaningful when they reflect the will of the people. We want to be where society expects us to be.” Students from Sofia’s universities joined Wednesday’s rallies, which organizers said exceeded last week’s turnout of more than 50,000 people. Media outlets, citing drone footage, estimated the crowd at over 100,000. Tens of thousands protest against Bulgarian government over corruption Central to the public anger is the influence of Delyan Peevski, a sanctioned politician and oligarch whose MRF New Beginning party backs the government. Opponents accuse him of steering government policy to serve oligarchic interests. Zhelyazkov said he expected his coalition to survive the no-confidence vote but added that parliament’s decisions “are important when they reflect the will of the sovereign.” Bulgaria, a country of 6.4 million people, is scheduled to adopt the euro on January 1 and become the 21st member of the eurozone.