United News of Bangladesh

The death toll from Monday's 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia has risen to 281, with 3,971 people injured and 379 missing, the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said Thursday. The quake now affects 44,936 families and 102,105 people in 15 departments and 426 municipalities, the agency said.

Air India has ordered a mandatory dope test for all its pilots days after a captain, found responsible for mid-air turbulence, tested positive for marijuana, multiple local media reports said Thursday. According to local television news channel NDTV, the dope test is mandatory for both Air India and Air India Express pilots. The tests will be conducted concurrently with training at the Gurugram academy, post-flight at Air India's flight briefing centers and offices, the media report said. Earlier this month, 17 people, including four cabin crew members, onboard an Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi were injured after experiencing turbulence. The aircraft lost approximately 300 feet in altitude, triggering a mid-air scare among the passengers. On Wednesday, the pilot-in-command tested positive for marijuana during a confirmatory test for psychoactive substances. Reports said he had earlier tested positive in a dope test conducted immediately after the flight landed.

Aug 14 (AP/UNB)--Clashes between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and government forces in Yemen raged overnight and into Thursday, raising fears that the country's civil war could reignite and open another front in the Middle East. Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here. Yemeni soldier killed in clashes with Houthis At least one government soldier was killed and another critically wounded in clashes with the Houthis in the mountainous province of Taiz, Yemeni military officials told The Associated Press. The fighting came as part of a spate of recent Houthi attacks on government-held areas across the country. Dozens of government troops have been killed since last week, the Yemeni military said. The Houthis also said they launched another drone attack on an Aramco oil refinery in Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials did not immediately comment on the reported attack in the city of Jazan. Last weekend, the Houthis fired drones at the refinery, where the Saudi Energy Ministry reported a fire but no casualties. Last month, the Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi shipping, threatening another key trade route in the region. US carrier heads toward Middle East after issues reported on long-deployed USS Lincoln The Pacific-based aircraft carrier USS George Washington has begun heading toward the Middle East as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed USS Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran, and its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Thursday that reports of trouble on the carrier were “completely misrepresented.” Speaking during a trip to Panama, he said the U.S. military could maintain the blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely, “because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have and we’ll continue to.” The USS George Washington left port in Da Nang, Vietnam, last week, a Navy statement said. The carrier, along with a cruiser and a destroyer, have since been spotted crossing the Singapore Strait. A Navy official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail sensitive ship details, confirmed that the Washington was in the Strait of Malacca, which links the Pacific and Indian oceans and puts the carrier on a course to head into the Indian Ocean. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the Washington would replace the Lincoln as one of the two aircraft carriers now stationed in the Middle East. The move would leave the waters of the Pacific without a U.S. carrier presence for an unknown period of time. — Konstantin Toropin in Washington Peace laureate calls for UN pressure to resolve Yemen conflict Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, told the U.N. Security Council in a video briefing Thursday that Yemen is at greater risk of returning to large-scale conflict than at any time since a 2022 truce paused the fighting. Yemen faces “catastrophe” from rising hunger and from health services crumbling amid the fighting, said U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher. He said 6 million people in Yemen face emergency levels of food insecurity bordering on famine, “the highest number globally.” Yemeni Nobel peace laureate Tawakkol Karman told reporters outside the chamber that Houthi rebels bear the primary responsibility for the “collapse of the state” in her home country. But the human rights campaigner also blamed Iran for backing the Houthis, Saudi Arabia for its intervention on behalf of the government ousted by the Houthis, the United Arab Emirates for its involvement in the conflict and the international community for its failure to do enough to protect civilians. Karman was invited to brief the U.N. Security Council as an independent civil society voice on Yemen, but was blocked from speaking because of “strong opposition,” Danish Deputy Ambassador Sandra Jensen Landi said. Instead, Karman spoke to reporters outside the council chamber. Iran and Oman working to clean oil spills off their coasts Oil spills spreading off the coasts of Iran and Oman are raising concerns about environmental damage as oil shipments have come under fire in the Iran war. Iran said Thursday it's working to clean up an oil spill off Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Images distributed by Iran’s semiofficial news agency ISNA showed oil fouling the island's beaches. While Iran hasn't said what caused the spill, the firm TankerTrackers.com says it appears to have started with an Iranian attack on a bulk carrier off Oman. Iran has repeatedly attacked shipping in the strait since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Oman is responding to another spill in the Arabian Sea, coming from a tanker grounded off its southern coast. The tanker Caroline Bezengi — a sanctioned vessel believed to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” — has been grounded since reporting an explosion in June. No party has claimed responsibility and the cause is unknown. A British maritime risk and response company said Thursday it has been hired to salvage the tanker and stop the oil leak off Oman. Oil from the ship has been spreading for weeks, reaching shores hundreds of kilometers (miles) north of the vessel. JD Vance says Iran war will end with US in stronger position Vice President JD Vance appeared to be lowering expectations for the Strait of Hormuz to return to the way it was before the war. He predicted in an interview on Fox News Channel that the war will end with the U.S. in a stronger position, with Iran not having a nuclear weapon, and with the Strait of Hormuz “returned to a place where oil and gas prices are stable for the American people.” He did not say anything about the strait being open and toll-free for transiting ships, as he had in the past. Vance’s comments also seemed to suggest that the administration was more acutely focused on the economic impact of the war than the original aims of the war itself. “That’s goal number one: keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country,” he said. The second goal, according to Vance, is to ensure that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon. Kushner will head to Middle East for talks on Gaza President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and negotiator Jared Kushner will travel to the Middle East next week to try to advance plans for an end to the conflict in Gaza after a deal recently announced by the Trump administration ran into Israeli opposition. An official with the Board of Peace, the body Trump established to oversee the fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said Kushner, board high representative Nickolay Mladenov, and executive board member and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would arrive in Israel on Sunday. The group will then travel to Cairo, where meetings of a Palestinian technocratic group set to assume control of Gaza under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal have been taking place for the past several months, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because planning for details of the trip has not yet been finalized, The trip was reported earlier by Axios.

North Korea on Friday threatened to exercise its right to self-defense in a statement that slammed the upcoming U.S.-South Korean military drills as a war rehearsal that would be more provocative than last year. The U.S. and South Korean militaries are to start their annual large-scale drills Monday and have described the scope of this year’s training as similar to past years. The allies have said the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises are meant to strengthen their readiness against North Korean threats and reiterated that they are defensive in nature. The North Korean warning signals the country could conduct more weapons tests in coming days after its neighbors detected two ballistic missile launches off North Korea’s east coast in the past week. North Korea hasn’t commented on the launches, but outside experts assess they were likely meant to protest the U.S.-South Korean drills or upgrade weapons systems. In a statement carried by state media Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the U.S.-South Korean training “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that is triggering a different level of instability in the region. “It is our consistent principle of ensuring security to respond to a new level of a threat with a new level of a deterrent,” the statement said. North Korea “will more clearly express its stance on the enemies to cope with any threats and challenges through the responsible and decisive exercise of the right to legitimate self-defense.”  

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkiye are set to establish a joint political and military mechanism under the newly signed "Mecca Joint Defence Agreement," according to the Turkish Defence Ministry. The ministry announced during a weekly briefing in Ankara that the tripartite alliance, signed on August 7, will focus on deepening cooperation across their respective defence industries. This new framework will bring together the foreign ministers, defence ministers, and military chiefs of the three nations to coordinate strategic efforts. Saudi, Turkey, Pakistan sign ‘Mecca Joint Defense Agreement’ In addition to political and military alignment, the pact includes plans for joint military exercises. Potential cooperation is also expected to extend to technology-sharing and joint production within the defence sector, the ministry added. With inputs from  Al Jazeera

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for dialogue and negotiations to achieve a comprehensive and durable settlement of the conflicts in the Gulf and the Red Sea. Farhan Haq, the UN deputy spokesman, stated that the Secretary-General is closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, specifically the situations in and around the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea. Guterres remains convinced that a lasting resolution can only be reached through diplomatic engagement. Pentagon review: 153 civilians killed in US strikes on Houthis last year "Such a settlement would help restore stability and confidence across the region, while also safeguarding the navigational rights and freedoms in and around the Strait of Hormuz and in the Red Sea," Haq said. The spokesman also noted that UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg is continuing his efforts to de-escalate the situation in Yemen. Haq emphasized that any activities disrupting shipping along the coast of Yemen also hinder UN efforts to deliver essential supplies to the war-torn country. Consequently, the United Nations has called for an immediate end to all such obstructions in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait.

Zambians began voting Thursday in a presidential election that is expected to gauge whether President Hakainde Hichilema’s economic reforms have eased widespread concerns over the rising cost of living. About 8 million of Zambia’s 22 million people are registered to vote in the one-day election. Voters are also electing members of Parliament and local government councilors. The electoral commission said results are expected Monday. Before dawn, voters wearing thick jackets against the morning cold formed long lines outside polling stations across Lusaka. Some gathered around small fires to keep warm as election officials set up ballot boxes, checked voter rolls and prepared polling stations. European Union election observers were present at one polling station in the capital. Hichilema is facing 13 other presidential candidates, with Brian Mundubile of an opposition alliance expected to pose the strongest challenge. The election is widely viewed as a referendum on Hichilema’s economic performance. He took office in 2021 and is seeking a second term, arguing that he inherited an economy in crisis. His government has overseen the restructuring of Zambia’s large foreign debt, maintained economic growth and attracted investment, Hichilema says. But many Zambians say they have yet to see the benefits of those measures, as unemployment, high food prices and unreliable electricity continue to put pressure on household finances. Hichilema says he needs another five-year term to create jobs, develop infrastructure and expand public services. The election is also being closely followed internationally because Zambia is a major copper producer and plans to significantly increase output of the metal, which is vital for electric vehicles, renewable energy systems and power grids. China is Zambia’s largest foreign investor and has extensive interests in the country’s mining sector. The United States, meanwhile, has been seeking a larger role as it works to diversify supplies of critical minerals and reduce dependence on China. Hichilema has sought investment from both China and Western countries, including the United States, as he aims to raise Zambia’s annual copper production to 3 million metric tons by 2031. Security concerns and political tensions increased during the final days of the campaign. Police deployed additional personnel and warned against violence, disruptions at polling stations and the spread of fabricated election results. Opposition parties have accused Hichilema’s government of using state institutions to target political opponents, allegations rejected by the government. The Tonse Alliance said a police raid on its offices days before the election was politically motivated. Hichilema himself spent four months in prison on treason charges when he was an opposition leader under former President Edgar Lungu, whom he defeated in the 2021 election. Lungu remained a major political figure until his death in South Africa last year. A lengthy dispute between his family and the government over his funeral and burial further heightened tensions ahead of Thursday’s vote. A presidential candidate must secure more than 50% of the vote to win outright and avoid a runoff. Zambia has long been considered one of southern Africa’s more stable democracies, with a record of largely peaceful transfers of power. Hichilema’s 2021 victory marked the country’s third transfer of power to an opposition candidate since multiparty democracy was restored in 1991.

Aid from regional partners began arriving in Colombia on Wednesday as rescue teams intensified their search for survivors in the rubble left by a powerful earthquake that destroyed buildings, damaged roads and crushed vehicles. The disaster has put pressure on Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella and his government as they work to coordinate the emergency response, while civil society groups are also mobilizing assistance for the hardest-hit communities. De la Espriella said Wednesday evening that at least 265 people had been killed in Monday’s magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia. Nearly 500 people were officially reported missing, although civilian-run databases put the number at more than 4,100. More than 25,800 families have been affected, the president said. “Our efforts are focused on the disappeared,” he told reporters in the capital, Bogotá. Rescue teams continued searching through collapsed structures in the worst-hit cities of Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo as the chances of finding survivors alive diminished with each passing hour. Aid agencies say the first 48 to 72 hours are especially critical for rescue operations, although people trapped under rubble can sometimes survive longer if they have access to food and water. Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, said Wednesday afternoon that rescue workers were still finding indications that people remained alive beneath the rubble. “The next 20 hours are the most critical to find and rescue people alive,” he said. “Every minute is vital.” Survivors pulled from rubble In Pereira, rescuers pulled Daniela Largo alive from the debris late Tuesday after a difficult 12-hour operation. Crews created a small opening to free her trapped arm, while a doctor administered intravenous fluids to stabilize her. Wrapped in a blue blanket, the young woman was carried to an ambulance as firefighters embraced and residents cheered. In another rescue operation in the same city, however, a man was pulled from a damaged building dead and covered with a white blanket. Authorities across the coffee-growing region, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, have turned sports arenas, schools and other public buildings into temporary shelters for thousands of displaced people. Ebert Jonathan Morales, a resident of Cali, said his family had lost everything. “My house was completely destroyed. We can't live there,” Morales said. “It collapsed. The floor collapsed, the walls cracked. The roof came down.” In Pereira and Cali, many families have been sleeping in parks, either because they fear aftershocks and further collapses or because they no longer have homes to return to. Colombia’s geological service has recorded 130 aftershocks since the main earthquake. “We have the most important things: a roof over our heads, food, water and, in my case, medical care,” said Edith Penagos, 48, who was staying with her teenage son in a white tent in a Pereira park. Rodrigo León Loya, a seismologist and geosciences professor at the University of the Andes, said the likelihood of another earthquake of similar strength occurring in the same area is low, but he cautioned that further seismic activity cannot be ruled out. “Let's remember that Colombia is full of active fault lines,” he said. “The question isn't whether it can happen again. The question is rather when an earthquake of similar magnitude will occur at another of Colombia's seismic sources.” Humanitarian crisis complicates responseThe official response has been particularly difficult in many parts of Choco, the region where the earthquake was centered. The area has long struggled with severe poverty and armed conflict that has displaced people for decades. The full extent of the earthquake’s impact in the remote, jungle-covered northwest remains unclear because cellphone services have been disrupted and many affected communities can only be reached by river. “This earthquake compounds an already severe humanitarian situation, and there is a need for increased support for the humanitarian response,” said Giovanni Rizzo, Colombia director for the Norwegian Refugee Council. Several humanitarian organizations were already operating in Choco, supporting the 2016 peace agreement between the government and leftist rebels and responding to continued violence involving other armed groups. Those organizations were able to quickly shift their operations toward earthquake relief, said María José Torres, the U.N. resident coordinator in Colombia. “We have a presence on the ground. Therefore, our ability to be there, present with the people, I think, has increased exponentially,” Torres said in a statement Tuesday. International aid arrives Meanwhile, assistance from foreign governments and international organizations continued to arrive in Colombia. The U.S. State Department said disaster response teams began arriving Monday. Washington has also offered more than $15 million in aid. Mexico said it sent two military aircraft carrying 19.5 tons of nonperishable food and 19 members of its security forces to Pereira. It plans to send another 39 tons of aid in the coming days. Another 255 military specialists and 20 dogs are on standby to deploy to Colombia if needed. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele offered to send two planes carrying 100 tons of humanitarian aid. Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday expressed support for those involved in the recovery effort and said he was praying for those killed, injured and otherwise affected by the earthquake. “I want to express my solidarity with my Colombian sisters and brothers who have suffered the effects of the recent earthquake,” he said.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have detained two Afghan employees of the U.N. political mission in the country, the United Nations said Wednesday. The Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence detained the two staff members Sunday in the western city of Herat, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters at the U.N. He said the mission has not been informed about any charges against the men and has not been allowed to visit them. The U.N. mission has urged the Taliban “to ensure compliance with the privileges and immunities of the United Nations and its officials,” Haq said. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew following two decades of war. After seizing power, the Taliban banned girls from attending secondary schools and later expanded restrictions to higher education, employment and other areas, effectively shutting women and girls out of public life. The U.N. mission’s mandate from the Security Council includes supporting humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people, promoting human rights and equality for women and girls, encouraging inclusive governance and supporting economic stability. The detention comes as the humanitarian crisis in the impoverished Asian country continues to worsen and Taliban forces are involved in cross-border fighting with Pakistan. The clashes intensified in February after Afghan forces carried out a raid into Pakistan in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan. Islamabad later said it was in “open war.” Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the detention “seriously threatens the U.N.'s work throughout Afghanistan and its ability to deliver lifesaving aid.” “Taliban authorities should immediately release those held and ensure all aid agencies can work without intimidation or interference,” she said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to serve in the position, will leave the Trump administration at the end of the month to spend more time with her young family. Leavitt, 28, described the decision as “bittersweet” in a social media post Wednesday, shortly after President Donald Trump announced that she would step down. She recently returned to the White House podium following the birth of her second child, a daughter named Viviana, in May. She also has a 2-year-old son. “The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary,” Leavitt wrote, explaining her decision to leave the administration and begin a new chapter in her life. Trump did not say who might replace Leavitt in the high-profile position. In his own social media post, he said he understood and respected her decision and suggested she would remain involved in his political orbit. “Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party,” Trump wrote, adding that she would work with him to “conclusively win the Midterm Elections.” Before joining Trump’s 2024 campaign, Leavitt worked as a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC. She previously ran for Congress in New Hampshire in 2022, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing the general election to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. During Trump’s first term, Leavitt served as an aide in the White House press office. She later became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik. Leavitt held White House press briefings less frequently than some of her recent predecessors. Trump, who often speaks with reporters at White House events and while traveling, frequently sent Leavitt to Fox News and other conservative media outlets to promote his agenda and criticize Democrats and the mainstream media. Trump’s first-term press secretaries included Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, both of whom were known for frequent clashes with reporters. Stephanie Grisham, another press secretary, never held a formal briefing, while her successor, Kayleigh McEnany, often sharply criticized the news media during appearances in the White House briefing room.