United News of Bangladesh

The putrid smell of burning garbage wafts for miles from the landfill on the outskirts of Jammu in a potentially toxic miasma fed by the plastics, industrial, medical and other waste generated by a city of some 740,000 people. But a handful of waste pickers ignore both the fumes and suffocating heat to sort through the rubbish, seeking anything they can sell to earn at best the equivalent of $4 a day. “If we don’t do this, we don’t get any food to eat," said 65-year-old Usmaan Shekh. “We try to take a break for a few minutes when it gets too hot, but mostly we just continue till we can't.” Shekh and his family are among the estimated 1.5 to 4 million people who scratch out a living searching through India’s waste — and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. In Jammu, a northern Indian city in the Himalayan foothills, temperatures this summer have regularly topped 43 degrees Celsius (about 110 Fahrenheit). At least one person who died in northern India's recent heat wave was identified as a garbage picker. The landfills themselves seethe internally as garbage decomposes, and the rising heat of summer speeds and intensifies the process. That increases emissions of gases such as methane and carbon dioxide that are dangerous to breathe. And almost all landfill fires come in summer, experts say, and can burn for days. At the Jammu landfill, small fires dotted the massive pile, sending up plumes of smoke as two men hauled a frayed tarp loaded with garbage on the day Associated Press journalists visited. A 6-year-old boy clutched an armful of plastic sandals. As other pickers occasionally sheltered from the heat, birds wheeled overhead, occasionally touched down in their own search for scraps. Parts of northern India scorched by extreme heat with New Delhi on high alert India generates at least 62 million tons of waste annually, according to federal government records, and some of its landfills are literal mountains of garbage, like the Ghaziabad landfill outside New Delhi. And while a 2016 law made it mandatory to segregate waste so that hazardous material doesn't make its way to landfills, the law has been poorly enforced, adding to the risk of waste pickers. “Since they mostly just use their hands, they are already contaminated by touching everything from diapers to diabetes syringes,” said Bharati Chaturvedi, founder of the New Delhi-based Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group. Chaturvedi, who has worked with waste pickers for more than two decades, said extreme heat has added new risks to waste pickers who are already victims of social discrimination and appalling work conditions. “It’s been a terrible, terrible, terrible year,” she said. “They already expect to suffer from the heat and that gives them a lot of anxiety, because they don’t know if they’ll make it, if they’ll survive it (the summer).” Chaturvedi said this year’s heat has “been the most catastrophic thing one could imagine” adding that “It’s really very sad to look at how the poor are trying to live somehow, just take their bodies and try to reach the end of this heat wave in some form of being intact.” Heat planning and public health experts say that people who are forced to work outdoors are at most risk due to prolonged heat exposure. Heatstroke, cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney diseases are some of the risks from working outdoors during high heat. Water crisis adds to woes of Khulna residents amid extreme heat Waste pickers "are among the most vulnerable and highly exposed to heat,” said Abhiyant Tiwari, who leads the climate resilience team at the Natural Resources Defense Council’s India program. In New Delhi, some people who work the capital city's estimated 4.2 million annual tons of garbage have cut back from two meals a day to just one, said Ruksana Begum, a 41-year-old waste picker at the Bhalswa landfill in the city. "They are trying to avoid work because of the heat since if they go to work they end up spending more at the hospital than for their food,” Begum said. Tiwari and Chaturvedi both said it's essential to give waste pickers access to a regular water supply, shade, or a relatively cool building near the landfills. They should also be encouraged to avoid working at high heat and given prompt medical care when they need it, they said. Tiwari said India has taken significant steps to devise heat action plans but implementing the plans all across the country is a challenge. “As a society, we have a responsibility to protect them (garbage pickers),” said Tiwari. Simple steps can help, such as offering them water if they’re standing outside people’s homes, rather than asking them to leave, he said. Doctors advise people over 60 to stay indoors as India's northern state swelters in extreme heat Geeta Devi, a 55-year-old garbage picker also at the Bhalswa landfill in New Delhi, says when she feels dizzy in the heat she takes shelter and sometimes someone gives her water or food. But she has to work to earn the 150-200 rupees ($1.80 to $2.40) per day that puts food on the table for her children. “It is difficult to do my job because of the heat. But I have no other job,” she said.

Iran announced Saturday it will hold a runoff presidential election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi after an initial vote saw the top candidates not securing an outright win in the lowest turnout poll ever held in the Islamic Republic. The election this coming Friday will pit reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian against the hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Mohsen Eslami, an election spokesman, announced the result in a news conference carried by Iranian state television. He said of 24.5 million votes cast, Pezeshkian got 10.4 million while Jalili received 9.4 million. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf got 3.3 million. Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had over 206,000 votes. Iranian law requires that a winner gets more than 50% of all votes cast. If not, the race’s top two candidates advance to a runoff a week later. There’s been only one runoff presidential election in Iran’s history: in 2005, when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bested former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Eslami acknowledged the country's Guardian Council would need to offer formal approval, but the result did not draw any immediate challenge from contenders in the race. As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from running, while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognized monitors. There were signs of the wider disenchantment of the public with the vote. More than 1 million votes were voided, according to the results, typically a sign of people feeling obligated to cast a ballot but not wanting to select any of the candidates. The overall turnout was 39.9%, according to the results. The 2021 presidential election that elected Raisi saw a 48.8% turnout, while the March parliamentary election saw a 40.6% turnout. Despite the low turnout, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi praised the public for turning out to a vote conducted without any internationally recognized observers. He thanked the people who voted for their “very valuable presence,” adding that the election was held in “complete safety” and “with very serious competition.” There had been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the 2009 Green Movement protests who remains under house arrest, has also refused to vote along with his wife, his daughter said. There’s also been criticism that Pezeshkian represents just another government-approved candidate. In a documentary on the reformist candidate aired by state TV, one woman said her generation was “moving toward the same level” of animosity with the government that Pezeshkian’s generation had in the 1979 revolution. Jalili, once described by CIA director Bill Burns as “stupefyingly opaque” in negotiations, likely would have won outright had the three hard-liners not split Friday's vote. Qalibaf, a former general in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, had been thought to have a wider power base, despiting being plagued by corruption allegations. He is also known for launching a violent crackdown on Iranian university students in 1999 and reportedly ordering live fire to be used against students in 2003 while serving as the country’s police chief. Now the question becomes whether Pezeshkian will be able to draw voters into his campaign. On Election Day, he offered comments on outreach to the West after voting seemingly aimed at drumming up turnout for his campaign — even after being targeted by a veiled warning from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Though he has received notable endorsements from major reformist figures, including former Presidents (Hassan) Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, Pezeshkian has been a generally underwhelming candidate,” the geopolitical consultancy Eurasia Group said in an analysis before the vote. “Should he qualify for a runoff, his position would weaken as the conservative voting bloc unites behind a single candidate.” Raisi, 63, died in the May 19 helicopter crash that also killed the country’s foreign minister and others. He was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor. Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab. The voting came as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic continues to enrich uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build — should it choose to do so — several nuclear weapons. Despite the recent unrest, there was only one reported attack around the election. Gunmen opened fire on a van transporting ballot boxes in the restive southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, killing two police officers and wounding others, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. The province regularly sees violence between security forces and the militant group Jaish al-Adl, as well as drug traffickers.

Iranians voted Friday in a snap election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, with the race's sole reformist candidate vowing to seek “friendly relations” with the West in an effort to energize supporters in a vote beset by apathy. Voters face a choice between hard-line candidates and the little-known reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon. As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from running, while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognized monitors. The voting comes as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks. Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build — should it choose to do so — several nuclear weapons. The remarks by Pezeshkian come after he and his allies were targeted by a veiled warning from the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over their outreach to the United States. Pezeshkian's comments, made after he cast his ballot, appeared to be aimed boosting turnout as public apathy has grown pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes and mass protests. He seemed to hope that invoking the possibility of Iran emerging from its isolation would motivate people otherwise dissilusioned with Iranian politics. A higher turnout typically aids those like Pezeshkian in the reformist movement that seeks to change its Shiite theocracy from within. While Iran's 85-year-old Khamenei has the final say on all matters of state, presidents can bend the country's policies toward confrontation or negotiation with the West. However, given the record-low turnout in recent elections, it remains unclear just how many Iranians will take part in Friday's poll. Pezeshkian, who voted at a hospital near the capital, Tehran, appeared to have that in mind as he responded to a journalist's question about how Iran would interact with the West if he was president. “God willing, we will try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel," the 69-year-old candidate said. Israel, long Iran's regional archenemy, faces intense criticism across the Mideast over its grinding war in the Gaza Strip. He also responded to a question about a renewed crackdown on women over the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, less than two years after the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide demonstrations and violent security force response. “No inhuman or invasive behavior should be made against our girls, daughters and mothers,” he said. A higher turnout could boost Pezeshkian’s chances, and the candidate may have been counting on social media to spread his remarks, as all television broadcasters in the country are state-controlled and run by hard-liners. But it remains unclear if he can gain the momentum needed to draw voters to the ballot. There have been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the 2009 Green Movement protests who remains in house arrest, also has refused to vote with his wife, his daughter said. There's also been criticism that Pezeshkian represents just another government-approved candidate. One woman in a documentary on Pezeshkian aired by state TV said her generation was “moving toward the same level" of animosity with the government that Pezeshkian's generation had in the 1979 revolution. Analysts broadly describe the race as a three-way contest. There are two hard-liners, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and the parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. A Shiite cleric, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, also has remained in the race despite polling poorly. Pezeshkian has aligned himself with figures such as former President Hassan Rouhani under whose administration Tehran struck the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The voting began just after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump concluded their first televised debate for the U.S. presidential election, during which Iran came up. Trump described Iran as “broke” under his administration and highlighted his decision to launch a 2020 drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani. That attack was part of a spiral of escalating tensions between America and Iran since Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. in 2018 from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Iranian state media made a point to publish images of voters lined up in the city of Kerman near Soleimani's grave. State television later broadcast images of polling places across the country with modest lines. Onlookers did not see significant lines at many polling centers in Tehran, reminiscent of the low turnout seen in Iran’s recent parliamentary election in March. Khamenei cast one of the election's first votes. “People’s turnout with enthusiasm, and higher number of voters — this is a definite need for the Islamic Republic,” Khamenei said. More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 to 30. Iranian law requires that a winner gets more than 50% of all votes cast. If that doesn't happen, the race's top two candidates will advance to a runoff a week later. There's been only one runoff presidential election in Iran's history, in 2005, when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bested former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The 63-year-old Raisi died in the May 19 helicopter crash that also killed the country's foreign minister and others. He was seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader. Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the death of Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.

Philippine troops killed at least 10 suspected communist guerrillas in a clash in a remote northern area in the latest blow to a decades-old insurgency that has weakened considerably, with only about a thousand guerrillas remaining, military and security officials said Friday. Army troops caught up with about 20 New People’s Army guerrillas who were withdrawing from an earlier clash with government forces last week, sparking a firefight Wednesday that killed 10 rebels, including three commanders, near a village in Pantabangan town in Nueva Ecija province, the army said. Thirteen rifles and a pistol were recovered from the area of the fighting, which was near a key dam, it said. Troops were pursuing about 10 other guerrillas who withdrew from the remote area, regional army spokesperson Maj. Jimson Masangkay said by telephone. Brig. Gen. Norwin Joseph Pasamonte, an army infantry brigade commander, commended the troops but expressed sadness over the rebel deaths. “The government did not fail in appealing to them to surrender and return to normal life,” Pasamonte said in a statement, adding that the deaths should help convince the remaining guerrillas to give up. Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte resigns from posts in Marcos' Cabinet Nueva Ecija, a rice-growing region in the north, used to be a hotbed of the communist insurgency decades ago, but less than 50 Maoist guerrillas remain in the area, Masangkay said. Last November, the government and the communist rebels agreed to resume talks aimed at ending the armed insurgency, one of Asia’s longest, after meeting in the Norwegian capital of Oslo to address key obstacles to intermittent peace negotiations, according to Norwegian mediators. Actual peace talks, however, have not restarted under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 54 people are confirmed dead in a landslide that buried a gold-mining village in south Philippines Philippine officials say about 1,000 communist fighters remain after years of rebel setbacks, surrenders and factionalism. Peace talks brokered by Norway collapsed under previous President Rodrigo Duterte after both sides accused the other of continuing deadly attacks despite the negotiations.

Iranians are voting on Friday to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a May helicopter crash in the country's northwest along with the foreign minister and several other officials. Analysts broadly describe the race as a three-way contest. There are two hard-liners, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and the parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. Then there’s the reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, who has aligned himself with those seeking a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. After record-low turnout in recent elections, it remains unclear how many Iranians will take part in Friday’s poll. While 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has final say on all matters of state, presidents can bend Iran toward confrontation or negotiations with the West. Sole reform candidate says he'll seek better ties 'with all countries except Israel’ The sole reformist running in Iran’s presidential election told journalists after voting: “God willing, we will try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel.” The remark by Masoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon who seeks a return to the atomic accord and better relations with the West, came after he faced a thinly veiled warning from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his outreach to the United States. With the comment, Pezeshkian signals his effort to energize those who want more engagement with the West after the collapse of the country’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. However, close ties to the West — particularly the U.S. — would be anathema to the hard-liners he faces. In Iraq, Iranian workers, pilgrims and prisoners cast votes abroad BAGHDAD — Iranian residents of Iraq and pilgrims visiting Shiite religious shrines cast votes Friday at the country’s six Iranian consulates in federal Iraq and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north, and at mobile voting stations in other areas of the country.   “We have fixed centers, consulates and mobile polling stations that go to (Iranian) workers in companies operating in Iraq,” said Mohammad Kazem Al-Sadegh, Iran’s ambassador to Iraq. “Even some prisoners who are present have coordinated with the government so that they can cast their votes. The electoral process will go smoothly today, God willing.” Baghdad has close relations with Tehran, and current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of pro-Iran factions. At the same time, Iraq has attempted to maintain good economic and military relations with Washington. That balance has become increasingly difficult over the past nine months against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have launched drone attacks against U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria and targets in Israel. Two candidates drop out of Iran presidential election, due to take place Friday amid voter apathy The only cleric in the race is accused of violating human rights and promises change in foreign policy Candidate Mostafa Pourmohammadi, the only Shiite cleric running, cast his vote in Tehran and expressed hope for high turnout. Pourmohammadi, who served as interior minister under hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and later as justice minister under relative moderate President Hassan Rouhani, said “We hope that our people turn today into one of the best days in their history with a good choice and high turnout." In 2006, the United States State Department declared Pourmohammadi a “notorious human rights violator,” accusing him of playing a leading role in the mass execution of several thousand political prisoners at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison in 1988. The State Department also linked him to the so-called “chain murders” of activists and others in the 1990s. He’s insisted the next president must deal with the world and criticized Iran’s arming of Russia in the war in Ukraine — not because the weapons are used to kill of civilians, but because he felt Tehran isn't getting enough back from Moscow for its support. His campaign is likely counting on the backing of clerics and traditionalists. With turnout still unclear, more voters share their thoughts As Iranian state TV showed people lined up to vote, most of the polling stations The Associated Press visited in early hours of voting — mostly on the north side of Tehran — were not crowded. Mahmoud Darrehei, a 49-year-old teacher, said he voted for heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian, the only reformist candidate in the race. “This is the first time I've voted since 2005," adding that he saw Pezeshkian as able to solve problems caused by years of hard-line governments. At another polling station, Maryam Aalipour, 32, a mother of two clad head-to-toe in a black veil, said she voted for hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. “He is the cleanest candidate in the election. He knows all problems of the country and he is able to resist the U.S. pressures," she said. Aria Rahimi, a 37-year-old who runs in a shop in Tehran's upmarket Mandela Street, said he voted for Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of parliament. “I voted for Qalibaf before opening the shop," he said. "We need a president who has experience in managing some important body like parliament or police. Qalibaf is the best among them in this regard." Iranian voters speak As voters cast ballots in Iran’s presidential election, some are sharing their thoughts with The Associated Press. Iran's supreme leader calls for 'maximum' turnout for presidential election as voter apathy high Toosi, who gave only his first name, said he would cast his ballot for someone “who listens to the leader, is revolutionary and is loyal to the principles of the revolution.” "Someone who’s not focused on the West, but focusing on our domestic capacities, on our youth," he added. “Someone who is obsessed about the people and has plans for future and has a very good track record.” Toosi’s comments tracked with what others supporting a hard-line view have said in the campaign. Another voter, who gave his name as Ghoochian, said he backed Masoud Pezeshkian, the race’s sole reformist candidate. “I’ve know him for years,” the man said. “His stances, honesty and wholesomeness make him the best option. That’s why I voted for him.” Reformist ex-foreign minister says voting is the answer to hard-liners A former Iranian foreign minister who reached the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers has offered a positive assessment of the chances of the sole reformist candidate in Iran’s presidential election. Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke Friday at a polling station in Tehran after casting his ballot. Zarif has been a key advocate for the heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian, who faces three hard-liners in the election. “Hopefully, people will go and choose for themselves, and hopefully, if there is a large turnout, it will become clear who is the majority and who is the minority,” Zarif said. Zarif also quoted what he said was a foreign proverb abroad, that bad politicians are elected by good people who do not vote. “Now is an opportunity to vote,” he added. Zarif and Pezeshkian received a thinly veiled warning from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier in the week over their desire to negotiate with the West, particularly the United States. Iran's acting president says he has no security concerns about vote Iran’s acting president Mohammad Mokhber has cast his vote and said that there are no security concerns in election. “We have no security concerns for the elections,” Mokhber said in comments aired by state television. “The polling stations and its branches are properly placed in such a way that there is no point in the country or even outside the country where voting is not possible.” Mokhber has served as acting president in the wake of the May helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi. He was Raisi’s first vice president, but did not apply to run in the election. Supreme leader calls for public to vote Iran’s supreme leader called on the public to vote in the snap election to replace hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave brief remarks Friday, speaking to journalists gathered in Tehran to cover him voting. “I don’t see any reason for doubt,” Khamenei said at the ceremony in a mosque attached to his offices. Khamenei said a high turnout was a “definite need” for the Islamic Republic. He also called the election an “important political test.” Parliament speaker, Tehran mayor, a heart surgeon on race for Iran's next president Raisi, 63, had been seen as a protégé of Khamenei and a possible successor for the supreme leader position in Iran, which has final say over all matters of state in the Shiite theocracy. How does Iran vote? Any Iranian 18 or older can vote in Friday’s election. There are 58,640 polling centers around the country, set up in mosques, schools and other public buildings. A voter first needs to show their national ID card and fill out a form. They then dip an index fingers in ink, making a print on the form, while officials stamp their ID so they can’t vote twice. On the secret ballot, a voter writes down the name and the numerical code of the candidate they are voting for and drops it into a ballot box. Voting lasts from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., though authorities routinely keep polls open at least several hours later. What power does an Iranian president have? Iranian presidents serve four-year terms and are limited to serving two terms. Iran’s president is subordinate to the supreme leader and over the recent years, the supreme leader’s power appears to have grown stronger amid tensions with the West. However, a president can bend the state’s policies on both domestic issue and foreign affairs. Former President Hassan Rouhani, for example, struck the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers with the blessing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The hard-line tact taken by the late President Ebrahim Raisi also had Khamenei’s backing. How is Iran ruled? Iran describes itself as an Islamic Republic. The Shiite theocracy holds elections and has elected representatives passing laws and governing on behalf of its people. However, the supreme leader has the final say on all state matters and the Guardian Council must approve all laws passed by the parliament. Those who led Iran’s Green Movement after hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed 2009 re-election remain under house arrest. Security forces answering only to the supreme leader also routinely arrest dual nationals and foreigners, using them as pawns in international negotiations. Mass protests in recent years have seen bloody crackdowns on dissent. Meanwhile, hard-liners now hold all levers of power within the country. The Guardian Council approves all candidates and also has never allowed a woman to run for president. It routinely rejects candidates calling for dramatic reform, stifling change.

President of China Xi Jinping on Friday announced 1,000 scholarships under the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Scholarship of Excellence and 100,000 training opportunities to Global South countries in the coming five years. He said while delivering his speech at the conference marking the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence held at the Great hall of the people in Beijing. There are a total of 78 countries in the Global South, including Bangladesh. He said China will establish a Global South research center to better support Global South cooperation and will also launch a Global South youth leaders program. Saying that China will continue to make good use of the China-U.N. Peace and Development Fund, the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, and the Climate Change South-South Cooperation Fund, he said it will work with interested parties to set up a tripartite center of excellence for the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, so US to facilitate growth in Global South countries. Russia keen to increase  number of scholarships for Bangladeshi students "It will renew the China-IFAD South-South and Triangular Cooperation Facility, and make an additional Renminbi contribution equivalent to 10 million US dollar to be used to support agricultural development of the Global South. China is ready to discuss free trade arrangements with more Global South countries, continue to support the WTO’s Aid for Trade initiative, and renew its contribution to the WTO’s China Program,he also said. Welcoming more Global South countries to join the Initiative on International Trade and Economic Cooperation Framework for Digital Economy and Green Development, Xi said  

Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese people after a raid at a villa on the resort island of Bali, officials said Friday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charged them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we know that they are targeting people in Malaysia. They did their activities in Indonesia but the victims are in other countries, so it is very difficult to fulfill the criminal elements,” Godam said. More cooperation needed among countries to prevent cybercrimes, says IGP He added the 103 will be deported soon. Immigration authorities conducted the raid Wednesday at a villa in Kukuh village in Tabanan district and detained 91 men and 12 women. Computers and cellphones were also seized, they said. “They are suspected of not having documents and misuse of immigration permits. Currently, the possibility of cybercrime is being investigated based on the number of computers and cellphones found at the scene,” Silmy Karim, the director general of immigration, said in a statement Thursday. Authorities distributed photos showing dozens of detainees lying on their stomachs next to a swimming pool and the three-story villa. All are being held at a detention center in Denpasar, Bali, officials said. FBI: Cybercrimes on the rise because of sophisticated scams Authorities said they are investigating whether the group might have ties to international syndicates. Indonesia’s Directorate General of Immigration plans to carry out another joint operation to monitor foreign nationals in Bali. It aims to ensure that foreigners are staying on the island in accordance with regulations and to maintain order and security.

An appeals court in Pakistan Thursday upheld the conviction and seven-year prison sentence of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife for their 2018 marriage which was found to be unlawful, officials said. The decision drew strong condemnation from Khan's supporters and his party who were expecting the couple to be freed on bail. The verdict by Judge Afzal Majoka came two days after the conclusion of the arguments from the defense lawyer and petitioner, who is the former husband of Khan's wife Bushra Bibi. His legal team said they would challenge the court's decision. In February, Khan and his wife were sentenced to seven years in prison after a court concluded that the couple violated the law that a woman must wait three months before marrying again. Bibi, Khan’s third wife, was a spiritual healer previously married to a man who claimed they divorced in November 2017, less than three months before she married Khan. Bibi says they divorced in August 2017. The couple denied they violated the three-month waiting period — a requirement of Islamic law and upheld by Pakistan. Since his ouster from power in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in the parliament, Khan has been facing more than 150 court cases, including inciting people to violence after his arrest in May 2023. He is serving multiple prison terms at Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. He has denied any wrongdoing and his supporters say the charges are politically motivated. During nationwide riots in May, Khan’s supporters attacked several military installations, stormed an air base in Mianwali in the eastern Punjab province and torched a building housing state-run Radio Pakistan in the northwest. The violence subsided only when Khan was released at the time by the Supreme Court. Khan, who remains the country's popular opposition leader, was again arrested in August 2023 when a court handed him a three-year jail sentence for corruption. Since then, he has not been seen publicly as his trials were held at prisons for security reasons. Thursday's ruling was condemned by supporters from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which has a strong presence in the parliament. “Absolutely ridiculous," said Omar Ayub, a top leader of the party. The latest development came two days after a U.S. congressional resolution called “the full and independent investigation of claims of interference or irregularities" in Pakistan’s Feb. 8 vote, drawing a strong reaction from Islamabad. The resolution was seen as a boost for Khan’s party which has insisted that its victory was converted into a defeat by the country’s Election Commission, a charge it denied. But Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday “we believe in constructive dialogue and engagement based on mutual respect and understanding” and “such resolutions are therefore neither constructive nor objective.” It said the resolution “stems from an incomplete understanding of the political situation and electoral process in Pakistan”.

Twenty-one critically ill children were set to exit Gaza on Thursday in the first medical evacuation since the territory's sole travel crossing was shut down in early May, Palestinian officials said. The nearly nine-month Israel-Hamas war has devastated Gaza’s health sector and forced most of its hospitals to shut down. Health officials say thousands of people need medical treatment abroad, including hundreds of urgent cases. Family members bid a tearful goodbye to the children as they and their escorts left the Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis bound for the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with Israel. It was not clear where they would receive treatment. The Israeli military body that coordinates civilian affairs in Gaza did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the only one available for people to travel in or out, shut down after Israeli forces captured it during their operation in the city early last month. Egypt has refused to reopen its side of the crossing until the Gaza side is returned to Palestinian control. Six of the children were transferred to the Nasser Hospital from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City earlier this week. Five have malignant cases of cancer and one suffers from metabolic syndrome. That evacuation was organized by the World Health Organization, which could not immediately be reached for comment. At a press conference at Nasser Hospital on Thursday, Dr. Mohammed Zaqout, the head of Gaza's hospitals, said the evacuation of the 21 children was being done in coordination with the WHO and three American charities. Zaqout said over 25,000 patients in Gaza require treatment abroad, including some 980 children with cancer, a quarter of whom need “urgent and immediate evacuation.” He said the cases included in Thursday’s evacuation are “a drop in the ocean” and that the complicated route through Kerem Shalom and into Egypt cannot serve as an alternative to the Rafah crossing. At Nasser Hospital earlier on Thursday, many of the families appeared anxious. Most relatives had to stay behind, and even those allowed to accompany the patients did not know their final destination. Nour Abu Zahri wept as he kissed his young daughter goodbye. The girl has severe burns on her head from an Israeli airstrike. He said he didn’t get clearance to leave Gaza with her, though her mother did. “It’s been almost 10 months, and there is no solution for the hospitals here,” he said. Kamela Abukweik burst into tears after her son got on the bus heading to the crossing with her mother. Neither she nor her husband were cleared to leave. “He has tumors spread all over his body and we don’t know what the reason is. And he constantly has a fever,” she said. “I still don’t know where he is going.”

India’s president inaugurated a new parliament on Thursday after national elections, listing the priorities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in coming years, including fast-tracking economic reforms and boosting small and medium-size enterprises to create jobs. President Draupadi Murmu said India’s economy grew the fastest among the world's major nations at an average of 8% over the past four years. The International Monetary Fund has put India’s growth forecast at 6.8% for 2024-25. Modi’s government was elected to a record third term despite failing to win a majority on its own. Modi is dependent on his Hindu nationalist party’s coalition partners to govern the country for another five years. The government will present its 2024-25 budget next month, setting out its vision of making India a developed country by 2047, Murmu said in a speech to the lawmakers. India's Prime Minister Modi will visit Russia, the Kremlin says In India, the presidency is largely a ceremonial position and the prime minister governs the country. The new parliament includes some unexpected winners, including Sikh separatist leader Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, the son of one of the assassins of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. They were elected from northern Punjab state. Punjab suffered a bloody insurgency in the 1980s that led to Gandhi's killing by her Sikh bodyguards at her official residence in New Delhi. Her assassination triggered bloody rioting by her Hindu supporters against Sikhs in northern India. Another new lawmaker is Sheikh Abdul Rashid from Indian-controlled Kashmir. He was arrested in 2019 on terror-funding charges and is currently in jail. Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party has petitioned a Delhi court to allow him to participate the oath-taking ceremony in Parliament. Separatist groups have been fighting for the independence of Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan. In January, the government unveiled a short-term budget ahead of the elections that boosted spending on infrastructure projects and homes for poor villagers and cut the fiscal deficit by reducing subsidies. India and US vow to boost defense, trade ties in first high-level US visit since Modi’s election win The Modi government announced plans to provide skills for young people and boost small and medium enterprises to create jobs. It faced criticism from the opposition during the election campaign for not creating enough jobs despite offering billions of dollars in subsidies to boost manufacturing. The government plans to build 20 million affordable houses over the next five years, adding to the 30 million already built. The government allocated $145 billion for infrastructure projects. The government’s budget last year totaled $550 billion and focused on ramping up capital spending to spur economic growth. India attracted $596 billion in foreign direct investment over the past nine years. Last year, India surpassed the United Kingdom to become the world’s fifth-largest economy with a GDP of $3.7 trillion. The government expects the economy to become the third largest in the next three years with a GDP of $5 trillion.