United News of Bangladesh

Hello Kitty turns 50 on Friday. Befitting a pop icon at midlife, the bubble-headed, bow-wearing character's fictional birthday has brought museum exhibits, a theme park spectacle and a national tour. And that's just in Japan, her literal birthplace but not the one listed in her official biography. Confused? Welcome to the party. If there's one thing about Hello Kitty, it's that she's proven adaptable and as much a study in contrasts during her long career. She — and Kitty is a she, according to the company that owns her — may have been conceived as a vessel for the feelings of others, but some women see an empowering symbol in her mouthless face. “Shrewd” is how Mika Nishimura, a design professor at Tokyo’s Meisei University, describes the way Hello Kitty conquered the worlds of commerce, fashion and entertainment. As a tabula rasa open to interpretation, the non-threatening creation was the perfect vehicle for making money, she said. “American feminists have said she doesn't say anything and acquiesces to everyone. But in Japan, we also see how she may appear happy if you're happy, and sad if you're feeling sad," Nishimura told The Associated Press. "It's a product strategy that's sheer genius. By being so adaptable, Kitty gets all those collaborative deals.” The character's semicentennial is evidence of that. Sanrio, the Japanese entertainment company that holds the rights to Hello Kitty’s name and image, kicked off the festivities a year ago with an animation account on TikTok, Roblox games and an avatar for the social networking app Zepeto. There have been anniversary editions of merchandise ranging from pet collars, cosmetics and McDonald's Happy Meals to Crocs and a Baccarat crystal figurine. A gold coin pendant with the image of Hello Kitty holding the number 50 is selling for about 120,000 yen ($800), while a Casio watch costs 18,700 yen ($120). But first, more on the origin story. Unlike Mickey Mouse and Snoopy, Hello Kitty didn’t start as a cartoon. A young Sanrio illustrator named Yuko Shimizu drew her in 1974 as a decoration for stationery, tote bags, cups and other small accessories. The design made its debut on a coin purse the next year and became an instant hit in Japan. As Hello Kitty's commercial success expanded beyond Asia, so did her personal profile. By the late 1970s, Sanrio revealed the character's name as Kitty White, her height as five apples tall and her birthplace as suburban London, where the company said she lived with her parents and twin sister Mimmy. “The main theme of Hello Kitty is friendship. When I first created it, I made a family of which Kitty was a part. But then Hello Kitty started to appear in other settings as the character grew,” Shimizu told the BBC in June. “Sanrio put a lot of effort into building the brand into what it is today.” At some point, Sanrio designated Kitty's birthday as Nov. 1, the same as Shimizu's. Her background was embellished with hobbies that included playing piano, reading and baking. Her TV appearances required co-stars, including a pet cat named Charmmy Kitty that made its debut 20 years ago. But Hello Kitty's 40th birthday brought an update that astonished fans. Sanrio clarified to a Los Angeles museum curator that Kitty, despite her feline features, was a little girl. A company spokesperson repeated the distinction this year, renewing debate online about the requirements for being considered human. “She is supposed to be Kitty White and English. But this is part of the enigma: Who is Hello Kitty? We can't figure it out. We don't even know if she is a cat," art historian Joyce S. Cheng, a University of Oregon associate professor, said. "There is an unresolved indeterminacy about her that is so amazing.” Part of the confusion stems from a misunderstanding of “kawaii,” which is Japanese for “cute” but also connotes a lovable or adorable essence. Sanrio recruited Shimizu and other illustrators to create “kawaii” characters at a time when cute, girlish styles were popular in Japan. But the word is used often in Japanese society, and not only to describe babies and puppies. An elderly man, something as innocuous as an umbrella, a subcompact car or a kitchen utensil, or even a horror movie monster can get labeled “kawaii.” By Western standards, the idea may seem embarrassingly frivolous. But it’s taken seriously in Japan, where the concept is linked with the most honorable instincts. The complexity of “kawaii” may help explain Hello Kitty's enduring appeal across generations and cultures, why Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne released a song titled “Hello Kitty” a decade ago, and why Britain's King Charles wished Hello Kitty a happy 50th birthday when he hosted Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at Buckingham Palace in June. Although Hello Kitty may seem to embody the self-sacrificing woman stereotype, it’s revealing that three women have served as the character's chief designers at Sanrio. Yuko Yamaguchi, who has held the role since 1980, is credited with keeping the character both modern and timeless, giving Kitty black outfits or false eyelashes as trends dictated but never removing the bow from her left ear. “Hello Kitty, this cultural object, has something to tell us about the history of women in East Asia, and how East Asian women modernized themselves and became professional citizens in a modern society,” the University of Oregon's Cheng said. Sanrio has come up with hundreds of creatures, all adorable and cuddly, but none with the lasting power of Hello Kitty. Forget the understated wabi-sabi aesthetic historically associated with Japan. A chameleon-like cat-girl who reflects unabashed kitsch is the cultural ambassador of a consumer-crazed, happy-go-lucky nation. “It’s the anti-wabi sabi, wanting to be as flashy and as bling-bling as possible, like Lady Gaga. In your face, but that’s actually part of the genius, too. It’s powerful,” Cheng said. Leslie Bow, a professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that while many Asian and Asian American women see Hello Kitty as a symbol of defiance, the protective, caretaking instinct aroused by “kawaii” isn't without power. “We take care of our siblings, our babies, our pets, because we are in control. We control their actions. And so that is also the dark side of cute,” Bow said. Sanrio has taken advantage of the character's adaptability by allowing relatively unrestricted use of her image in return for a licensing fee. Just about anything goes for the wee whiskered one, from a growing global empire of Sanrio-sanctioned Hello Kitty cafes to an “augmented reality” cellphone app that shows Kitty dancing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, London's Big Ben and other tourist landmarks. On the unsanctioned side, Hello Kitty even has shown up on guns and vibrators. During a presentation earlier this year in Seoul, Hello Kitty designer Yamaguchi said one of her unfulfilled goals was finding a way “to develop a Hello Kitty for men to fall in love with as well.” But she's still working on it. “I am certain the day will come when men are no longer embarrassed to carry around Hello Kitty," entertainment news site Content Asia quoted Yamaguchi as saying.

A powerful bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded near a vehicle carrying police officers in restive southwest Pakistan on Friday, killing seven people, including five nearby children, officials said. Local police chief Fateh Mohammad said the attack occurred in Mastung, a district in Balochistan province. He said a motorized rickshaw carrying schoolchildren was nearby when the bombing happened, resulting in the deaths of five children, a police officer and a passerby. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatist groups that have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians in recent months. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the chief minister of Balochistan, Sarfraz Bugti, both denounced the bombing and vowed to continue the war against insurgents until they are eliminated from the country. Balochistan is the site of a long-running insurgency, with an array of separatist groups staging attacks mainly on security forces. The groups, including the Baloch Liberation Army, demand independence from the central government. The BLA has also attacked foreigners. Last month, it claimed responsibility for a bombing that targeted Chinese nationals outside an airport in the southern city of Karachi, killing two workers from China and wounding eight people. Thousands of Chinese workers are in Pakistan as part of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which is building major infrastructure projects. Beijing has frequently demanded better security for its nationals in Pakistan. China's ambassador to Pakistan, Jiang Zaidong, urged Pakistan at a seminar this week to take action against the insurgents responsible for “unacceptable” attacks on Chinese working on projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package that includes road construction, power plants and agriculture. Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Thursday expressed her surprise over the ambassador's remarks, saying that Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who also attended the seminar, had said “Pakistan is committed to providing full security to Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan. Our commitment has been conveyed at the senior most levels of the Chinese government.” She said Jiang's statement was “perplexing in view of the positive diplomatic traditions.” One Pakistani hotel chain, Avari, said the government has instructed that transportation and airport transfers for Chinese guests must be arranged by the host or sponsor “via a bomb/bullet-proof vehicle” with security protocols.

Millions of Indians began celebrating the annual Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, by symbolically lighting a record 2.51 million clay oil lamps at dusk on Wednesday on the banks of the river Saryu in a northern Indian city they believe to be the birthplace of the deity Lord Ram. Diwali is the most important festival of the year in India, particularly for the Hindu majority. It is celebrated by socializing and exchanging gifts with loved ones. Many light candles and oil lamps made from clay. Fireworks are set off. In the evening, a special prayer is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who is believed to bring luck and prosperity. A Guinness World Records team presented a certificate to Uttar Pradesh state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath acknowledging the unprecedented number of oil lamps, exceeding last year's 2.2 million. Drone cameras closely monitored the event. The celebrations took place within the northern city of Ayodhya, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi nine months ago opened a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a historic mosque following a Supreme Court decision, seen as a political win for the populist leader. The establishment of the temple dedicated to Lord Ram fulfilled a long-standing demand by millions of Hindus. On Wednesday, thousands of volunteers lit lamps, called “diyas,” along riverbanks, lanes, fronts and roofs of homes. “More than 30,000 volunteers, primarily college students, worked meticulously to maintain the systematic pattern of burning lamps for the prescribed time,” said Dr. Pratibha Goyal, vice chancellor of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, who coordinated the massive effort. The lamps lit along 55 riverfront steps of the river Saryu created a captivating display along 1.5 kilometers (one mile). As the lamps remained lit for over five minutes, government spokesperson Shishir Singh said Ayodhya achieved its seventh consecutive world record for the largest display. Singh said that around 91,000 liters (about 24,000 gallons) of mustard oil was used to light the lamps. The event transformed Ayodhya into a city of lights amid devotional bhajan singing. A laser show depicting scenes from the epic Ramayana added to the experience, and an eco-friendly fireworks show lit the skyline. Traditional decorations, including elaborate arches and grand gateways along the main highways, captured the festive atmosphere as folk cultural performances drew pilgrims to the streets. The festival also featured a praying ceremony performed by 1,100 priests along riverbanks. Security was tightened across the city. Paramilitary commandos, bomb detectors, dog squads, face-recognition technology, and real-time monitoring drones were deployed, police officer Rajkaran Nayyar said. Major Hindu festivals like Dussehra and Diwali are associated with mythological tales of Lord Ram extolling the virtues of truth, sacrifice, and ethical governance. Diwali's main celebrations are held across the country on Thursday.

Opponents of Myanmar’s military government on Wednesday welcomed the latest sanctions imposed by the European Union, the U.K. and Canada on individuals and entities supplying aviation fuel and equipment to the army, which has stepped deadly airstrikes. The army is currently on the defensive against ethnic militias in much of the country as well as hundreds of armed guerrilla groups collectively called the People’s Defense Forces, formed to fight to restore democracy after the military seized power from the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021. Over the past year, the army has suffered unprecedented battlefield defeats, and has been increasingly relying on indiscriminate air and artillery strikes. “The human rights violations taking place across Myanmar, including airstrikes on civilian infrastructure, by the Myanmar military is unacceptable and the impact on innocent civilians is intolerable,” Britain’s minister for the Indo-Pacific, Catherine West said in the statement. She said the sanctions target the suppliers of equipment and aviation fuel to the Myanmar military. "Alongside the EU and Canada, we are today further constraining the military’s access to funds, equipment and resources,” she said. Six entities on the sanctions list include Asia Sun Group Company Limited, Swan Energy Company Limited, Myan-Oil Company Limited, Rich Ray Trading Company Limited, Progress Technology Support Company and King Royal Technologies Company Limited. August 2024 saw the highest number of airstrikes on record by the Myanmar military, killing dozens of civilians, West said. Canada also separately imposed sanctions on three people including Myanmar’s Industry Minister Charlie Than. Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s main opposition group, the National Unity Government, thanked the Western countries for the sanctions and called for similar measures against the remaining companies and key resources that support the military and cooperate with it. The Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar, an independent think tank group, counted at least 7,186 airstrikes in at least 156 townships since the army takeover. Hundreds of civilians have been reported killed.

China said all systems are ready to launch the next crew to its orbiting space station early Wednesday, the latest mission to make the country a major space power. The two men and one woman will replace the astronauts who've lived on the Tiangong space station for the last six months. The new mission commander, Cai Xuzhe, went to space in the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022, while the other two, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, are first-time space travelers both born in the 1990s. Song was an air force pilot and Wang an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation who will be the crew’s payload specialist. Wang will be the third Chinese woman aboard a crewed mission. The three appeared at a brief news conference Tuesday behind protective glass, declaring their intention to carry out their scientific projects on the space station and “bring pride to the fatherland.” The Shenzhou-19 spaceship carrying the trio is due to launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China atop a Long March-2F rocket, the backbone of China’s crewed space missions. Launch time is set for 4:27 a.m., according to the space agency’s spokesperson Lin Xiqiang. China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to the United States’ concerns over the program’s complete control by the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Communist Party’s military arm. Besides putting a space station into orbit, the space agency has landed an explorer on Mars. It aims to put a person on the moon before 2030, which would make China the second nation after the United States to do so. It also plans to build a research station on the moon. The moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. — still the leader in space exploration — and others, including Japan and India. America is planning to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, though NASA pushed the target date back to 2026 earlier this year. During the upcoming mission, the space station will receive resupplies from an uncrewed craft, aiding them in performing space walks and replacing and installing equipment to protect the Tiangong station from space debris, much of which created by China. The mission is due to end in late April or early May. Lin, the spokesman, said China has measures in place in the event that the astronauts must return earlier. China launched its first crewed mission in 2003, becoming only the third nation to do so after the former Soviet Union and the United States. The space program is a source of enormous national pride and a hallmark of China's technological advances over the past two decades.

A huge explosion of fireworks injured more than 150 people at a religious festival in a temple in southern India, a report said Tuesday. The explosion occurred Monday night when a fireworks storage facility near Veerarkavu temple caught fire, the Press Trust of India reported, citing the police. It happened in Kasargod, which is nearly 580 kilometers (360 miles) northwest of Thiruvananthapuram, the Kerala state capital, The injured were treated at various hospitals in Kasargod, Kannur, and Mangaluru districts. Eight of them had serious injuries. There is a huge demand in India for firecrackers, which are used in religious festivals and weddings. Fatal accidents occur nearly every year as people work in makeshift factories without proper safety measures. An explosion at a fireworks factory in southern India July last year killed eight people. In 2018, a massive fire at a firecracker factory in New Delhi killed 17 workers. A year earlier, a blast killed 23 people while they were making firecrackers in a village in Madhya Pradesh state in central India.

North Korea said Tuesday its top diplomat is visiting Russia, in another sign of their deepening relations as rival South Korea and Western nations say the North has sent thousands of troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said a delegation led by Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui departed for Russia on Monday, but didn’t specify the purpose of the visit. The announcement of Choe’s visit came hours after the Pentagon said North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia, who are expected to arrive in battlefields in Ukraine within “the next several weeks.” North Korea sent about 10,000 troops to Russia to fight in Ukraine: Pentagon South Korean and Western leaders have expressed concern that North Korean involvement could help prolong Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and that Russia may offer technology in return that could advance the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program. Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters Monday that some of the North Korean soldiers have already moved closer to Ukraine and were believed to be heading for the Kursk border region, where Russia has been struggling to push back a Ukrainian incursion. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in telephone calls with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday shared South Korean intelligence assessments that North Korean troops could be deployed to battlefronts “more quickly than anticipated.” He called for closer coordination with European governments aimed at “monitoring and blocking “illegal exchanges between Pyongyang and Moscow, Yoon’s office said in a statement. After initially denying the claims about North Korean troop deployments, Pyongyang and Moscow have adopted a vaguer stance, asserting that their military cooperation conforms with international law without directly admitting the presence of North Korean forces in Russia. North Korea has also been accused of providing millions of artillery shells and other military equipment to Russia to fuel its war in Ukraine. The United States and its partners have described Russia's procurement of North Korean personnel and supplies as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and raised suspicions that Moscow is helping Pyongyang to evade sanctions and unlawfully finance its weapons program. “The illegal military collusion between Russia and North Korea poses a significant security threat to the international community and a serious matter that could potentially harm our security. We must thoroughly examine all possibilities and prepare countermeasures,” Yoon said in a Cabinet meeting in Seoul on Tuesday. Efforts by Russia, Iran and China to sway US voters, Microsoft report says Yoon last week raised the possibility of supplying Ukraine with weapons while saying Seoul is preparing countermeasures that could be rolled out in stages depending on the degree of military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. South Korea, a growing arms exporter, has provided humanitarian aid and other non-lethal support to Ukraine and joined U.S.-led economic sanctions against Moscow. It has so far resisted calls by Kyiv and NATO to directly supply Ukraine with weapons, citing a longstanding policy of not providing arms to countries engaged in active conflict.  

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued a warning regarding a new online fraud dubbed "digital arrest," which has reportedly defrauded individuals of millions of rupees in the country. The scam involves fraudsters reaching out to victims via video calls, posing as police or tax officials and falsely accusing them of criminal activities, reports BBC. BRICS Summit: Putin hosts Xi, Modi, other Global South leaders in move to counter western influence Modi explained that the scammers instruct their victims to remain at home, asserting they are under a "digital arrest" and telling them not to contact anyone, it said. The Indian prime minister emphasised that digital arrest does not exist in Indian law, and no enforcement agency would ever ask citizens for personal details by phone or video call. The fraudulent operations often feature scammers who create a convincing environment, appearing on screen in setups mimicking police stations or tax offices, complete with uniforms and fake ID cards. They typically claim that the victim is involved in illegal activities, such as sending parcels containing drugs, or linking their phone to criminal acts. Reports of deepfake videos and falsified arrest warrants being used as part of the scam have also emerged, the BBC report said. The alarming rise in these "digital arrest" incidents has prompted investigations. In August, Bengaluru police apprehended several individuals after a victim reported being scammed out of over 20 million rupees. The fraudsters had threatened the victim with legal repercussions for an alleged parcel containing drugs that had supposedly been seized, it added. In light of this troubling trend, Indian Prime Minister Modi advised citizens to take three key actions to protect themselves: “First, stay calm and do not panic. Record or take a screen recording if possible. Second, remember that no government agency will threaten you online. Third, take action by calling the national cyber helpline and also inform police about the crime”.

Tree-cutting began Monday in the Jingu Gaien park district of central Tokyo, a flashpoint for more than a year between environmentalists and real estate interests. Developers led by real-estate company Mitsui Fudosan have a 10-year, multi-billion-dollar plan to build three skyscrapers on the coveted land and to raze a historical baseball stadium, replacing it with a new stadium. A small group of protesters gathered Monday. They object to the destruction of trees in a city that lacks green space and is seeing many parks handed over to commercial interests. The plan is backed by Tokyo Gov. Yuiko Koike, who once was Japan’s environmental minister.

Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated. Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns, but violence targeting the health workers and police assigned to escort them is common. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. The campaign is the third this year and will continue until Sunday “in response to the alarming increase in polio cases,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister's adviser for the polio eradication program. “We are re-energized in our efforts to combat polio,” she said in a statement. During the door-to-door campaign, children younger than 5 will be vaccinated and given drops of Vitamin A supplements to enhance their immunity. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met with front-line health workers, urging them to ensure no child was left unvaccinated by going door-to-door. 19 militants killed in separate shootouts in Pakistan Anwarul Haq, who is the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, also urged parents to fully cooperate with polio workers. “Polio has no cure, but it can be prevented with this readily available vaccine,” he said. Pakistan has recorded 41 cases across 71 districts so far this year, Farooq said. Most were reported from southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh province, following by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and eastern Punjab province. The surge in cases in new locations is worrying authorities since previous cases were from the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan, where the Taliban government in September suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign. Authorities in Pakistan say the Afghan Taliban’s recent decision to stop door-to-door anti-polio campaign will have repercussions beyond the Afghan border, as people from both sides frequently travel to each other’s country. The World Health Organization has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the spread of polio has never been stopped. It is one of the world’s most infectious diseases, so it continues to spread anywhere people are not fully vaccinated. In severe cases, polio can cause permanent paralysis and death.