United News of Bangladesh

Vietnam’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of the year, reflecting mounting pressure from higher fuel prices. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 7.83 percent in the January–March period, down from 8.46 percent growth recorded in the previous quarter, according to the National Statistics Office. Although Vietnam continues to rank among the world’s faster-growing economies, the moderation highlights the strain rising energy costs are placing on both consumers and businesses, reports Al Jazeera . Like other Asian economies dependent on fossil fuels, Vietnam has been significantly affected by the impact of Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key route that typically handles about one-fifth of global oil supplies. The Southeast Asian nation imports around 85 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East, with nearly all of it sourced from Kuwait.

Pakistan’s Punjab province has introduced free public transport services. The decision was announced by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz after the federal government revealed a similar plan for Islamabad. “I encourage everyone to make full use of these facilities and choose public transport for a more convenient, affordable, and sustainable way to travel,” Nawaz said in a post on X late on Friday, shortly after Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi stated that the federal government would pay for public transport in the capital. Earlier in the week, the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania also declared they would remove public transport fares as a way to motivate people to save fuel.

Myanmar’s parliament on Friday elected Min Aung Hlaing, the general who removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in 2021 and has maintained tight control over the country for the past five years, as the country’s new president. The development signals a nominal return to an elected government, but it is widely seen as an attempt to preserve military rule following an election arranged by the army that critics and independent observers said was neither free nor fair. Min Aung Hlaing was one of three candidates nominated for the presidency, but his victory was widely expected as lawmakers from military-backed parties and army-appointed members hold a dominant majority in parliament.

Malaysia will introduce a work-from-home directive for civil servants starting April 15 as part of efforts to reduce energy consumption, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. The directive will apply to employees across government ministries, agencies and government-linked companies, reports Al Jazeera. “The aim is to reduce fuel consumption and ensure the sustainability of energy supply,” Anwar said in a statement late Tuesday. He added that further details of the policy will be announced in the coming weeks. State oil firm Petronas and other relevant authorities are working to secure fuel and power supplies, he said. Malaysia is currently spending nearly $1 billion per month on subsidies to keep fuel prices lower amid rising global energy costs. The move comes as the government seeks to ease pressure on energy resources while maintaining economic stability.

A powerful undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck northern Indonesia on Thursday, toppling buildings, forcing residents to flee, killing at least one person and generating a small tsunami. Waves of up to 75 centimeters (30 inches) above normal tides were recorded at several monitoring stations about 30 minutes after the quake, which had its epicenter in the Molucca Sea. Indonesia’s meteorological agency later lifted the tsunami warning, and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology confirmed there was no destructive threat to the country, located north of the quake’s epicenter. Strong shaking lasting 10 to 20 seconds was reported in Bitung in North Sulawesi province and in Ternate city in neighboring North Maluku province, according to Indonesia’s Disaster Management Agency. Initial assessments indicated light to severe damage in parts of Ternate, including a church and two houses, while damage evaluations were still ongoing in Bitung. Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency said a 70-year-old woman died when a building collapsed in Manado city, North Sulawesi, and another person was injured. At least three people were hospitalized in Ternate due to injuries. Video footage released by the rescue agency showed damaged structures and flattened houses, while television coverage captured residents rushing outdoors and gathering in streets to avoid potential building collapses. Nearly 50 aftershocks were reported in nearby areas following the main quake. “We had just woken up and suddenly the earthquake hit… we all ran out of the house. The shaking was very strong,” said Bitung resident Marten Mandagi. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of more than 280 million people, sits on major seismic fault lines and frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Pakistan and Afghanistan held the first round of peace talks on Wednesday, with China mediating to broker a durable ceasefire after weeks of fighting, two Pakistani officials said. But even as the talks were held, Afghanistan accused Pakistan of firing mortars into its territory. Representatives from the two countries were meeting in Urumqi, in northern China, the officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. The first round of talks concluded on Wednesday afternoon and were expected to continue on Thursday, they said. China has not commented. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs neither confirmed nor denied the talks were taking place. An Afghan official said the five-member Afghan delegation in Urumqi consisted of two officials from the foreign ministry and one each from the defense and interior ministries and from the country’s intelligence agency. The official provided the information on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose details to the press. The talks in Urumqi are seen as a potential relief for millions of people in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, the sources in Pakistan said, adding they may last for days and were only the beginning of a peace process between the two sides. Farid Dehqan, a police spokesman for the eastern Afghan province of Kunar, said Pakistan had fired mortars into Afghan territory late Wednesday, killing two civilians and wounding six others, including four children. He said the shelling was ongoing two hours after it started. The Pakistani army did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ‘Verification mechanism’ According to the sources, the latest round of talks began after both sides accepted China’s offer to mediate to end the fighting. The two sides will continue their talks on Thursday. China has urged both sides to resume dialogue since late February, and its special envoy, Yue Xiaoyong, met his Pakistani counterpart, Mohammad Sadiq, last month after visiting Kabul. Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing a safe haven for militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, especially for the Pakistani Taliban. The group is separate but allied with the Afghan Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies the charge. Pakistan’s former special envoy for Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, expressed hope that the talks, if officially confirmed, would lead to substantive progress. “If both sides reach an agreement as a result of reported talks, the critical issue will be a verification mechanism to ensure Afghan territory is not used for attacks against Pakistan,” he said. The fighting since February has been the most severe between Afghanistan and Pakistan in decades. Shortly after clashes began, Pakistan declared it was in “open war” with Afghanistan, with repeated cross-border clashes as well as airstrikes inside Afghanistan, including several in the Afghan capital Kabul. Afghanistan said a Pakistani airstrike last month hit a drug-treatment center in Kabul, killing more than 400 people. The death toll could not be independently confirmed. Pakistan has disputed the claim and denied targeting civilians, saying it struck an ammunition depot. Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told the AP at the time that Pakistan had “only targeted terrorist infrastructure” in Kabul, not any hospital, saying: “We have just gone after the Afghan Taliban regime, their military setups, their terrorist infrastructure, and all the setups which are supporting or promoting terrorists.” Qatari-mediated ceasefire Although the two sides agreed to a temporary truce during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, fighting later resumed at a lower intensity compared with the heavy clashes seen in February and March, when Pakistan’s air force repeatedly targeted what it said were Pakistani Taliban positions and Afghan military sites. Afghanistan has said the airstrikes hit civilian areas. The two sides have a long history of tense relations, but the recent violence has alarmed the international community, particularly because militant groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, remain present in the region and have sought to regroup. The latest fighting also undermined a Qatari-mediated ceasefire reached in October, which had halted earlier clashes that killed dozens of civilians, security personnel and militants. The two sides dispute casualty figures. Another recent round of talks in Saudi Arabia remained inconclusive. Previous peace talks held in Istanbul in November failed to produce a lasting agreement. It remains unclear who is representing Pakistan and Afghanistan in the latest round of talks in China, according to the officials.

Around 346 people claiming to be descendants of former Bengal ruler Mir Jafar have been removed from the electoral rolls in Murshidabad, leaving them scrambling to prove their citizenship before tribunals, local residents said on Tuesday, Times of India reported. The affected names, previously registered at booth number 121 at Lalbagh Nav Adarsh High School, were marked “under adjudication” during a recent special revision of voters’ lists and subsequently deleted, officials said. Among those struck off is 82‑year‑old Syed Reza Ali Meerza, known locally as “Chhote Nawab,” whose name and those of nine family members, including his son who serves as a Trinamool councillor, were removed despite earlier assurances from election officials that their names would remain on the list. Meerza, a 15th‑generation descendant of Mir Jafar, lives near Killa Nizamat in Lalbagh, a neighbourhood still home to many extended family members. He said their family’s Indian identity is unquestionable and pointed to past legal recognition of their lineage by India’s Supreme Court. The family also highlighted historical claims, including asserting that one ancestor refused to become Pakistan’s president after Partition and helped keep Murshidabad within India. While the family can appeal the deletions before electoral tribunals, they fear the process may not conclude before the first phase of polling on April 23, effectively disenfranchising them in this election. Murshidabad’s district magistrate R Arjun said no formal complaints of widespread deletion have been received so far, but officials will guide those affected on how to approach the tribunal if complaints are filed.

Rescue teams launched a search operation early Tuesday for 27 people believed to be drifting on a raft in Indonesian waters after their boat sank amid rough seas. The vessel had left Taliabu port in North Maluku province shortly after dusk on Sunday and was heading to Kema in North Sulawesi when it went down in waters north of Taliabu Island, said Muhammad Rizal, head of the search and rescue office in Palu. According to the owner of the Nazila 05, the captain reported that high waves damaged the bow, causing the boat to sink during bad weather. “All 27 people on board were able to evacuate using a longboat before the vessel sank,” Rizal said, adding that their whereabouts remain unknown. Family members told authorities that the passengers had secured themselves to a raft, while the National Search and Rescue Agency said a rescue ship was heading toward the suspected area where the raft may be drifting in turbulent waters. Search efforts also include an inflatable boat, with assistance from local fishermen, Rizal added. The Nazila 05 was commonly used for carrying tourists and also operated as a fishing or small passenger vessel. Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, relies heavily on boats for transport. However, maritime accidents are frequent due to lax safety measures and overcrowding.

China’s national carrier has resumed direct flights between Beijing and North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, after a six-year suspension, shortly after passenger train services between the two cities restarted. The Air China flight arrived on Monday and was received by Chinese Ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun along with other diplomats, Chinese state media reported. Passenger train services between the two countries resumed on March 12. Both flights and train services had been halted since early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. North Korea’s national airline, Air Koryo, had already restarted flights between the capitals in 2023. During the pandemic, North Korea banned all foreign tourists but has recently begun easing restrictions. A Russian tour group was allowed to enter the country in 2024. Before the travel ban, Chinese tourists accounted for about 90 percent of all visitors to North Korea. The delay in allowing Chinese tour groups to return had raised questions among observers. China remains North Korea’s largest trading partner and a key ally, although Beijing has repeatedly expressed concern over Pyongyang’s missile tests, which could potentially target South Korea and the United States. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Beijing in September to attend a large military parade, marking the first time in decades that a North Korean leader joined such an event in China.

Nepal’s newly elected lawmakers were sworn in on Thursday, with nearly two-thirds of them belonging to a political party that is less than four years old. The 275 members of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, will serve five-year terms. The election, the first since last year’s youth-led uprising, was won by the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah. Shah is expected to be elected as parliamentary party leader later on Thursday  and formally inform President Ram Chandra Poudel, who will then appoint him as prime minister. Shah is scheduled to take oath on Friday. Nepal expresses interest in deepening ties with Bangladesh The RSP secured 125 directly elected seats and 57 more through proportional representation, taking its total to 182 in the 275-member House. The Nepali Congress finished second with 38 seats. Under Nepal’s electoral system, 165 lawmakers are elected directly, while the remaining 110 seats are distributed proportionally based on parties’ vote share. Shah, also the RSP’s prime ministerial candidate, previously won the 2022 Kathmandu mayoral election and rose to prominence during the 2025 uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli. Founded in 2022, the RSP gained massive public support, challenging the long-dominant Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (UML). Last year’s protests, sparked by a social media ban and grievances over corruption and governance, turned into a массов uprising. Dozens were killed and hundreds injured during clashes between protesters and security forces.