United News of Bangladesh

The Portuguese government said on Thursday that a nationwide state of alert will take effect from Friday as extreme heat are expected to last till next Monday. Exceptional emergency measures will also be taken to reduce wildfire risks. Portugal's Interior Minister Luis Neves made the announcement following a meeting of the Integrated Prevention and Operations Command (CIPO) at the Leiria Fire Brigade, warning of a "very significant deterioration in weather conditions." "For major emergencies, the government will issue a state of alert, which involves exceptional measures for extraordinary and difficult circumstances and also triggers emergency legislation," Neves said, calling on all citizens to cooperate. Under the emergency measures, work in forest areas involving any type of machinery will be prohibited, except for operations directly related to combating rural wildfires. Brush-cutting equipment with metal blades or discs will be banned to be used in other rural areas. Setting off fireworks are also prohibited. According to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), 12 of the 18 districts on Portugal's mainland will be under red alert -- the highest level on a three-tier scale -- from Thursday till at least Saturday due to forecast of "extremely high temperature". The remaining six districts are also under elevated warning levels, meaning that virtually the entire mainland area faces maximum or very high wildfire risk.

English communication skills have become as essential as technical expertise for career success in today's rapidly evolving job market, speakers have said at a round-table discussion as Cambridge University Press & Assessment Bangladesh Ltd has launched Linguaskill, the globally recognised AI-enabled online English proficiency test. The event titled, "From Curriculum to Career: Aligning English Communication Skills with Hiring and Workplace Success," brought together vice chancellors, academics, corporate leaders, human resource professionals and policymakers to discuss how closer collaboration between universities and industry can better prepare graduates for the evolving job market. Speaking as the keynote speaker, Arun Rajamani, managing director for South Asia at Cambridge University Press & Assessment, said industries worldwide are increasingly prioritising practical English proficiency over traditional assessment methods. “Internationally, we are witnessing a shift where industries are prioritising practical, real-world English proficiency assessment. Cambridge has developed a modern, market-aligned solution that helps organisations evaluate English skills in a way that truly reflects the demands of today’s global environment,” he said. The programme marked the official launch of Linguaskill, Cambridge’s AI-enabled, online and on-demand English assessment designed to provide fast, flexible and internationally benchmarked evaluations of English language skills for educational institutions, employers and government organisations. Participants agreed that English communication skills have become essential for employability, alongside technical expertise. They emphasised that graduates also need critical thinking, interpersonal and presentation skills, adaptability, teamwork and a positive attitude to succeed in today’s workplace. The organisers said the event reaffirmed Cambridge University Press & Assessment’s commitment to supporting Bangladesh’s education sector by helping learners develop internationally benchmarked English communication skills to enhance employability and competitiveness in the global workforce.

At least six people were killed and many others injured after a fire ripped through a high-rise apartment building in the Belgian city of Antwerp on Wednesday, authorities said. Police said the blaze was triggered by a technical malfunction on the ground floor of the 10-storey residential building in the Linkeroever district. The building contains about 80 apartments and houses more than 200 residents. The fire spread rapidly, sending thick smoke into the air, with the upper floors appearing to suffer the heaviest damage. Emergency crews evacuated the building, while residents in the surrounding area were advised to keep their windows and doors closed and switch off ventilation systems because of the smoke. Those forced to leave the building were taken to a temporary shelter. Firefighters battled the blaze under difficult conditions due to its intensity, with multiple firefighting, police and emergency medical teams deployed to the scene. A specialized drone unit also assisted the operation. A medical emergency plan was activated to ensure nearby hospitals could cope with the large number of casualties. Television footage showed one resident leaning over a balcony amid dense smoke in an apparent attempt to breathe before moving to a nearby window. By early afternoon, the fire had largely been brought under control, although emergency personnel remained at the scene. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever expressed sympathy for the victims and displaced residents, while thanking firefighters and other emergency responders for their efforts to rescue those affected and contain the blaze. Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident. Linkeroever, located on the western bank of the Scheldt River opposite central Antwerp, is a densely populated residential district known for its high-rise apartment buildings and large public park.

Venezuelan top-flight club Deportivo La Guaira has confirmed that Argentine defender Lucas Trejo's wife and two children were killed in the devastating earthquakes that recently struck Venezuela's Yaracuy region. Trejo's wife, Yanina Maranella, and their children, Aaron and Ainhoa Trejo, had been reported missing after the apartment building where they lived in Playa Grande, one of the worst-hit coastal areas, collapsed during the twin earthquakes. Rescue teams later confirmed their deaths. Death toll rises to 1450, over 3000 injured in Venezuela earthquakes Trejo was in Caracas with his club, Maritimo, preparing for an upcoming match when the disaster occurred. In a statement, Deportivo La Guaira expressed condolences, saying the club shared the grief overwhelming Trejo following the deaths of his wife and children and wished peace for the victims and strength for the player and his loved ones. Before the tragedy was confirmed, Trejo had launched an urgent search for his family with the help of relatives, volunteers and rescue teams. He also appealed publicly through Instagram, writing that their building had collapsed and urging people to pray and share information, while expressing hope that they had survived. The United Nations estimated on Saturday that up to 6.76 million people could have been affected by the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24. The disaster has claimed nearly 1,000 lives and left tens of thousands of people missing, according to the UN migration agency, based on available population and damage assessments. With inputs from NDTV

“Right now 150 million people are living under extreme heat, hundreds have died, schools are shut, grids are buckling,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday on X. “Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average,” he added. Driven by climate change and global warming, the “once-in-a-generation” heat wave is now occurring nearly every year, Tedros said, adding that more than 1,300 excess deaths have been recorded since June 21 linked to high temperatures in Europe. “Heat stress is often called the ‘silent killer’ — and European homes, workplaces and schools were not built for these temperatures,” Tedros warned as he called on European countries to implement action plans. He said they should focus on preparedness, prevention and stronger health system responses.

A skydiving plane crashed shortly after takeoff in northeastern France on Sunday, killing all 11 people on board, authorities said. The aircraft suffered a malfunction and plunged "almost vertically" moments after departing from the Nancy-Essey airfield on the outskirts of Nancy, according to Yves Séguy, prefect of the Meurthe-et-Moselle region. The plane came down near a residential area close to the airfield. Officials said a disaster was narrowly averted as the crash occurred just metres away from homes. According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, the aircraft banked to the left after takeoff and crashed less than a minute later. Local newspaper L'Est Républicain reported that the victims included five skydiving instructors, five clients and the pilot. The aircraft was identified as a single-engine Pilatus PC-6, commonly used to transport freight, passengers and parachutists. Nancy Mayor Mathieu Klein said the passengers had been preparing for tandem skydives, in which an instructor and a first-time jumper descend together. He added that several family members and friends had gathered to watch the jump and witnessed the plane fall from the sky, leaving many in psychological shock. Emergency services, including medical teams, firefighters, police and mental health specialists, were immediately deployed to the scene. Authorities also began collecting witness statements and providing psychological support to relatives of the victims. A local resident told broadcaster BFM-TV that he heard what sounded like the aircraft's engine cutting out, followed by a loud crash. When he reached the site, he said there were no signs of life and that two bodies had been thrown several metres from the wreckage. Police cordoned off the crash site as investigators sought to determine the cause of the accident.

A powerful heat wave sweeping across Europe set new temperature records in Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Denmark on Saturday, as extreme heat shifted from western Europe toward central and eastern parts of the continent. Even Nordic countries, which are not typically associated with scorching summers, experienced record-breaking temperatures. Denmark recorded its hottest day since weather records began in 1874, with the temperature reaching 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 Fahrenheit) in Ødum, north of Aarhus. Switzerland also registered a new national high for the current heat wave, with temperatures climbing to 38.8 C (101.8 F) in Basel. In Germany, temperatures were expected to reach 40 C (104 F), causing widespread disruption. Sections of the A2 Autobahn outside Berlin were closed after the concrete road surface buckled under the intense heat. German newspaper Bild also reported damage to highways in several other parts of the country. Rail operator Deutsche Bahn and other train companies advised people to avoid nonessential travel over the weekend. "Germany's transportation infrastructure is being severely affected by the record-breaking heat this weekend," Deutsche Bahn said. The Czech Republic also experienced its hottest day on record, with temperatures reaching 40.6 C (105 F) in the northern town of Doksany. Forecasters said temperatures could climb even higher. In the western German city of Dormagen, dozens of residents were evacuated from a nursing home after indoor temperatures reached 35 C (95 F), creating dangerous conditions. Air conditioning remains uncommon in Germany and many other European countries because such extreme heat has historically been rare. A resident at the nursing home died overnight, although authorities said it was not yet known whether the death was heat-related. In France, temperatures began easing in some areas as the worst of the heat wave passed, but hospitals continued to face heavy pressure from heat-related emergencies, including dehydration, heatstroke and heart attacks. The Paris public hospital authority activated emergency measures across its 38 hospitals to cope with rising patient numbers. According to the AP-HP hospital authority, emergency departments treated nearly 3,000 patients over the previous 24 hours, more than one-third above normal levels. Many of the patients were over 75 years old and required hospitalization. Calls to emergency medical dispatch centers also rose by nearly 80% compared with the same period in 2025. Three-quarters of France, affecting tens of millions of people, remained under a red alert for extreme heat on Thursday and Friday, with temperatures exceeding 40 C (104 F) in some places, including Paris. Fears that hospitals could become overwhelmed led to the postponement of the Paris Pride march and the cancellation of a three-day music festival. The current temperatures have surpassed those recorded during the devastating 2003 European heat wave, which claimed around 15,000 lives in France, many of them elderly people. AP-HP Director Nicolas Revel said he did not expect fatalities to reach that level this time because treatment for heat-related illnesses has improved. However, he warned that deaths were still likely. France's public health authority attributed more than 5,700 deaths to extreme heat during last summer. "I think we'll be situated clearly between 2025 and without necessarily reaching the catastrophic level of 2003. But we have to expect that there will still be many deaths," Revel said. In the United Kingdom, temperatures were expected to gradually decline over the weekend, although an amber heat warning remained in effect until Saturday night. Britain experienced three consecutive days of record June temperatures, with Friday officially becoming the hottest June day ever recorded. A provisional temperature of 37.3 C (99 F) was measured in eastern England, surpassing the previous June record set in 1976 by more than one degree. Police on Saturday said the body of a 22-year-old man had been recovered from a river after he reportedly got into difficulty while swimming during the heat wave. Authorities have urged people to be cautious when swimming in unsupervised rivers and lakes following about 40 drowning deaths reported in France over the past week. In Rome, which remained under a red heat alert, tourists sought relief by resting in the shade, cooling off at public fountains and buying bottled water, hats and umbrellas from street vendors. "Italian classics" also proved popular for coping with the heat. "Gelato, pasta, because it's tradition, but also fresh fruit, and ice-cold drinks. That's the best for this temperature," said Isabella Dold, a tourist from Kempten, Germany. Italy's Health Ministry said 18 cities, including Venice, Florence, Bologna and Milan, remained under red alerts because of dangerously high temperatures. The heat wave has also renewed attention on climate change. A study released Friday by World Weather Attribution, a Europe-based group of scientists, concluded that the record-breaking heat and humidity across Europe this week would have been virtually impossible without climate change. The researchers said such conditions would have been almost impossible 50 years ago and are now around 200 times more likely than they were two decades ago. André Corrêa do Lago, president of the U.N. climate conference COP30, said the heat wave had reinforced the urgency of tackling climate change. "The fact that we are living with this amazing heat in London is a strong argument... that we have to take action as soon as possible," he told The Associated Press.

Ukraine said it had struck a major Russian military-industrial facility in the southwestern city of Volgograd, while a Russian drone attack overnight killed one person in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said FP-5 Flamingo missiles hit the Titan-Barrikady plant in Volgograd, describing it as a key industrial complex that manufactures artillery systems and specialized military equipment, including components for missile launch systems. Ukraine’s General Staff said the facility produces equipment for the Iskander-M missile system, including self-propelled launchers and transport-loading vehicles, adding that the same system has frequently been used by Russia to attack Ukrainian cities. Volgograd Governor Andrei Bocharov confirmed that an industrial site in the Krasnooktyabrsky district had come under attack, leaving 10 people injured and causing damage to production facilities. However, he did not identify the company involved. Ukraine’s state security service also claimed responsibility for a strike on an oil pumping facility in Russia’s Vladimir region that supplies fuel to Moscow, marking the second such attack on the site this month. The strikes came a day after Ukraine launched one of its largest drone assaults since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than four years ago. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, air defence systems intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones targeting multiple Russian regions, Russian-occupied Crimea and nearby waters. Zelenskyy said earlier this week that he had ordered a “40-day influence operation,” widely seen as an escalation of long-range attacks aimed at pressuring Russia to end the war after months of unsuccessful US-led peace efforts. Meanwhile, in Ukraine’s Sumy region, a 66-year-old man was killed when a Russian drone struck a private residence overnight, regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said on Saturday. Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian military and energy infrastructure deep inside Russian territory in an effort to disrupt Moscow’s war logistics and increase pressure on the Kremlin as the conflict enters its fifth year.

Andy Burnham moved closer to becoming Britain’s next prime minister without a leadership contest on Wednesday after Cabinet minister Darren Jones, seen as a potential rival, confirmed he will not stand. The development strengthens Burnham’s position as the frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer, who is preparing to leave office within weeks after announcing his resignation on Monday. Starmer, meanwhile, faced the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament before travelling to Berlin for talks with European allies on Ukraine and the Middle East. In Parliament, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticized Starmer’s government, accusing it of multiple failures and suggesting that the Labour Party had shifted its support toward Burnham, whom she described in a sarcastic remark as “just a pair of eyelashes and a black T-shirt.” Starmer defended his record, saying his government had worked to reverse years of Conservative austerity. “The test for every prime minister is handing over this country in better shape than you found it,” he said. “I know I can do that.” Jones, a close ally of Starmer, said on Sky News that he would not enter the leadership race, although he cautioned Burnham against moving too far left on economic policy, a concern among business and financial circles. He said the next Treasury chief under Burnham must be someone able to “reassure the markets, reassure the trade unions and reassure the parliamentary Labour Party, and by extension the public.” Burnham, a former Cabinet minister and mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017, recently won a parliamentary seat in a by-election, positioning himself to challenge for Labour leadership and the premiership. Former health secretary Wes Streeting, once seen as a potential contender, has said he will support Burnham, leaving him currently unopposed. Labour leadership nominations are set to open on July 9 and close a week later. If Burnham remains the only candidate, he could become prime minister by July 17. If a contest is triggered, a new leader is expected to be in place by Parliament’s return on September 1. Starmer told Cabinet ministers on Tuesday that he would oversee an orderly transition to his successor while continuing efforts to consolidate his legacy. However, under current rules, he is not allowed to announce major new policy measures or spending commitments during the remainder of his term. His visit to Berlin for talks with the “E5” group – Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom – highlights his continued focus on foreign policy, particularly European security, the war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East. The British government is also expected to publish a long-delayed defence investment plan ahead of the NATO summit in Turkey scheduled for July 7–8, which Starmer is likely to attend.

Ukrainian forces said Wednesday that they had struck a major natural gas processing facility and two key satellite communication centers in Russia during overnight attacks, as Kyiv intensifies its long-range campaign against Russian energy and military infrastructure. Ukraine's General Staff said the operation targeted the Orenburg Gas Processing Plant, one of the world's largest gas-processing complexes and home to Russia's only helium plant. According to a statement posted on Telegram, the attack sparked a fire at the facility, which is located more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine. The General Staff said the complex produces helium used in liquid-fuel rocket engines and guidance systems, as well as ethane, a key component in the production of solid rocket fuel and gunpowder. The claims could not be independently verified, and Russian authorities did not immediately comment on the reported strike. The Ukrainian military did not specify whether drones or missiles were used in the operation, although Kyiv has increasingly relied on long-range drones to target sites deep inside Russian territory, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Ukraine also said it had struck two satellite communication centers used by the Russian military. One of the targets was the Dubna Space Communications Center near Moscow, described by Kyiv as Russia's largest ground-based satellite communications complex. The second facility was located in the Vladimir region, east of the Russian capital. Meanwhile, Ukraine continued its attacks on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, said overnight drone strikes had caused power outages in the city. Kyiv has recently intensified its drone and missile attacks on Crimea, seeking to disrupt military supply routes and target the peninsula's power infrastructure during the peak summer tourist season. Western analysts say Ukraine hopes the campaign will increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin and undermine public support for the war. Crimea holds strategic importance for Russia due to its naval bases and its role as a key supply route for Russian forces operating in Ukraine. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said Wednesday that it had struck two military airfields and destroyed missile systems in Crimea. Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defense systems had shot down 323 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine's Air Force reported that Russia launched 101 long-range attack drones against Ukrainian territory during the same period.