United News of Bangladesh

As many as 15 people were killed and 40 others injured after a bus crashed into a truck parked along a busy stretch in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in the small hours of Saturday. The tragedy occurred near Suhagi Pahari in Rewa district, some 600km from Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, when a group of 100 migrant workers was returning to their home district of Uttar Pradesh in northern India for Diwali (festival of lights) on that ill-fated bus. "The bus hit the truck from behind at high speed after its driver failed to spot the parked vehicle. The impact of the collision was so strong that 15 passengers died on the spot," a senior police officer told the local media. Those injured were taken to a hospital in Suhagi. "Few with serious injuries were later shifted to Rewa's Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital," he said. A probe has been ordered into the accident, the officer added. Road accidents are common in India, with one taking place every four minutes. These accidents are often blamed on poor roads, rash driving and scant regard for traffic laws. The Indian government's implementation of stricter traffic laws in recent years has failed to rein in accidents, which claim over 100,000 lives every year.  

The United States and key Western allies accused Russia on Friday of using Iranian drones to attack civilians and power plants in Ukraine in violation of a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution and international humanitarian law. Russia countered by accusing Ukraine of attacking infrastructure and civilians for eight years in the eastern separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed earlier this year. The U.S., France, Germany and Britain supported Ukraine’s call for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to send a team to investigate the origin of the drones. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the drones are Russian and warned that an investigation would violate the U.N. Charter and seriously affect relations between Russia and the United Nations. U.S. deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said that “the U.N. must investigate any violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions — and we must not allow Russia or others to impede or threaten the U.N. from carrying out its mandated responsibilities.” The Western clash with Russia over attacks on civilians and infrastructure and the use of Iranian drones came at an open council meeting that also focused on the dire humanitarian situation in Ukraine as winter approaches. Almost 18 million people, more than 40% of Ukraine’s population, need humanitarian assistance, U.N. humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown says. U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo expressed grave concern to the council that Russian missile and drone attacks between Oct. 10 and Oct. 18 in cities and towns across Ukraine killed at least 38 Ukrainian civilians, injured at least 117 and destroyed critical energy infrastructure, including power plants. She cited the Ukrainian government’s announcement that 30% of the country’s energy facilities have been hit, most notably in the capital Kyiv and in the Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions. “Combined with soaring gas and coal prices, the deprivation caused by these attacks threatens to expose millions of civilians to extreme hardship and even life-endangering conditions this winter,” she said. DiCarlo, the U.N. undersecretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, said that “under international humanitarian law, attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited.” So are “attacks against military objectives that may be expected to cause harm to civilians that would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated,” she said. Nebenzia claimed that high-precision missile strikes and Russian drones — not Iranian drones — hit a large number of military targets that included infrastructure in an effort to degrade Ukrainian military activities. “Of course, this did not sit well with the West and they became hysterical, and this is what we’re witnessing loudly and clearly today at the meeting,” the Russian ambassador said. He said the West doesn’t want “to face facts” and acknowledge that civilian infrastructure was hit only in cases where drones had to change course because of Ukrainian defense actions. He said Ukrainian air defenses also hit civilian sites because they missed incoming attacks. In a letter to the Security Council on Wednesday, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya accused Iran of violating a Security Council ban on the transfer of drones capable of flying 300 kilometers (about 185 miles). That provision was part of Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six key nations — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities and preventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon. U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear agreement in 2018 and negotiations between the Biden administration and Iran for the United States to rejoin the deal have stalled. Under the resolution, a conventional arms embargo on Iran was in place until October 2020. But restrictions on missiles and related technologies run until October 2023, and Western diplomats say that includes the export and purchase of advanced military systems such as drones, which are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Wednesday that he “categorically rejected unfounded and unsubstantiated claims that Iran has transferred UAVs for the use (in) the conflict in Ukraine.” He accused unnamed countries of trying to launch a disinformation campaign to “wrongly establish a link” with the U.N. resolution. “Moreover, Iran is of the firm belief that none of its arms exports, including UAVs, to any country” violate Resolution 2231, he added. France, Germany and Britain on Friday supported Ukraine’s accusation that Iranian has supplies drones to Russia in violation of the 2015 resolution and they are being used in attacks on civilians and power plants in Ukraine. They backed Kyiv’s call for a U.N. investigation. The three European countries said in a joint letter to the 15 council members that reports in open sources suggest Iran intends to transfer more drones to Russia along with ballistic missiles. Neither Iran nor Russia sought advance approval from the council for the transfer of Mohajer and Shahed UAVs and therefore “have violated resolution 2231,” the letter said. The U.S. sent a similar letter, saying Iranian drones were transferred to Russia in late August and requesting the U.N. Secretariat team responsible for monitoring the resolution’s implementation to “conduct a technical and impartial investigation that assesses the type of UAV’s involved in these transfers.” Nebenzia also sent a letter contending that DiCarlo is siding with the West on carrying out an investigation. His letter insists that “the U.N. Secretariat has no authority to conduct, or in any other form engage, in any `investigation’” related to Resolution 2231.

A federal appeals court late Friday issued an administrative stay temporarily blocking President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel billions of dollars in federal student loans, throwing the program into limbo just days after people began applying for loan forgiveness. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stay while it considers a motion from six Republican-led states to block the program. The stay ordered the Biden administration not to act on the program while it considers the appeal. It’s unclear what the decision means for the 22 million borrowers who already applied for the relief. The Biden administration had promised not to clear any debt before Oct. 23 as it battled the legal challenges, but the soonest it was expected to begin erasing debt was mid-November. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre encouraged borrowers to continue to apply for the relief, saying the court’s temporary order did not prevent applications or the review of applications. “We will continue to move full speed ahead in our preparations in compliance with this order,” she said in a statement. “And, the Administration will continue to fight Republican officials suing to block our efforts to provide relief to working families.” The crucial question now is whether the issue will be resolved before Jan. 1, when payments on federal student loans are expected to restart after being paused during the pandemic. Millions of Americans were expected to get their debt canceled entirely under Biden’s plan, but they now face uncertainty about whether they will need to start making payments in January. Biden has said his previous extension of the payment pause would be the final one, but economists worry that many Americans may not have regained financial footing after the upheaval of the pandemic. If borrowers who were expecting debt cancellation are asked to make payments in January, there’s fear that many could fall behind on the bills and default on their loans. A notice of appeal to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was filed late Thursday, hours after U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey in St. Louis ruled that since the states of Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina failed to establish standing, “the Court lacks jurisdiction to hear this case.” Separately, the six states also asked the district court for an injunction prohibiting the administration from implementing the debt cancellation plan until the appeals process plays out. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, one of the six attorneys general leading the effort to block the debt relief program, praised the court’s decision. “We are pleased the temporary stay has been granted,” Peterson said in a statement. “It’s very important that the legal issues involving presidential power be analyzed by the court before transferring over $400 billion in debt to American taxpayers.” Speaking before Friday’s ruling at Delaware State University, a historically Black university where the majority of students receive federal Pell Grants, Biden touted the number of applicants who have applied for the loan relief in the week since his administration made its online application available. The plan, announced in August, would cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demonstrate more financial need, will get an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven. The Congressional Budget Office has said the program will cost about $400 billion over the next three decades. James Campbell, an attorney for the Nebraska attorney general’s office, told Autrey at an Oct. 12 hearing that the administration is acting outside its authorities in a way that will cost states millions of dollars. The cancellation applies to federal student loans used to attend undergraduate and graduate school, along with Parent Plus loans. Current college students qualify if their loans were disbursed before July 1. The plan makes 43 million borrowers eligible for some debt forgiveness, with 20 million who could get their debt erased entirely, according to the administration. The announcement immediately became a major political issue ahead of the November midterm elections. Conservative attorneys, Republican lawmakers and business-oriented groups have asserted that Biden overstepped his authority in taking such sweeping action without the assent of Congress. They called it an unfair government giveaway for relatively affluent people at the expense of taxpayers who didn’t pursue higher education. Many Democratic lawmakers facing tough reelection contests have distanced themselves from the plan. Biden on Friday blasted Republicans who have criticized his relief program, saying “their outrage is wrong and it’s hypocritical.” He noted that some Republican officials had debt and pandemic relief loans forgiven. The six states sued in September. Lawyers for the administration countered that the Department of Education has “broad authority to manage the federal student financial aid programs.” A court filing stated that the 2003 Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, or HEROES Act, allows the secretary of education to waive or modify terms of federal student loans in times of war or national emergency. “COVID-19 is such an emergency,” the filing stated. The HEROES Act was enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to help members of the military. The Justice Department says the law allows Biden to reduce or erase student loan debt during a national emergency. Republicans argue the administration is misinterpreting the law, in part because the pandemic no longer qualifies as a national emergency. Justice Department attorney Brian Netter told Autrey at the Oct. 12 hearing that fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is still rippling. He said student loan defaults have skyrocketed over the past 2 1/2 years. Other lawsuits also have sought to stop the program. Earlier Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected an appeal from a Wisconsin taxpayers group seeking to stop the debt cancellation program. Barrett, who oversees emergency appeals from Wisconsin and neighboring states, did not comment in turning away the appeal from the Brown County Taxpayers Association. The group wrote in its Supreme Court filing that it needed an emergency order because the administration could begin canceling outstanding student debt as soon as Sunday.

Asian and Pacific countries Friday agreed to adopt a six-point Jakarta Declaration for disability-inclusive development, including through advancing meaningful participation of around 700 million persons with disabilities in the region. As of June 2021, 47 of the 53 ESCAP member states had ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Jakarta Declaration on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities 2023-2032 aims to further implementation of the Incheon Strategy – the world's first set of disability-specific regional development goals adopted in 2012. The declaration was adopted at the conclusion of a high-level intergovernmental meeting convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and hosted by Indonesia to review the progress made in the past 10 years, share good practices and forge consensus on new strategic directions. "Our policies should be developed and implemented with the full and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities. This principle should underpin all of our work in disability-inclusive development," United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana said. "Our consensus today demonstrates our recognition of the criticality of disability-inclusive development. It also reiterates member states' commitment to ensuring the meaningful participation of women and men with diverse disabilities to leave no one behind in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Tri Rismaharini, the minister of social affairs of Indonesia, said. Despite policy advances in the region, people with disabilities continue to face significant barriers in society – often faring worse in the labour market, being less likely to receive education and remaining underrepresented in political processes compared to their peers without disabilities. The three-day meeting saw ministers, officials and stakeholder group representatives from 41 countries delve into innovative strategies for the region to remove such barriers while responding to emerging challenges, such as population ageing, digital transformation and climate change. Several key priorities for the region were also explored such as enhancing disability-specific social protection schemes, strengthening decent work and entrepreneurship opportunities, providing inclusive education for all learners with disabilities, ensuring disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction and resilience measures, and improving the reliability of disability-disaggregated data.  

Many Americans remain pessimistic about the state of U.S. democracy and the way elected officials are chosen -- nearly two years after a divisive presidential election spurred false claims of widespread fraud and a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Only about half of Americans have high confidence that votes in the upcoming midterm elections will be counted accurately, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, though that’s an improvement from about 4 in 10 saying that just before the 2020 presidential election. Just 9% of U.S. adults think democracy is working “extremely” or “very well,” while 52% say it’s not working well. In a reversal from two years ago, Republicans are now more likely than Democrats to say democracy is not working well. This year, 68% of Republicans feel this way compared with 32% two years ago. The share of Democrats with a sour outlook on how democracy is functioning in the U.S. dropped from 63% to 40%. Ronald McGraw Sr., 67, of Indianapolis, is a retired construction worker who recently registered to vote and intends to cast a ballot for the first time this year. “I thought I’d let everybody else put their vote in and just go with the flow, but this whole thing is at stake now,” he said, referring to democracy, the economy, ”everything, how the whole country runs.” McGraw, who is Black and considers himself a moderate, said a big concern is the political turmoil in the country and the fact that he sees too many self-serving politicians concerned with power, especially those who work against the interest of minorities. He said he registered as a Republican but did not give any thought to party platforms or stances at the time. “I am paying attention now,” he said. After every presidential election, members of the losing candidate’s party can experience a letdown. The fallout from the 2020 election has been deeper, fueled by the lies from former President Donald Trump and his allies that Democrats stole the election. There is no evidence of widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. Exhaustive reviews in key states upheld Democrat Joe Biden’s win, while judges — including some appointed by Trump — dismissed numerous lawsuits challenging the outcome. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, called the claims bogus. The general despair over democracy comes after decades of increasing polarization nationwide, from the presidential and congressional races down to local contests such as races for school boards. Overall, just a quarter of U.S. adults — including similar percentages of Republicans and Democrats — say they are optimistic about the way leaders are chosen, while 43% say they are pessimistic. An additional 31% feel neither. Adam Coykendall, a 31-year-old social studies teacher from Ashland, Wisconsin, said he sees party loyalties driving lawmakers more than the good of the country. “I feel like everything is becoming a little more divisive, a little more polarized, more focused on party loyalty ... rather than working for your constituency, having things that work for people rather than working for the party,” said Coykendall, who described himself as an independent who leans toward the Democratic Party. The AP-NORC poll also found a large segment of Republicans, 58%, still believe Biden’s election wasn’t legitimate. That’s down slightly from 66% in July 2021. Gary Phelps, a 70-year-old retired truck driver in Clearwater, Minnesota, accepts Biden is president but doesn’t think he was legitimately elected. Phelps said he was concerned about voter fraud, mail ballots being received and counted after Election Day, and irregularities with some voting machines, although he acknowledged it’s based on his feeling rather than evidence. Phelps remains concerned about the voting process and whether the tallies will be accurate. “I would hope so, but I don’t think so,” the Republican-leaning independent said. The poll shows 47% of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence that the votes in the 2022 midterm elections will be counted accurately. Confidence is highest among Democrats, 74% of whom say they’re highly confident. On the Republican side, confidence in elections is decidedly mixed: 25% have high confidence, 30% have moderate confidence and 45% have little to no confidence. That erosion of trust comes after two years of Trump and his allies promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election and peddling conspiracy theories about voting machines. Narratives about mailed ballots mysteriously changing vote totals have been one persistent source of misinformation. To be clear, results announced on election night are unofficial and often incomplete. It’s normal for counting to continue several days after Election Day, as mailed ballots received by their deadline are processed and added to the tally. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge of mailed balloting as voters opted to avoid crowded polling stations. A large number of those ballots slowed down the results as local election offices worked through the steps to verify the ballots and ensure they matched registered voters. Julie Duggan, a 31-year-old police officer from Chicago, is among the Republicans who does not believe Biden’s win was legitimate. She said watching his gaffes and missteps, it was impossible to believe he garnered enough support to win. She is concerned about the country’s direction, citing inflation, illegal immigration, crime rates and a lack of respect for law enforcement. “If we don’t get the right people in, we will be at the point of no return,” she said, adding she hopes elections will be run fairly but has her doubts. “My confidence has definitely been shaken.”

A new study finds that some people really are “mosquito magnets” and it probably has to do with the way they smell. The researchers found that people who are most attractive to mosquitoes produce a lot of certain chemicals on their skin that are tied to smell. And bad news for mosquito magnets: The bloodsuckers stay loyal to their favorites over time. “If you have high levels of this stuff on your skin, you’re going to be the one at the picnic getting all the bites,” said study author Leslie Vosshall, a neurobiologist at Rockefeller University in New York. There’s a lot of folklore about who gets bitten more but many claims aren’t backed up with strong evidence, said Vosshall. To put mosquito magnetism to the test, the researchers designed an experiment pitting people’s scents against each other, explained study author Maria Elena De Obaldia. Their findings were published Tuesday in the journal Cell. They asked 64 volunteers from the university and nearby to wear nylon stockings around their forearms to pick up their skin smells. The stockings were put in separate traps at the end of a long tube, then dozens of mosquitos were released. “They would basically swarm to the most attractive subjects,” De Obaldia said. “It became very obvious right away.” Scientists held a round-robin tournament and ended up with a striking gap: The biggest mosquito magnet was around 100 times more attractive to the mosquitoes than the last place finisher. The experiment used the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads diseases like yellow fever, Zika and dengue. Vosshall said she’d expect similar results from other kinds, but would need more research to confirm. By testing the same people over multiple years, the study showed that these big differences stick around, said Matt DeGennaro, a neurogeneticist at Florida International University who was not involved with the research. “Mosquito magnets seem to remain mosquito magnets,” DeGennaro said. Out of the favorites, the researchers found a common factor: Mosquito magnets had high levels of certain acids on their skin. These “greasy molecules” are part of the skin’s natural moisturizing layer, and people produce them in different amounts, Vosshall said. The healthy bacteria that live on the skin eat up these acids and produce part of our skin’s odor profile, she said. You can’t get rid of these acids without damaging your skin health too, said Vosshall, who is paid by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and serves as its chief scientific officer. The institute also supports The Associated Press’ Health and Science Department. But the research could help find new methods to repel mosquitoes, said Jeff Riffell, a neurobiologist at the University of Washington who was not involved with the study. There may be ways to tinker with skin bacteria and change humans’ tantalizing smells, he said. Still, figuring out ways to fight off mosquitoes isn’t easy, Riffell said, since the critters have evolved to be “lean, mean biting machines.” The study proved this point: Researchers also did the experiment with mosquitoes whose genes were edited to damage their sense of smell. The bugs still flocked to the same mosquito magnets. “Mosquitoes are resilient,” Vosshall said. “They have many backup plans to be able to find us and bite us”.  

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF Monday welcomed funding agreements from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) valued at $10 million to bolster polio and measles programmes in eight countries. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the World Health Summit in Berlin. The new funding will provide UNICEF and WHO with $5 million each in response to a call for emergency action by the WHO and UNICEF to avert major polio and measles epidemics. The WHO and UNICEF have urged countries to prioritise vaccination for children as they rebuild their immunisation systems following major global immunisation disruptions caused by Covid-19. The pandemic has left millions of vulnerable children at heightened risk of preventable childhood diseases. With the contribution from KSrelief, the WHO will support polio and measles programmes in Somalia, Iraq, and Sudan through the procurement of laboratory equipment, enhancing surveillance, digitalisation of EPI, strengthening the cold chain, and training of campaign vaccinators. UNICEF will support the five high-risk countries of Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, and Pakistan with the procurement and in-country distribution of polio and measles vaccines and supplies like cold chain equipment and syringes, recruitment and training of vaccinators, and sustainably strengthening immunisation systems. "Covid-19 has had a devastating effect on immunisation services globally," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said. "KSrelief's generous support will help the WHO save children's lives, benefiting an estimated 50 million people and averting major outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases including polio and measles in Somalia, Iraq and Sudan." "We can't let Covid-19 drive new epidemics of childhood disease," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "The pandemic disrupted routine immunisation services around the world, leaving millions of vulnerable children at heightened risk of polio, measles and other preventable childhood diseases. This new agreement will translate into lives saved and stronger immunization systems that will benefit millions of children." Dr Abdullah Al Rabeeah, supervisor general of KSrelief, said: "This cooperation agreement will strengthen global action to protect vulnerable children at increased risk from preventable childhood diseases."

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Sunday called for faster military development and announced no change in policies that have strained relations with Washington and tightened the ruling Communist Party’s control over society and the economy. China’s most influential figure in decades spoke as the party opened a congress that was closely watched by companies, governments and the public for signs of official direction. It comes amid a painful slump in the world’s second-largest economy and tension with Washington and Asian neighbors over trade, technology and security. Party plans call for creating a prosperous society by mid-century and restoring China to its historic role as a political, economic and cultural leader. Beijing has expanded its presence abroad including a multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative to build ports and other infrastructure across Asia and Africa, but economists warn reversing market-style reform could hamper growth. “The next five years will be crucial,” Xi said in a televised speech of one hour and 45 minutes to some 2,000 delegates in the cavernous Great Hall of the People. He repeatedly invoked his slogan of the “rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” which includes reviving the party’s role as economic and social leader in a throwback to what Xi regards as a golden age after it took power in 1949. The congress will install leaders for the next five years. Xi, 69, is expected to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as general secretary and promote allies who share his enthusiasm for party dominance. The party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, needs to “safeguard China’s dignity and core interests,” Xi said, referring to a list of territorial claims and other issues over which Beijing says it is ready to go to war. China, with the world’s second-largest military budget after the United States, is trying to extend its reach by developing ballistic missiles, aircraft carriers and overseas outposts. “We will work faster to modernize military theory, personnel and weapons,” Xi said. “We will enhance the military’s strategic capabilities.” Xi cited his government’s severe “zero-COVID” strategy, which has shut down major cities and disrupted travel and business, as a success. He gave no indication of a possible change despite public frustration with its rising cost. The congress will name a Standing Committee, the ruling inner circle of power. The lineup will indicate who is likely to succeed Premier Li Keqiang as the top economic official and take other posts when China’s ceremonial legislature meets next year. Analysts are watching whether a slump that saw economic growth fall to below half of the official 5.5% annual target might force Xi to compromise and include supporters of market-style reform and entrepreneurs who generate wealth and jobs. Xi gave no indication when he might step down. During his decade in power, Xi’s government has pursued an increasingly assertive foreign policy while tightening control at home on information and dissent. Beijing is feuding with Japan, India and Southeast Asian governments over conflicting claims to the South China and East China Seas and a section of the Himalayas. The United States, Japan, Australia and India have formed a strategic group dubbed the Quad in response. The party has increased the dominance of state-owned industry and poured money into strategic initiatives aimed at nurturing Chinese creators of renewable energy, electric car, computer chip, aerospace and other technologies. Its tactics have prompted complaints that Beijing improperly protects and subsidizes its fledgling creators and led then-President Donald Trump to hike tariffs on Chinese imports in 2019, setting off a trade war that jolted the global economy. Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, has kept those penalties in place and this month increased restrictions on Chinese access to U.S. chip technology. The party has tightened control over private sector leaders including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group by launching anti-monopoly, data security and other crackdowns. Under political pressure, they are diverting billions of dollars into chip development and other party initiatives. Their share prices on foreign exchanges have plunged due to uncertainty about their future. The party has stepped up censorship of media and the internet, increased public surveillance and tightened control over private life through its “social credit” initiative that tracks individuals and punishes infractions ranging from fraud to littering. Last week, banners criticizing Xi and “zero COVID” were hung from an elevated roadway over a major Beijing thoroughfare in a rare protest. Photos of the event were deleted from social media, and the popular WeChat messaging app shut down accounts that forwarded them. Xi said the party would build “self-reliance and strength” in technology by improving China’s education system and attracting foreign experts. The president appeared to double down on technology self-reliance and “zero COVID” at a time when other countries are easing travel restrictions and rely on more free-flowing supply chains, said Willy Lam, a politics specialist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Xi was joined on stage by party leaders including his predecessor as party leader, Hu Jintao, former Premier Wen Jiabao and Song Ping, a 105-year-old party veteran who sponsored Xi’s early career. There was no sign of 96-year-old former President Jiang Zemin, who was party leader until 2002. The presence of previous leaders shows Xi faces no serious opposition, said Lam. “Xi is making it very clear he intends to hold onto power for as long as his health allows him to,” he said. Xi made no mention of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Beijing refuses to criticize. He defended a crackdown on a pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, saying the party helped the former British colony “enter a new stage in which it has restored order and is set to thrive.” Xi’s government also faces criticism over mass detentions and other abuses against mostly Muslim ethnic groups and the jailing of government critics. Amnesty International warned that extending Xi’s time in power will be a “disaster for human rights.” In addition to conditions within China, it pointed to Beijing’s efforts to “redefine the very meaning of human rights” at the United Nations. Xi said Beijing refuses to renounce the possible use of force against Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy the Communist Party claims as its territory. The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war. Beijing has stepped up efforts to intimidate Taiwanese by flying fighter jets and bombers toward the island. That campaign intensified further after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August became the highest-ranked U.S. official to visit Taiwan in a quarter-century. “We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification,” Xi said. “But we will never promise to renounce the use of force. And we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary.” Taiwan’s government responded that its 23 million people had the right to determine their own future and would not accept Beijing’s demands. A government statement called on China to “abandon the imposition of a political framework and the use of military force and coercion.” The Communist Party leadership agreed in the 1990s to limit the general secretary to two five-year terms in an effort to prevent a repeat of power struggles from earlier decades. That leader also becomes chairman of the commission that controls the military and holds the ceremonial title of national president. Xi made his intentions clear in 2018 when he had a two-term limit on the presidency removed from China’s Constitution. Officials said that allowed Xi to stay if needed to carry out reforms. The party is expected to amend its charter this week to raise Xi’s status as leader after adding his personal ideology, Xi Jinping Thought, at the previous congress in 2017. The spokesperson for the congress, Sun Yeli, said Saturday the changes would “meet new requirements for advancing the party’s development” but gave no details.

When Liz Truss was running to lead Britain this summer, an ally predicted her first weeks in office would be turbulent. But few were prepared for the scale of the sound and fury -– least of all Truss herself. In just six weeks, the prime minister’s libertarian economic policies have triggered a financial crisis, emergency central bank intervention, multiple U-turns and the firing of her Treasury chief. Now Truss faces a mutiny inside the governing Conservative Party that leaves her leadership hanging by a thread. Conservative lawmaker Robert Halfon fumed on Sunday that the last few weeks had brought “one horror story after another.” “The government has looked like libertarian jihadists and treated the whole country as kind of laboratory mice on which to carry out ultra, ultra free-market experiments,” he told Sky News. It’s not as if the party wasn’t warned. During the summertime contest to lead the Conservatives, Truss called herself a disruptor who would challenge economic “orthodoxy.” She promised she would cut taxes and slash red tape, and would spur Britain’s sluggish economy to grow. ADVERTISEMENT Her rival, former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, argued that immediate tax cuts would be reckless amid the economic shockwaves from the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The 172,000 Conservative Party members -– who are largely older and affluent -- preferred Truss’ boosterish vision. She won 57% of members’ votes to become leader of the governing party on Sept. 5. The next day, she was appointed prime minister by Queen Elizabeth II in one of the monarch’s final acts before her death on Sept. 8. Truss’ first days in office were overshadowed by a period of national mourning for the queen. Then on Sept. 23, Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng announced the economic plan he and Truss had drawn up. It included 45 billion pounds ($50 billion) in tax cuts -– including an income tax reduction for the highest earners — without an accompanying assessment of how the government would pay for them. Truss was doing what she and allies said she would. Libertarian think-tank chief Mark Littlewood predicted during the summer there would be “fireworks” as the new prime minister pushed for economic reform at “absolutely breakneck speed.” Still, the scale of the announcement took financial markets, and political experts, by surprise. “Many of us, wrongly, expected her to pivot after she won the leadership contest in the way many presidents do after winning the primaries,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “But she didn’t do that. She actually meant what she said.” The pound plunged to a record low against the U.S. dollar and the cost of government borrowing soared. The Bank of England was forced to step in to buy government bonds and prevent the financial crisis from spreading to the wider economy. The central bank also warned that interest rates will have to rise even faster than expected to curb inflation that is running at around 10%, leaving millions of homeowners facing big increases in mortgage payments. Jill Rutter, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government think tank, said Truss and Kwarteng made a series of “unforced errors” with their economic package. “They shouldn’t have made their contempt for economic institutions quite so clear,” she said. “I think they could have listened to advice. And I think one of the things that they got very wrong was to announce one part of the package, the tax cuts … without the spending side of the equation.” As the negative reaction grew, Truss began to abandon bits of the package in a bid to reassure her party and the markets. The tax cut for top earners was ditched in the middle of the Conservative Party’s annual conference in early October as the party rebelled. It wasn’t enough. On Friday, Truss fired Kwarteng and replaced her longtime friend and ally with Jeremy Hunt, who served as health secretary and foreign secretary in the Conservative governments of David Cameron and Theresa May. At a brief, downbeat news conference, the prime minister acknowledged that “parts of our mini budget went further and faster than markets were expecting.” She reversed a planned cut in corporation tax, another pillar of her economic plan, to “reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline.” Truss is still prime minister in name, but power in government has shifted to Hunt, who has signaled he plans to rip up much of her remaining economic plan when he makes a medium-term budget statement on Oct. 31. He has said tax increases and public spending cuts will be needed to restore the government’s fiscal credibility. Still, Hunt insisted Sunday: “The prime minister’s in charge.” “She’s listened. She’s changed. She’s been willing to do that most difficult thing in politics, which is to change tack,” Hunt told the BBC. The Conservative Party still commands a large majority in Parliament, and -– in theory -– has two years until a national election must be held. Polls suggest an election would be a wipeout for the Tories, with the Labour Party winning a big majority. Conservative lawmakers are agonizing about whether to try to replace their leader for a second time this year. In July, the party forced out Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who led them to victory in 2019, when serial ethics scandals ensnared his administration. Now many of them have buyer’s remorse about his replacement. Under party rules, Truss is safe from a leadership challenge for a year, but some Conservative legislators believe she can be forced to resign if the party can agree on a successor. Defeated rival Sunak, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and popular Defense Secretary Ben Wallace are among the names being mentioned as potential replacements. Johnson, who remains a lawmaker, still has supporters, too. Junior Treasury minister Andrew Griffith argued Sunday that Truss should be given a chance to try to restore order. “This is a time when we need stability,” he told Sky News. “People at home are just tearing their hair out at the level of uncertainty. What they want to see is a competent government getting on with (the) job.”

Pakistan pushed back Saturday against a comment by President Joe Biden in which he called the South Asian country “one of the most dangerous nations in the world.” Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said his office would summon the U.S. ambassador for an explanation, and the current prime minister and two former prime ministers rejected the statement as baseless. Biden was at an informal fundraising dinner at a private residence in Los Angeles on Thursday sponsored by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee when he made the comment. Speaking about China and its leader Xi Jinping, he pondered the U.S.’s role in relation to China as it grapples with its positions on Russia, India and Pakistan. “How do we handle that?” he said, according to a transcript on the White House web page. “How do we handle that relative to what’s going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion.” Zardari said in Karachi on Saturday that he discussed the matter with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and it was decided to call the U.S. ambassador to the Foreign Office for an explanation of Biden’s remarks. “I believe this is exactly the sort of misunderstanding that is created when there is a lack of engagement,” he said, apparently referring to the former government of Imran Khan and its perceived lack of engagement in international diplomacy. “When Pakistan has nuclear assets we know how to keep them safe and secure, how to protect them as well,” Zardari said. Sharif in a statement rejected Biden’s remarks calling them factually incorrect and misleading. He said Pakistan over the years has proved itself to be a responsible nuclear state, and its nuclear program is managed through a technically sound command and control system. He pointed to Pakistan’s commitment to global standards including those of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Sharif said Pakistan and the U.S. have a long history of friendly and mutually beneficial relations. “It is our sincere desire to cooperate with the U.S. to promote regional peace and security,” he said. Zardari, speaking to reporters, said if there is any question about nuclear weapons security in the region, it should be raised with Pakistan’s nuclear-armed neighbor, India. He said India recently fired a missile that landed accidentally in Pakistan. Pakistan and India have been arch-rivals since their independence from British rule in 1947. They have bitter relations over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between them and claimed by both in its entirety. They fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. Two former prime minsters took to Twitter to respond to Biden’s comments. Former premier Nawaz Sharif, the current prime minister’s brother, said Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state that is perfectly capable of safeguarding its national interests while respecting international law and practices. Pakistan became a nuclear state in 1998 when Sharif was in power for the second time. “Our nuclear program is in no way a threat to any country. Like all independent states, Pakistan reserves the right to protect its autonomy, sovereign statehood and territorial integrity,” he said. Former premier Imran Khan tweeted that Biden is wrong about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, saying he knows for a fact that they are secure. “Unlike US which has been involved in wars across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression especially post-nuclearization ?” Khan was ousted in April in a no-confidence vote in parliament and has put forward, without giving evidence, a claim that he was ousted as the result of a U.S.-led plot involving Sharif. The U.S. and Sharif deny the accusation. Zardari noted that Biden’s statement was not made at any formal platform like a news conference but at an informal fundraising dinner. “I don’t believe it negatively impacts the relations between Pakistan and the U.S.,” he said. Pakistan and the U.S. have been traditional allies but their relations have been bumpy at times. Pakistan served as a front-line state in the U.S.-led war on terror following the 9/11 attacks. But relations soured after U.S. Navy Seals killed al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden at a compound in the garrison city of Abbottabad, not far from Pakistan’s military academy in May 2011.