United News of Bangladesh

Police on Wednesday evening arrested a man accused of opening fire inside the waiting room of an Atlanta medical practice, killing one woman and wounding four others earlier in the day. Authorities had swarmed the city’s bustling midtown neighborhood shortly after noon in search of the suspect, who fled after the shooting. Police said in a statement that the gunman, who they identified as 24-year-old Deion Patterson, was captured in Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta. Authorities said Patterson shot five women on the 11th floor of a Northside Medical building, which is in a commercial area filled with office towers and high-rise apartments. News of the shooting prompted workers and lunchgoers to shelter in place for hours. Patterson had an appointment at the medical practice and shortly after arriving shot the first victim, law enforcement officials said at a news conference Wednesday night. The shooting lasted approximately two minutes before Patterson left the building and went to a Shell gas station and took a pickup truck that had been left running and unattended, authorities said. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said a 39-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting. The Fulton County medical examiner’s office identified her as Amy St. Pierre. Also read: Suspected gunman caught after 5 dead in Texas mass shooting The four wounded victims were also women, aged 25, 39, 56 and 71. Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said they remained in critical but stable condition Wednesday night. Their names were not immediately released. Hampton declined to discuss any details of the investigation or possible motive, saying, “Why he did what he did, all of that is still under investigation.” Patterson’s mother, Minyone Patterson, who police said had accompanied her son to the medical office, told The Associated Press by phone that her son, a former Coast Guardsman, had “some mental instability going on” from medication he received from the Veterans Affairs health system that he began taking on Friday. She said her son had wanted Ativan to deal with anxiety and depression but that the VA wouldn’t give it to him because they said it would be “too addicting.” She’s a nurse and said she told them he would only have taken the proper dosage “because he listened to me in every way.” “Those families, those families,” she said, starting to sob. “They’re hurting because they wouldn’t give my son his damn Ativan. Those families lost their loved ones because he had a mental break because they wouldn’t listen to me.” She ended the call without saying what medication her son had been taking. “We are horrified and saddened to hear of the active shooter situation in Atlanta today,” Veterans Affairs Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said in an emailed statement. “Due to patient privacy, we cannot discuss the Veteran’s personal information without written consent.” In a statement, the U.S. Coast Guard said Patterson had joined the service in 2018 and was discharged from active duty in January. He was an electrician’s mate second class at the time. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens applauded the fact that Patterson was arrested and taken into custody alive so he can be prosecuted. “Right now, we’ve had a successful end to a traumatic day,” Dickens said, while also advocating for tougher gun laws and stressing the importance of police training. “I hope the city, the region, rests easy that he is in custody, but I also hope that we will stay vigilant to continue to look at a future where individuals who shouldn’t have a gun in possession won’t have one, and also that individuals are brought to justice, and also that we deal with these things that are mental health or easy access to guns,” Dickens said. Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement that he was “heartbroken” by the shooting and praying for victims, going on to praise law enforcement, saying officers “demonstrated yet again their professionalism, courage and unwavering dedication.” Cobb County Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer said technology played a huge role in finding the suspected shooter, saying even as recently as four years ago they may not have been able to find him so quickly. He said the department had acquired some technology tools and those along with the Department of Transportation’s cameras and community members calling with information, led to the arrest. “Those tools are really what got us the clues that we we needed to make this successful — and the people getting those clues,” VanHoozer said. The pickup truck was found in a parking garage near the Battery, a mixed-use development that is next to the stadium where the Atlanta Braves play. Video aired by WSB-TV showed Patterson was arrested near a tennis court and swimming pool in a wooded condominium complex about a half-mile (less than a kilometer) to the north. Around the time of the shooting, Cassidy Hale, a medical device representative, said she was driving to the facility to check on a machine in the building’s 12th floor outpatient surgery center. Hale saw firetrucks but didn’t realize anything was wrong until after she parked and found the elevator wasn’t working. Hale said she called the operating room manager, who told her there was an active shooter and she should go back to her car. Hale said police kept her from leaving the parking garage and later checked each car and escorted her out to be interviewed. She gathered with other employees and patients in a building across the street, where she said “everyone was really in shock” and “trying to process what was going on.” The shooting comes as cities around the U.S. have been wracked by gun violence and mass shootings in 2023. Shortly after the shooting, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia took to the Senate floor to decry gun violence and to urge his colleagues to advance gun reform. “There have been so many mass shootings ... that, tragically, we act as if this is routine,” the Democrat said during a 12-minute speech. “We behave as if this is normal. It is not normal.” The Atlanta pastor added: “I shudder to say it, but the truth is, in a real sense, it’s only a matter of time that this kind of tragedy comes knocking on your door.” Georgia’s other U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, also a Democrat, echoed his colleague in a statement: “The level of gun violence in America today is unconscionable and unacceptable, and policymakers at all levels have a responsibility to ensure public safety and implement long-overdue reforms.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday issued a new strategic plan for COVID-19 focusing on the transition from emergency response to long-term COVID-19 disease management. The Global Strategic Preparedness, Readiness and Response Plan (SPRP) 2023-2025 is the WHO's fourth strategic plan for COVID-19. The document is a guide for countries on how to manage COVID-19 over the next two years in the transition from an emergency phase to a longer-term, sustained response. “Although we are in a much stronger position in facing the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus is here to stay and countries need to manage it alongside other infectious diseases,” WHO said in a statement. “The SPRP 2023-25 will be useful in guiding countries in managing COVID-19, whether or not the pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern,” the statement added. The updated two-year strategy expands on the goals of the 2022 SPRP and aids nations as they move from critical emergency response to sustainable long-term COVID-19 disease prevention, control, and management, according to the press release. Meanwhile, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on COVID-19 will meet for the 15th time on Thursday to advise the WHO Director-General on whether the pandemic is still a public health emergency of international concern.  

World Population Review recently published a list of 136 countries in the world with highest crime rates in 2023. According to the list, the top 10 countries with highest crimes rates in 2023 are: Venezuela (83.76), Papua New Guinea (80.79), South Africa (76.86), Afghanistan (76.31), Honduras (74.54), Trinidad and Tobago (71.63), Guyana (68.74), El Salvador (67.79), Brazil (67.49) and Jamaica (67.42). Bangladesh stood 17th on the list, according to wordpoplulationreview.com. The overall crime rate is calculated by dividing the total number of recorded crimes of any sort by the entire population and multiplying the result by 100,000 (crime rate is typically reported as X number of crimes per 100,000 people). Crime rates vary widely between countries and are impacted by a variety of variables, it said. High levels of poverty and unemployment, for example, tend to exaggerate a country’s crime rate. There is also a substantial association between age and crime, with most crimes, particularly serious crimes, perpetrated by those aged 20 to 30. The 10 countries with the least crime rates in 2023 are: Qatar (12.13), United Arab Emirates (15.23) Taiwan (15.46), Isle of Man (19.25), Oman (20.34), Switzerland (21.62), Hong Kong (22), Japan (22.19), Slovenia (22.28) and Armenia (22.79).

More than a quarter-billion people in 58 countries faced acute food insecurity last year due to conflicts, climate change, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, according to a report published Wednesday. The Global Report on Food Crises, an alliance of humanitarian organizations founded by the U.N. and European Union, said people faced starvation and death in seven of those countries: Somalia, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. The report found that that the number of people facing acute food insecurity and requiring urgent food aid — 258 million — had increased for the fourth consecutive year, a “stinging indictment of humanity’s failure” to implement U.N. goals to end world hunger, said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. While the increase last year was due in part to more populations being analyzed, the report also found that the severity of the problem increased as well, “highlighting a concerning trend of a deterioration.” Rein Paulsen, director of emergencies and resilience for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, said an interplay of causes was driving hunger. They include conflicts, climate shocks, the impact of the pandemic and consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine that has had an impact on the global trade in fertilizers, wheat, maize and sunflower oil. The impact has been most acute on the poorest countries that are dependent on food imports. “Prices have increased (and) those countries have been adversely affected,” Paulsen said. He called for a “paradigm shift” so that more funding is spent investing in agricultural interventions that anticipate food crises and aim to prevent them. “The challenge that we have is the disequilibrium, the mismatch that exists between the amount of funding money that’s given, what that funding is spent on, and the types of interventions that are required to make a change,” he said. Acute food insecurity is when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.

A delegation of United States defense contractors and a former senior leader of the U.S. Marine Corps pledged the beginning of deeper cooperation with Taiwan on Wednesday. Taiwan has faced increasing pressure from China in the years since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president. China, which claims the island as its territory, has poached Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and sent military planes and ships toward the island on a near-daily basis. It also held large-scale drills modeling a blockade and simulated strikes on important targets on the island twice within the past year. Speaking at a public forum in Taiwan's capital Taipei, retired Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder said the U.S. wants to be part of the defense capabilities of Taiwan and improve the supply chain resilience of the island. He also emphasized how critical the island's position is for security. “For the Asia-Pacific, I would offer there’s not another more important area in the world to maintain peace,” Rudder said Wednesday morning at the Taiwan-U.S. Defense Industry Forum. “So (when) you hear ‘a free and open Indo-Pacific,’ this is a small part of ensuring that shared vision remains intact.” "We want to be part of the self-defense capabilities of Taiwan," he said. ALso Read: US ex-security adviser calls for closer ties with Taiwan Rudder, who was in charge of Marines operations in the Pacific, said the visit was within the U.S.' multiple agreements with China and laws related to Taiwan, such as the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires Washington to ensure Taiwan can defend itself. The legislation was enacted decades ago when the U.S. administration first recognized China and broke off official diplomatic relations with Taipei. The event was co-hosted by a trade group from the U.S. and another from Taiwan as the public-facing portion of the defense contractors' visit. Although it's unclear whether the groups will sign specific deals, local media reported that the United States was looking at cooperation in production of certain products. Part of that cooperation would be ensuring both sides can work together to use the weapons systems Taiwan bought alongside the island's existing self-produced defense capabilities. Washington is Taipei's largest unofficial partner and the supplier of a vast majority of Taiwan's defense purchases. “I’ll say it very simply: The endgame is joint interoperability,” Rudder said. A group of about 20 activists protested outside. “American warmongers are a scourge on Taiwan,” read one of the banners. “They sell all sorts of outdated ammunition to Taiwan and make tens of billions of U.S. dollars from Taiwan every year,” said David T. Chien, vice-chair of the Blue Sky Action Alliance, which supports unification with China. Between 6 a.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, 27 Chinese warplanes and a drone flew toward Taiwan, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense. The drone encircled the island, according to a flight map from the defense ministry, while seven navy vessels sailed the waters close by.

U.S. and Mexican officials have agreed on new immigration policies meant to deter illegal border crossings while also opening up other pathways ahead of an expected increase in migrants following the end of pandemic restrictions next week. Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall spent Tuesday meeting with Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and other top officials, emerging with a five-point plan, according to statements from both nations. Under the agreement, Mexico will continue to accept migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua who are turned away at the border, and up to 100,000 individuals from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador who have family in the U.S. will be eligible to live and work there. Despite sharing a 1,951-mile border with the U.S., Mexico had been notably absent from the rollout last week of a fresh set of efforts, including the creation of hubs outside the United States where migrants could go to apply to legally settle in the U.S., Spain or Canada. The first centers will open in Guatemala and Colombia. The COVID-19 restrictions have allowed U.S. officials to turn away tens of thousands of migrants crossing the southern border, but those restrictions will lift May 11, and border officials are bracing for a surge. Even with the restrictions, the administration has seen record numbers of people crossing the border, and President Joe Biden has responded by cracking down on those who cross illegally and by creating new avenues meant as alternatives to a dangerous and often deadly journey. Mexico's support is critical to any push by the U.S. to clamp down at the southern border, particularly as migrants from nations from as far away as Haiti are making the trek on foot up through Mexico, and are not easily returned back to their home countries. With Mexico now behind the U.S., plus an announcement Tuesday that 1,500 active-duty U.S. troops are deploying south for administrative support, and other crackdown measures in place, border officials believe they may be able to manage overcrowding and other possible issues that might arise once the COVID-19 restrictions end. Biden, who announced his Democratic reelection campaign a week ago, is trying to signal his administration is making a serious effort to tamp down the number of illegal crossings, which has been a potent source of Republican attacks. He also is trying to send a message to potential border crossers not to attempt the journey. But the effort also draws potentially unwelcome comparisons to Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, whose policies Biden frequently criticized. Congress, meanwhile, has refused to take any substantial immigration-related actions. The U.S. will continue to turn away Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who cross illegally. Mexico said Tuesday it would continue to accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from the four countries that are making up a ballooning share of the overall illegal border crossings, with no easy way to quickly return migrants to their home countries. According to data on asylum seekers in Mexico, people from Haiti remained at the top with 18,860 so far this year, higher than the total for the whole of 2022. Meanwhile, the U.S. is accepting 30,000 people per month from the four nations for two years and offering them the ability to legally work, as long as they come legally, have eligible sponsors and pass vetting and background checks. The administration also plans to swiftly screen migrants seeking asylum at the border itself, quickly deport those deemed as not being qualified, and penalize people who cross illegally into the U.S. or illegally move through another country on their way to the U.S. border. In addition, 1,500 active-duty personnel will be deployed to the border area for 90 days and will be pulled from the Army and Marine Corps. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will look to backfill those troops with National Guard or Reserve troops during that period, Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. There are already 2,500 National Guard members at the border. They are not working in a law enforcement capacity, but their mere presence sends a message. Then-President Trump deployed active-duty troops to the border to assist border patrol personnel in processing large migrant caravans, on top of National Guard forces that were already working in that capacity. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre downplayed any similarity between Biden's immigration management and Trump's use of troops during his term. “DOD personnel have been supporting CBP at the border for almost two decades now,” she said. “So this is a common practice.” But some in Biden's own party objected to the decision. “The Biden administration’s militarization of the border is unacceptable," said Senate Committee on Foreign Relations chair Bob Menendez, D-N.J. “There is already a humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere, and deploying military personnel only signals that migrants are a threat that require our nation’s troops to contain. Nothing could be further from the truth.” The Pentagon on Tuesday approved a request for troops made by the Department of Homeland Security, which manages the border. As a condition for Austin’s previous approval of National Guard troops to the border through Oct. 1, Homeland Security had to agree to work with the White House and Congress to develop a plan for longer-term staffing solutions and funding shortfalls to maintain security and immigration processing without the use of Defense Department resources, Pentagon officials said. As part of the agreement, the Pentagon has requested quarterly updates from Homeland Security on how it would staff its border mission without service members. It was not immediately clear if those updates have happened or if border officials will be able to meet their terms of the agreement — particularly under the strain of another expected migrant surge.

Economies across the Middle East and Central Asia will likely slow this year as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates bite into their post-pandemic gains, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. The IMF's Regional Economic Outlook blamed in part rising energy costs, as well as elevated food prices, for the estimated slower growth. The report said that while oil-dependent economies of the Gulf Arab states and others in the region have reaped the benefits of elevated crude prices, other countries — such as Pakistan — have seen growth collapse after an unprecedented flooding last summer or as economic woes worsened. The regional slowdown also comes as an explosion of fighting in Sudan between two top rival generals — who only a year ago as allies orchestrated a military coup that upended the African country's transition to democracy — threatens a nation where IMF and World Bank debt relief remains on hold. Rising interest rates, used by central banks worldwide to try to stem inflation's rise, increase the costs of borrowing money. That will affect nations carrying heavier debts, the IMF warned. Also Read: IMF satisfied with progress of BBS’ GDP and inflation data updated under new method “This year we’re seeing inflation again being the most challenging issue for most of the countries," Jihad Azour, the director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, told The Associated Press. "For those who have high level of debt, the challenge of increase in interest rate globally, as well as also the tightening of monetary policy, is affecting them.” The IMF forecast predicts regional growth will drop from 5.3% last year to 3.1% this year. Overall, regional inflation is expected to be at 14.8%, unchanged from last year, as Russia's war on Ukraine continues to pressure global food supplies and affect energy markets. It will be even worse in Pakistan, where the IMF projected inflation to more than double, to about 27%. Pakistan and IMF officials have held repeated talks over the release of a stalled key tranche of a $6 billion bailout package loan to Islamabad. The IMF warned that financial conditions worldwide will tighten this year, brought on in part by two bank failures in the United States in March. The sudden collapse of Credit Suisse before it was purchased by UBS also strained markets. For Sudan, Azour acknowledged the challenge as the country faces a humanitarian crisis brought on by the weeks of fighting there. The violence has also worsened a debt crisis that has gripped the country for decades as it faced Western sanctions. “We have worked with the government of Sudan, for the Sudanese people, in order to help them by achieving a debt operation that would allow Sudan to have a debt relief of more than $50 billion," Azour said. "But unfortunately, the recent developments ... put in a halt to all of of those efforts,” he added.

Authorities near Houston say they have caught a man suspected of killing five of his neighbors, including a 9-year-old boy, with an AR-style rifle after the family confronted him late at night about firing rounds in his yard. Francisco Oropeza, 38, was arrested Tuesday, four days after the shooting late Friday in the town of Cleveland, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Houston, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson. He said Oropeza was was arrested without incident near Conroe, which is roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the home authorities say Oropeza fled after shooting his neighbors and setting off a widening manhunt that had grown to more than 250 people from multiple jurisdictions. The sheriff would not say whether Oropeza was armed or how authorities figured out where he was. Also read: Shooting kills 2 men, injures 3rd victim in Seattle park Police had used drones and scent-tracking dogs during the wide search for Oropeza that included combing a heavily wooded forest a few miles from the scene. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott offered $50,000 in reward money as the search dragged late into the weekend and the FBI acknowledged that they had little indication as to Oropeza’s whereabouts. The alleged shooter is a Mexican national who has been deported four times, according to U.S. immigration officials. The gunman was first deported in March 2009 and last in July 2016. He was also deported in September 2009 and January 2012. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said that prior to the shooting deputies had been called to the suspect’s house at least one other time previously over shooting rounds in his yard. All of the victims were from Honduras. Wilson Garcia, who survived the shooting, said friends and family in the home tried to hide and shield themselves and children after Oropeza walked up to the home and began firing, killing his wife first at the front door. Garcia said Oropeza came running over to their house loading an AR-15 after he and two other people had asked him to stop firing off rounds late at night because a baby inside was trying to sleep. Garcia said Oropeza told him he could do what he wanted on his property. In offering the reward, Abbot called the victims “illegal immigrants,” a partially false statement that his office walked back and apologized for Monday after drawing wide backlash over drawing attention to the immigration status of the victims. The victims were identified as Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.

China’s foreign minister called for stability and a crackdown on cross-border criminal activity along the country’s border with Myanmar, during an unusual visit to the volatile region on Tuesday. The 2,129-kilometer (1,323-mile) border runs through densely forested mountains and has long been notorious for drug smuggling into China from the “Golden Triangle” region where the borders of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet. The United Nations says the production of opium in Myanmar has flourished since the military seized power in 2021, with the cultivation of poppies up by a third in the past year as eradication efforts have dropped off and the faltering economy has led more people toward the drug trade. During his visit, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said local Communist Party and government departments, the People’s Liberation Army, police and civilian bodies should join in “strengthening the border defense system.” Qin called for improvements in “maintaining distinct and stable borders, and severely cracking down on cross-border criminal activities.” “It is necessary to coordinate border management, border trade development, and bilateral relations,” he was quoted as saying in a ministry news release. Fighting between Myanmar's military and ethnic armed groups has also occasionally flared along the border, sending refugees and sometimes mortar fire into China. China has sought to maintain contacts with all sides, although it has been criticized for expressing unequivocal support for the junta after it said it would back Myanmar “no matter how the situation changes." Myanmar has been wracked by violence since the army’s overthrow of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover was met with massive public opposition, which security forces quashed with deadly force, in turn triggering widespread armed resistance. Despite the security challenges, China has sought to encourage legal trade between the sides and recently reopened border crossings after closing them for more than 1,000 days as part of strict COVID-19 control measures. During his visit to the Wanding-Ruili crossing point, Qin promoted the concept of a China-Myanmar economic corridor to aid business and other development on both sides, the Foreign Ministry said.  

A Palestinian prisoner died in Israeli custody early Tuesday after a hunger strike of nearly three months, Israel’s prison service announced. Adnan's death raises the potential for conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant groups during a period of already high tensions. Shortly after his death was announced, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a volley of rockets into southern Israel. Khader Adnan began his strike shortly after being arrested on Feb. 5. Adnan, a member of the Islamic Jihad militant group, had gone on hunger strikes several times after previous arrests. That included a 55-day strike in 2015 to protest his arrest under so-called administrative detention, in which suspects are held indefinitely without charge or trial. Israel’s prison service said Adnan had been charged this time with “involvement in terrorist activities” but had refused medical treatment while legal proceedings moved forward. It said he was found unconscious in his cell early Tuesday and transferred to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Israeli military said the missiles fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip fell in open territory, causing no damage. The Islamic Jihad militant group said in a statement that “our fight continues and will not stop.” Israel fought an 11-day war with Palestinian militants, including Islamic Jihad, in May 2021. Israel is currently holding over 1,000 Palestinian detainees without charge or trial, the highest number since 2003, according to the Israeli human rights group HaMoked. That figure has grown in the past year as Israel has carried out almost nightly arrest raids in the occupied West Bank in the wake of a string of deadly Palestinian attacks in Israel in early 2022. Israel says the controversial tactic helps authorities thwart attacks and hold dangerous militants without divulging incriminating material for security reasons. Palestinians and rights groups say the system is widely abused and denies due process, with the secret nature of the evidence making it impossible for administrative detainees or their lawyers to mount a defense.