United News of Bangladesh

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.

The World Health Summit 2022 will begin on October 16 in Berlin, Germany with a ceremony. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will be joined by German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Presidents of France and of Senegal, as well as other high-ranking dignitaries. For the first time, World Health Organization (WHO) is a WHS co-organizer, said a press release. Over 300 speakers are expected, coming from all regions of the world, among them more than 40 WHO experts, who will share their knowledge, views and vision across various WHS formats. Read: World failing to protect mental health of health care workers, says report on impact of Covid The summit aims to strengthen exchange, stimulate innovative solutions to health challenges, position global health as a key political issue and promote a global health conversation in the spirit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, said the WHO. From 16-18 October 2022 participants will debate topics such as the architecture of pandemic preparedness and outsmarting pandemics, beating non-communicable diseases , a new lens at global health financing, sports and health , health in times of war and crises and health for peace, health and care workers, cancer control, innovation in global health communications, women and child health, polio-free future, the role of parliamentarians, amongst others.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he expects his mobilization of army reservists for combat in Ukraine to be completed in about two weeks, allowing him to end an unpopular and chaotic call-up meant to counter Ukrainian battlefield gains and solidify his illegal annexation of occupied territory. Putin — facing domestic discontent and military setbacks in a neighboring country armed with increasingly advanced Western weapons — also told reporters he does not regret starting the conflict and “did not set out to destroy Ukraine” when he ordered Russian troops to invade nearly eight months ago. “What is happening today is unpleasant, to put it mildly,” he said after attending a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Kazakhstan’s capital. “But we would have had all this a little later, only under worse conditions for us, that’s all. So my actions are correct and timely.” Russia’s difficulties in achieving its war aims have become apparent in one of the four Ukrainian regions Putin illegally claimed as Russian territory last month. Anticipating an advance by Ukrainian forces, Moscow-installed authorities in the Kherson region urged residents to flee Friday. Even some of Putin’s own supporters have criticized the Kremlin’s handling of the war and mobilization, increasing pressure on him to do more to turn the tide in Russia’s favor. In his comments on the army mobilization, Putin said the action he ordered last month had registered 222,000 of the 300,000 reservists the Russian Defense Ministry set as an initial goal. A total of 33,000 of them have joined military units, and 16,000 are deployed for combat, he said. Putin ordered the call-up to bolster the fight along a 1,100-km (684-mile) front line where Ukrainian counteroffensives have inflicted blows to Moscow’s military prestige. The mobilization was troubled from the start, with confusion about who was eligible for the draft in a country where almost all men under age 65 are registered as reservists. Opposition to the order was so strong that tens of thousands of men left Russia, and others protested in the streets. Critics were skeptical the draft would end in two weeks. They predicted only a pause to allow enlistment offices to process regular conscripts during Russia’s annual fall draft for men aged 18-27, which was postponed from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1. “Do not believe Putin about ‘two weeks.’ Mobilization can only be canceled by his decree. No decree - no cancellation,” Vyacheslav Gimadi, an attorney for imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, wrote on Facebook. Asked about the possibility of an expanded mobilization, the Russian president said the Defense Ministry had not asked him to authorize one. “Nothing further is planned,” Putin said, adding, ”In the foreseeable future, I don’t see any need.” Putin and other officials stated in September the mobilization would affect some 300,000 people, but his enabling decree did not cite a specific number. Russian media reports have suggested it could be as high as 1.2 million. Putin had also said only those with combat or service experience would be drafted. He later admitted military officials had made mistakes, such as enlisting reservists without the relevant background. Men who received minimal training decades ago were drafted in droves. Reports also have surfaced that some recruits were sent to the front lines in Ukraine with little preparation and inadequate equipment. Several mobilized reservists were reported to have died in combat in Ukraine this week, just days after they were drafted. Putin responded to the criticism Friday, saying all activated recruits should receive adequate training and that he would assign Russia’s Security Council “to conduct an inspection of how mobilized citizens are being trained.” Before launching the invasion on Feb. 24, Putin questioned Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign nation, portraying the country as part of historic Russia. Asked about this on Friday, he repeated his claim that Russia was prepared for peace talks and again accused the Ukrainian government of quitting negotiations after Russian troops withdrew from Kyiv early in the war. Ukraine rejected any possibility of negotiating with Putin after he illegally annexed Ukraine’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions last month based on “referendums” that Kyiv and the West denounced as a sham. The battlefield momentum has shifted toward Ukraine as its military recaptures cities, towns and villages that Russia took early in the war. After occupied Kherson’s worried Kremlin-backed leaders asked civilians to evacuate to ensure their safety and to give Russian troops more maneuverability, Moscow offered free accommodations. Russia has characterized the movement of Ukrainians to Russia or Russian-controlled territory as voluntary, but in many cases they aren’t allowed to travel to Ukrainian-held territory, and reports have surfaced that some were forcibly deported to “filtration camps” with harsh conditions. An Associated Press investigation found that Russian officials deported thousands of Ukrainian children — some orphaned, others living with foster families or in institutions — to be raised as Russian. Ukrainian forces reported retaking 75 populated places in northern Kherson in the last month, according to Ukraine’s Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories. A similar campaign in eastern Ukraine resulted in most of the Kharkiv region returning to Ukrainian control, as well as parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the ministry said. As they retreat, Russian forces are adding to their losses by abandoning weapons and ammunition. In the U.S., the Office of the Director of National Intelligence presented a slide deck Friday stating that at least 6,000 pieces of Russian equipment have been lost since the start of the war. The presentation outlines enormous pressure on Russia’s defense industry to replace its losses and says that because of export controls and international sanctions, Russia is expending munitions at an unsustainable rate. Konstantin, a Kherson resident who spoke to the AP only if his last name was withheld for safety reasons, said columns of military trucks had moved around the region’s capital and eventually left. Most government offices have reduced working hours, and schools have closed, he said. “The city is now in suspense. Primarily the Russian military from the headquarters and the family of collaborators are leaving,” Konstantin said. “Everyone is discussing the imminent arrival of the Ukrainian military and preparing for it.” Russian forces on Friday carried out missile strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and in the Zaphorizhzhia region, home to Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog has warned that fighting at or near the Russian-controlled Zaphorizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, now shuttered, could trigger a catastrophic radiation release. Putin has vowed to retaliate if Ukraine or its allies strike Russian territory, including the annexed regions of Ukraine. Russia’s Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine came under attack for a second day Friday. According to Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the shelling damaged an electric substation, five houses in the village of Voznesenovka and a power line, leaving several nearby villages temporarily without electricity. No casualties or injuries were reported. Ukrainian shelling blew up an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region on Thursday, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee. Unconfirmed media reports said three Russian National Guard officers were killed and more than 10 were wounded. Vowing to liberate all Russian-occupied areas, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, said in a video message Friday, “We have buried the myth of the invincibility of the Russian army.”

An explosion inside a coal mine in northern Turkey killed at least 25 people, local officials announced, while rescuers working through the night were trying to bring dozens of others trapped to the surface. The explosion occurred 6:45 p.m. at the state-owned TTK Amasra Muessese Mudurlugu mine in the town of Amasra, in the Black Sea coastal province of Bartin. Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said a preliminary assessment indicated the explosion was likely caused by firedamp — a reference to flammable gases found in coal mines. There were 110 people in the mine at the time of the explosion, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, who traveled to Amasra to coordinate the rescue operation, told reporters. Most of the workers were able to evacuate following the blast, but 49 were trapped in a higher risk area of the facility, the minister said. Soylu would not provide a number for those still trapped, saying some among the 49 had been lifted to safety. “We are faced with a picture that we truly regret, that we regret to have to share (with the public),” Soylu said. The Bartin governor’s office said 25 were killed in the blast. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca reported at least 17 injured, including eight who were being treated in intensive care units. Several rescue teams were dispatched to the area, including from neighboring provinces, Turkey’s disaster management agency, AFAD, said. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced he was canceling a planned visit to the southeastern city of Diyarbakir and would travel to Amasra instead to coordinate the rescue operation. He said three prosecutors had been assigned to investigate the incident. “Our hope is that the loss of life does not increase further, that our miners are saved,” Erdogan said in a statement. “All our efforts are geared in that direction.” The private DHA news agency quoted one worker as telling Bartin Gov. Nurtac Arslan that he came out of the mine by his own means. He described feeling a “pressure” but said he could not see anything due to the dust and dirt. People rushed to the mine for news of trapped friends or colleagues, DHA reported. In Turkey’s worst mine disaster, a total of 301 people died in 2014 in a fire inside a coal mine in the town of Soma, in western Turkey.

A 15-year-old boy killed five people and injured two more in a shooting rampage in Raleigh, police said, horrifying a community that is now mourning victims whose lives were cut short as they were going about their daily routines. Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said the teen was captured hours after the victims were gunned down Thursday evening. He was hospitalized and in critical condition following his arrest, but authorities have not said how he was injured. Patterson said Friday that police haven’t determined a motive for the attack. The victims were different races and ranged in age from 16 to their late 50s, Patterson said. Family members and friends said some of the victims were gunned down while doing normal, everyday activities — an off-duty police officer was killed while on his way to work, one of the women who died was on her porch talking to a neighbor, another woman who died was out walking her dog and another was out exercising. Gov. Roy Cooper called the shooting an “infuriating and tragic act of gun violence.” He added: “No neighborhood, no parent, no child, no grandparent, no one should feel this fear in their communities — no one.” The gunfire broke out around 5 p.m. Thursday in a residential area northeast of downtown, Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said. Police said from there, the teenager fled to a nearby walking trail and continued shooting. The teen, who was not immediately identified by police, eluded officers for hours — setting off a manhunt across a crime scene that stretched for 2 miles (3 kilometers) — before he was cornered in a home and arrested, Patterson said. The Hedingham neighborhood is a residential area of single family and town homes. The Neuse River Greenway, a walking and biking trail, is behind some of the houses. The trail runs about 27 miles (43 kilometers) along the river and connects to the state’s Mountains-to-Sea Trail that’s popular with hikers. The stretch of trail behind the neighborhood is paved and lies down a grassy slope from the houses. Police said Officer Gabriel Torres, 29, was among the five killed. He was off-duty and heading to work when the shooting began. The other victims were Nicole Connors, 52; Mary Marshall, 34; Susan Karnatz, 49; and James Roger Thompson, 16. Connors’ husband told The Associated Press she was on the porch talking to a neighbor when she was killed. Marshall’s sister told NBC News that she was walking her dog, Scruff. Marcille Lynn Gardner, 59, was talking to Connors when she was shot. Gardner remained hospitalized in critical condition Friday. A second police officer, Casey Joseph Clark, 33, was also wounded and released from the hospital. Karnatz’s husband, Tom Karnatz, said she was an avid runner who often ran on the greenway. “She was a very loving wife and amazing mother to our three sons,” he said through tears when he answered his door Friday. “We’re absolutely heartbroken and miss her dearly.” In the driveway, a silver minivan and a Toyota Camry had matching 26.2 stickers — symbolizing the miles of a marathon. The minivan’s license plate read simply: “RUNNR.” Woodrow Glass, a 74-year-old retiree and neighbor of Connors, said he talked to her nearly every day as she walked her small dog. “She was friendly with everybody in the neighborhood, spoke with everybody ... and was really respected here. And we’re going to miss her,” he said. In a statement Friday, President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden are grieving with victims’ families, and his administration is working with Cooper to help local authorities with their investigation.  “Enough. We’ve grieved and prayed with too many families who have had to bear the terrible burden of these mass shootings,” he said. Omer Rosas, a sophomore at Knightdale High School, said he was shocked to learn Friday that his classmate was arrested in the shooting. “I did not expect it to be him,” Rosas told the AP. “He was very calm. He wasn’t like a mean person. He was open to be nice to everyone.” Rosas said the teen is personable and athletic — a smaller guy who enjoys running and was considering joining the school’s track team. Thompson, the 16-year-old victim, was a junior at the school. Prosecutors will seek to charge the suspect as an adult, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said in an email. Authorities have not commented on what charges the teen could face. The Raleigh shooting was the latest in a violent week nationwide. Five people were killed Sunday in a shooting at a home in Inman, South Carolina. On Wednesday, two police officers were fatally shot in Connecticut after apparently being drawn into an ambush by an emergency call about possible domestic violence. Police officers have been shot this week in Greenville, Mississippi; Decatur, Illinois; Philadelphia, Las Vegas and central Florida. Two of those officers, one in Greenville and one Las Vegas, were killed. Thursday’s violence was the 25th mass killing in 2022 in which the victims were fatally shot, according to The Associated Press/USA TODAY/Northeastern University Mass Killings database. A mass killing is defined as when four or more people are killed excluding the perpetrator. The walking trail was quieter than usual Friday. Sara Cutter, 31, said she sensed “a lingering sadness over Raleigh” as she walked the greenway, about a mile from the shootings. “We’re all hurting today, the entire city,” Cutter said. “I’ve seen some somber faces while I’ve been out walking today. But it’s also been good to see people out. The community — that’s what will get us through.”

India's Supreme Court Thursday delivered a split judgment on a bunch of petitions challenging the ban on hijabs in classrooms in the state of Karnataka. Hijabs are headscarves worn by Muslim women. Muslims are a minority community in India. The government in the southern Indian state banned hijabs in schools and colleges in February this year, an order that was upheld by the state's High Court. A top court bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia this morning gave the split judgment, paving the way for the petitions to be heard by a larger bench. While Justice Gupta dismissed the pleas against the hijab ban, Justice Dhulia allowed them. "It's ultimately a matter of choice and nothing else. Uppermost in my mind was education of the girl child. I respectfully disagree with my brother judge," Justice Dhulia said. The top court, on September 22, reserved its order on the pleas against the Karnataka High Court judgement refusing to lift the ban on hijabs. The row, in fact, began in Karnataka's Udupi district in the wake of a government college barrring six teenage students from wearing hijabs in classrooms. The move sparked massive protests in the state, prompting the state government to enforce a blanket ban on wearing "religious outfits" in educational institutions.    

India has refrained from voting on a UN General Assembly resolution denouncing the recent annexation of four Ukrainian regions by Russia, describing the decision as a "well thought out national position". Earlier too, India had abstained from voting on three resolutions against Russia -- a similar Security Council resolution recently and two General Assembly resolutions in March. Though a total of 35 nations, including China, South Africa and Pakistan, refrained from voting on Wednesday, this resolution was passed with a two-third majority. In her speech, Ruchira Kamboj, India's permanent representative to the UN, reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. "We have decided to abstain, keeping with our firm resolve to strive for a peaceful solution through dialogue and diplomacy," she said. "Our PM has said unequivocally that this cannot be an era of war. We have consistently advocated that no solution can ever be arrived at the cost of human lives. Escalation of hostilities and violence is in no one's interest," the diplomat said. Experts believe that India's"neutral stand" in the Russia-Ukraine war stems from the fact that Moscow still continues to be its largest arms supplier. India imports nearly 50% of its arms and fighter aircraft from Russia.  

The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to condemn Russia’s “attempted illegal annexation” of four Ukrainian regions and demand its immediate reversal, a sign of strong global opposition to the seven-month war and Moscow’s attempt to grab its neighbor’s territory. The vote in the 193-member world body was 143-5 with 35 abstentions. It was the strongest support from the General Assembly for Ukraine and against Russia of the four resolutions it has approved since Russian troops invaded Ukraine Feb. 24. Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, called the vote “amazing” and “a historic moment.” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said supporters were “holding our breaths” and called it “a monumental day.” European Union Ambassador Olof Skoog called it “a great success” that sends “a resounding message to Russia that they are and remain isolated.” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that the vote demonstrated the world “is more united and more determined than ever to hold Russia accountable for its violations.” It is “a clear message” that “Russia cannot erase a sovereign state from the map” and it “cannot change borders by force,” he said. The Western-sponsored resolution was a response to Russia’s announced annexation last month of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Moscow acted following Kremlin-orchestrated “referendums” that the Ukrainian government and the West have dismissed as sham votes conducted on occupied land amid warfare and displacement. During two days of speeches at the assembly’s resumed emergency special session on Ukraine speaker after speaker accused Russia of violating key principles of the United Nations Charter — respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all U.N. member nations. There was intense lobbying by supporters of the EU-facilitated resolution ahead of Wednesday’s vote. U.S. envoy Thomas-Greenfield told the assembly before the vote that when the United Nations was established on the ashes of World War II it was built on an idea — “that never again would one country be allowed to take another’s territory by force.” Afterward, she told reporters the vote means “that in the eyes of the world and the United Nations, Ukraine’s borders remain the same.” “The resolution also sends an enormously important signal to Moscow and to everyone: It does not matter if you as a nation are big or small, rich or poor, old or new. If you are a U.N. member state, your borders are your own and are protected by international law,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “They cannot be redrawn by anyone else by force.” A key issue for the resolution’s Western backers was how many countries would support it, and the result went beyond their most optimistic expectations. The General Assembly voted 141-5 with 35 abstentions March 2 to demand an immediate Russian cease-fire, withdrawal of all its troops and protection for all civilians. On March 24, it voted 140-5 with 38 abstentions on a resolution blaming Russia for Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis and urging an immediate cease-fire and protection for millions of civilians and the homes, schools and hospitals critical to their survival. But the assembly voted by a far smaller margin April 7 to suspend Russia from the U.N.’s Geneva-based Human Rights Council over allegations Russian soldiers in Ukraine engaged in rights violations that the United States and Ukraine have called war crimes. That vote was 93-24 with 58 abstentions. A 2014 resolution affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity and declaring the referendum that led to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula illegal was adopted by a vote of 100-11 with 58 abstentions. Among the surprise supporters of Wednesday’s resolution were the “yes” votes from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Brazil. Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, had appealed to countries to vote against the resolution, calling it “a politicized and openly provocative document” and denouncing its sponsors as “unscrupulous Western blackmailers.” He expressed regret the vote was not by secret ballot, as Russia sought but the assembly rejected. Nebenzia reiterated Russia’s claims the referendums were valid, saying “the populations of these regions do not want to return to Ukraine.” The four countries that joined Russia in voting against the resolution were North Korea, Belarus, Syria and Nicaragua. Ukraine’s Kyslytsya expressed profound regret that the four countries made “the wrong choice against the U.N. Charter” and urged them to reconsider their commitment to the U.N.’s principles. Among the 35 countries that abstained, 19 were from Africa, including South Africa. China and India, the world’s two most populous countries, also abstained along with Pakistan and Cuba. The more powerful Security Council, whose resolutions are legally binding, has been stymied on taking action on Ukraine because of Russia’s veto power, which it used Sept. 29 to block condemnation of Russia’s attempts to annex Ukrainian territory. By contrast, the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, has now approved four resolutions criticizing Russia over Ukraine. Its votes reflect world opinion but are not legally binding. The resolution adopted Wednesday declares that Moscow’s actions violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, are “inconsistent” with the principles of the U.N. Charter, and “have no validity under international law and do not form the basis for any alternation of the status of these regions of Ukraine.” It demands that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.” And it supports “the de-escalation of the current situation and a peaceful resolution of the conflict through political dialogue, negotiation, mediation and other peaceful means” that respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders. Many countries among the more than 70 speakers urged a negotiated end to the war. The EU’s Skoog called the appeal for a peaceful solution “very important,” but stressed it must be based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity. During Wednesday’s debate there was strong support for the resolution. Australian Ambassador Mitch Fifield called Russia’s attempted annexation “illegal and a dangerous escalation” and urged all countries to oppose acts of aggression. Ambassador Fergal Mythen of Ireland said voters in the “sham” referendums in the four regions “faced intimidation by the Russian military and Russia’s illegitimately appointed authorities.” Cambodian Ambassador Sovann Ke didn’t indicate how he would vote but said that “the forcible annexation of regions from a sovereign country is a flagrant violation of the U.N. Charter and international laws, which is not acceptable” and urged that internationally respected borders “be fully respected.” In the voting, Cambodia supported the resolution. South Korea’s ambassador, Hwang Joonkook, gave unequivocal support “to the sovereignty, political independence and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.” He said his country’s “own painful experiences” after the 1950-53 Korean War “can testify that any attempt to divide a nation in any form or method is merely the beginning of lasting very serious troubles, rather than a solution.” On the other side of that divide, North Korean Ambassador Kim Song supported the “self-determination” of the people in the four regions annexed by Russia as a right protected in the U.N. Charter and said the results must be respected. He accused the United States and Western countries of “brutally” violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya under “the pretext” of promoting international peace and security without ever having its actions called into question by the Security Council. He argued that U.S. interference in the internal affairs of countries is continuing in the 21st century. Syrian Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh accused the General Assembly of “being manipulated flagrantly by some Western countries for their own geopolitical interests” and urged countries to oppose efforts “to isolate Russia and to employ double standards.”