United News of Bangladesh

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a three-day halt to strikes against Kiev, a move linked to preparations for contacts with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday. "The meeting with President Putin will indeed take place, and there will be talks. As a rule, such meetings have been quite lengthy in the past. Let us wait and see. We will certainly keep you informed," Peskov told journalists. Peskov also urged against making predictions about settlement proposals and called for waiting for the outcome of Putin's meeting with the U.S. negotiators. Witkoff and Kushner landed at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport at 12:52 p.m. local time (0952 GMT) on Saturday. They were welcomed at the airport by Russia's special presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Peskov's statement came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier in the day that Russia had struck airports in Kiev and its southeastern suburb of Boryspil overnight. "Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kiev Airport or Boryspil Airport," Zelensky said in a post on X. Zelensky said that Ukraine had taken note of the Russian move and would adjust its operations next week accordingly with regard to Russian airspace. Zelensky also said on Thursday that he expected to meet Trump's envoys in the Ukrainian capital in the coming days.   

US President Donald Trump on Friday described the six-month-old US conflict with Iran as “small potatoes” and defended Vice President JD Vance’s decision not to call the fighting a war. Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said US strikes on Iran have become “intermittent” and that many people do not consider the conflict a war. “I can understand what he’s saying,” Trump said of Vance, adding that he preferred to describe it as a “military conflict.” The conflict has cost US taxpayers more than $37.5 billion and killed 18 US service members. The US and Israel have conducted airstrikes against Iran but have not sent ground troops into the country. Vance, during a White House briefing Thursday, said he would not describe the fighting as a war and declined to predict whether it would end before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, when Republicans are seeking to retain their narrow congressional majorities. “Right now, there is no active shooting,” Vance said. His remarks came despite Iran launching an attack against US ally Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for US strikes on Iran earlier in the week. Trump said the US military death toll in the Iran conflict remained relatively low compared with previous US wars. He cited the 18 US deaths against much higher losses in Vietnam and other conflicts. According to the US National Archives, 58,220 US service members died during the Vietnam War. When asked how he could call the conflict “small potatoes” despite the deaths of 18 US troops, Trump repeated his claim that the US campaign has severely weakened Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did you probably wouldn’t be standing here,” Trump said. Trump also compared the Iran conflict with the US military operation in Venezuela in January, which resulted in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his transfer to New York to face federal drug trafficking charges. The president had initially said the Iran conflict would last only a matter of weeks, but the fighting has now continued for about six months.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to completely halt trade with countries running trade surpluses with the United States unless the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates. Trump made the threat on social media in response to a stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report. The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that the economy added 162,000 jobs in August, significantly higher than the projected 53,000, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent. "LOWER THE RATE OR I'LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT," Trump wrote, adding that high interest rates put the nation at a very unfair disadvantage. The remarks could intensify tensions between the administration and the central bank, potentially threatening its independence. According to U.S. media reports, several voting Fed members, including Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, have recently signaled openness to interest rate hikes if inflation remains high.

US President Donald Trump is combining economic sanctions and military force to pressure Iran, as Tehran continues to resist Washington’s campaign. The administration launched “Operation Economic Outcast” last week to cut Iran off from remaining international trade and financial partners, while US strikes have resumed in recent days, prompting Iranian retaliation and raising fears of a wider regional war. Despite months of sanctions and military attacks, Iran’s leadership has shown little sign of backing down. The conflict has also pushed up energy prices and raised concerns about its political impact ahead of the November midterm elections. Trump said Wednesday that he did not expect the conflict to last “much longer” and dismissed concerns that the war or higher gasoline prices could hurt Republicans. The US campaign to isolate Iran economically has so far had limited results, with only one branch of an Egyptian bank in the UAE targeted. Experts say sanctions would have greater impact if they reached Iran’s major trading partners, particularly China, India and Russia. The Strait of Hormuz remains a key pressure point, with shipping traffic falling sharply from pre-war levels because of the risk of attacks and Iranian restrictions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran would continue to face economic pressure, while Washington reserved the right to use military force when necessary. Meanwhile, Iran’s leadership appears divided between moderates seeking negotiations and hardliners favoring confrontation. Analysts say neither side is satisfied with the current situation, leaving the conflict increasingly a battle of endurance.

A US federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, issuing a preliminary injunction against an executive order targeting what the administration calls “birth tourism.” US District Judge Deborah L. Boardman of Maryland issued the order Wednesday while a class-action lawsuit filed by immigrant families and advocacy groups is pending. In her ruling, Boardman said the Supreme Court had already established that children covered by the case are citizens at birth. Birthright citizenship is guaranteed under the US Constitution to people born on American soil, with limited exceptions. The right stems from the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868. Trump has repeatedly sought to end or restrict the practice. His earlier executive order sought to deny citizenship to children born to people who are in the US illegally or temporarily, but the Supreme Court struck down that effort in June. In August, Trump issued a narrower order seeking to restrict automatic citizenship for certain children, including those born to parents with links to foreign embassies or organizations and people classified as “alien enemies.” The latest order also targeted “birth tourism,” which the administration described as entering the US on a nonimmigrant visa specifically to give birth there. Families challenging the order argued that its broad provisions could leave children at risk of being denied citizenship based on circumstances involving their parents or extended family members. The administration argued that blocking the order was premature, saying federal agencies would issue appropriate guidance on how it would be enforced. Boardman rejected that argument, saying the order itself directs agencies to deny citizenship documents to broad categories of children regardless of future guidance. The lawsuit was filed with support from We Are CASA, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. The White House did not immediately comment on the ruling.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republican lawmakers facing difficult reelection races to campaign on his record in the White House despite his declining popularity, while pledging to campaign in all of the roughly three dozen contests expected to determine control of Congress. Voters' negative views of the economy and the war in Iran have put Republicans in a difficult position as the midterm election season enters its final stretch. But at a dinner in the Rose Garden — one of the White House spaces he has controversially renovated since returning to office last year — Trump told some of his party's most vulnerable lawmakers that they had a strong record to present to voters. “All you have to do is talk about it, and you're going to win and you're going to win big,” Trump said, a week before Republicans are scheduled to gather in Dallas for an unusual midterm convention. The Republican lawmakers listened quietly throughout Trump's remarks, occasionally applauding as many sipped cocktails before dinner. Yellow gingham-covered menus described the event as an “end of summer BBQ” featuring cheeseburgers. Trump highlighted economic investment in the United States, lower drug prices and reduced border crossings, though some of the figures he cited were significantly inflated. Trump said control of Congress would be decided by about 35 races. He pledged to spend the 30 days before the election campaigning aggressively in those battleground contests, recalling his extensive travel schedule before his own White House victory two years ago. “I'm going to go to every one of those 35 places, and we're going to see if we can get everyone elected,” Trump said. He said his efforts would focus on both House and Senate races. He specifically mentioned Senate contests in Alaska, where Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan is facing Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola, and Texas, where Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton is running against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. Trump endorsed Paxton during this year's primary despite his scandal-plagued past. However, Trump also joked Monday about Paxton's appearance and performance on the campaign trail. “You might not love his look. You might not love his television interviews,” Trump said. “But he was the best attorney general in the country, perhaps. He was one of the best in the entire country. And that speaks a lot louder than the suit he's wearing that doesn't look so great.” Trump suggested that the Republicans' difficulties in the midterm elections were part of a broader pattern faced by nearly all modern presidents. “Whether you're a good president or a great president, you lose the midterms,” Trump said. “We're going to turn that around because there's no reason for it.”

US oil giant Chevron has confirmed plans to expand its operations in Venezuela after President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal aimed at developing the country's vast oil reserves and giving the Pentagon a share of the profits. Chevron, the only major US oil company with a significant presence in Venezuela, said Wednesday that it had been allocated additional acreage in the Orinoco Belt, where it already operates. The company plans to invest more than $7 billion over the next five years, aiming to more than double its current production to around 600,000 barrels per day. “Chevron's history in Venezuela spans more than a century, and our expanded position reflects our confidence in the country's deep resource potential,” CEO Mike Wirth said in a prepared statement. Venezuela has the world's largest proven crude oil reserves, with more than 303 billion barrels, according to OPEC's 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin. Saudi Arabia ranks second with 267 billion barrels. However, Venezuela's severely deteriorated energy infrastructure and international sanctions have kept its daily oil output at just over 1 million barrels, compared with Saudi Arabia's 10 million to 11 million barrels a day. US production is nearly 14 million barrels per day. Chevron expansion follows US-Venezuela deal Chevron, the second-largest US oil company, has operated in Venezuela since 1923. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright attended a ceremony in Caracas on Wednesday where Chevron, Italian energy company Eni and other firms signed agreements with the Venezuelan government. “President Trump's mission in Venezuela is straightforward. The mission is to bring peace, freedom, opportunity and prosperity to the people of Venezuela,” Wright said in Caracas. “I believe the deals that are signed today — tens of billions of dollars of investment, ultimately many thousands of jobs — are critical in starting this ball rolling of peace, opportunity and prosperity for everyone in Venezuela.” The White House confirmed Monday that it is partnering with North American Blue Energy Partners, or NABEP, as part of Trump's efforts to expand US involvement in Venezuela's oil sector. The agreement, however, has drawn skepticism from energy experts who say it could take years to restore Venezuela's oil industry, which has deteriorated after years of neglect. Questions have also been raised over whether Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, has the authority to grant NABEP 100-year rights to 17 oil fields containing an estimated 65 billion barrels of reserves, and whether future Venezuelan or US administrations could reverse the agreement. US pushes back against criticism Venezuela's constitution requires arrangements of this nature involving the United States to be approved by the National Assembly, which has not taken such action, wrote Ian Vásquez, vice president for international studies at the Cato Institute. “The deal lacks legitimacy since it was agreed to with a dictatorship that has clung to power for decades through violence and by committing what was probably the largest electoral fraud in Latin American history in 2024,” Vásquez wrote. He also said the agreement was reached under significant US pressure, including military pressure, and argued that any future democratic government in Venezuela could challenge the deal, potentially undermining confidence in the arrangement. The ruling-party-controlled National Assembly expressed support for the agreement during its Tuesday session, but lawmakers neither debated the deal nor voted to approve it. Wright on Wednesday rejected the criticism, describing the agreement as “a massive win” for both countries. “What it's going to do is take resources that are underground, not helping anyone, and invest capital and money and technology and bring them to the surface to better the lives of Venezuelans, better supply energy to Americans,” Wright said at a joint news conference with Rodríguez. Trump has been focused on Venezuela's oil industry since the capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro in January and has pushed for US businesses to return to the country. “We have Exxon going in, we have Chevron going in. We have our big oil companies going in,” Trump said at the time. He again suggested Monday that other major US oil companies were preparing to return, although there is no evidence of such plans beyond Chevron. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said in January that Venezuela was “uninvestable.” An Exxon spokesman said this week that “nothing has changed.” US oil majors remain hesitant The history of US oil companies in Venezuela helps explain their reluctance. Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in 1976 and established the state-owned company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. A second nationalization took place in 2007, when then-President Hugo Chávez required foreign oil companies to enter state-controlled joint ventures and seized the assets of companies that refused. Chevron agreed to participate in a joint venture, while Exxon and ConocoPhillips refused, prompting Venezuela to seize their assets. Trump has said the agreement with Venezuela will “substantially lower” gasoline prices in the United States. Analysts, however, have repeatedly warned that Venezuela's aging and damaged oil infrastructure will require years of rehabilitation and tens of billions of dollars in investment. “It could take 2 to 4 years to get new greenfield facilities online in the Orinoco region,” Amy Jaffe, director of the Global Energy, Climate, and Sustainability Lab at New York University, said in an email. “Other places where there is no pipeline and other kinds of support infrastructure could take longer.” Meanwhile, the national average price of regular gasoline rose overnight to $4.12 a gallon, according to the motor club AAA, up 93 cents from the same point last year.

An American journalist has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for acting as an agent of a foreign government in the United States, the US Justice Department said. Thomas Weir Pauken II, 51, pleaded guilty earlier this year and does not plan to appeal, according to his defense lawyer, Charles Burnham. Pauken was also sentenced to 36 months of supervised release and barred from overseas travel, the department said in a news release Tuesday. He was arrested in February. The case is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions involving people accused of working for the Chinese government without making the required disclosures, as tensions between Washington and Beijing remain high. “Pauken betrayed his country for money” by supporting “Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) operations, recruiting, and gathering of sensitive information from potential assets,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in the news release. Pauken worked as a journalist for several Chinese news organizations after moving to China in 2010, including state broadcaster CCTV. Most recently, he worked as an editor for Xinhua, China's state news agency, a position he had held since 2024. “Mr. Pauken has accepted responsibility and respects the court's sentence,” his lawyer said, adding that “as the government agreed in court, Mr. Pauken did not provide any classified information to the Chinese.” According to court documents, Pauken worked from at least 2019 until February 2026 at the direction of people he knew were working for the Chinese government. This included a person he met in 2017 who was identified as “Cathy.” “Cathy” told Pauken that Chinese President Xi Jinping read the reports he prepared, according to a Feb. 27 federal court affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Timothy J. Healy. The Justice Department said Pauken received at least $100,000 for his work with “Cathy.” Besides preparing reports, Pauken was also asked by “Cathy” to recruit people who could provide classified information. In one instance, he was instructed to meet a person identified in the affidavit as “Person 1” and give that person a Samsung phone, a computer, passwords for Signal and Telegram, as well as access to NetDisk. Pauken was stopped by Customs and Border Protection agents after returning to the United States in January 2025. During interviews with CBP and FBI agents, Pauken said he was “80 percent sure” that a person seeking a position in the Trump administration would provide classified information to China, although he advised the person against doing so, according to the affidavit. Pauken also told investigators that “Cathy” generally paid for his trips to the United States over the years and frequently sent payments to his wife's bank accounts, the affidavit said. Pauken, a Texas native, used the alias Tom McGregor while working as a commentator and writer at his father's request. His father, who has the same name, wanted to distance himself from his son's work in China. The younger Pauken published two books under his real name, Thomas W. Pauken II. One, published in 2019, focused on US-China relations, while another, published in 2023, was about Shenzhen, a city in mainland China across from Hong Kong. Pauken's father was a former chairman of the Texas Republican Party in the 1990s and ran for governor more than a decade ago. In his most recent publicly visible Facebook post under the McGregor name, Pauken shared photos of his wife and child during a trip and wrote, “My family and I enjoying our trip to Washington DC.” He was arrested later that month.

Two people were killed and the suspect died after a shooting at a downtown Minneapolis apartment building Wednesday, police said. Three Minneapolis police officers were also injured, including two who suffered gunshot wounds, police Sgt. Garrett Parten said at a news conference Wednesday evening. All three officers were in stable condition at Hennepin County Medical Center. Police received a 911 call reporting gunshots at the building shortly after 4:30 p.m. Officers entered the high-rise within three minutes and found victims, Parten said. They then heard additional gunfire and followed the sounds to a higher floor, where they encountered “a haze that significantly limited their visibility,” he said. Parten did not provide further details about the haze. One officer suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to the hospital along with the two other injured officers. One of the officers was undergoing surgery, Parten said. “This is a tremendously tragic event and our thoughts and prayers are with the families, the loved ones of those who lost their lives, those who were injured and with the injured officers and their families,” Parten said. One victim was pronounced dead at the scene after being fatally shot, while another died after being taken to the hospital, he said. Parten said authorities did not immediately know how the suspected shooter died. Hennepin County Medical Center said it received seven patients, but provided no further details about the conditions of those who were injured. Julius Bailey was outside his apartment building when he heard gunshots and saw a man he recognized as a resident holding a pistol. Bailey said he heard a woman screaming and immediately ran away. He said he counted eight shots. Bailey said he recognized the man with the gun because he was known for showing off his weapon. He said he had tried to avoid the man since moving into the building in June. “I could tell he was trouble,” Bailey said. Chris Miller, who also lives in the building, said he heard a rapid series of gunshots and quickly went outside for safety. He said he believed he knew who was responsible for the shooting and had encountered someone carrying a handgun in the hallway earlier this week. Miller said he reported that person to building management. Videos posted on social media showed police officers pointing rifles upward at an apartment tower near the Minneapolis Convention Center. Authorities warned residents to stay away from the densely populated nearby Loring Park neighborhood. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a social media post that state officials were at the scene assisting local law enforcement in responding to the shooting. “Grateful to law enforcement actively working to ensure the safety of our neighbors in Downtown Minneapolis this afternoon,” Walz said. “Minnesota is praying for our first responders.” FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency was responding to the shooting and would provide “any and all resources necessary to assist local authorities,” in a post on X.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier arrived in eastern Thailand early Wednesday following an extended deployment in the Middle East. Associated Press journalists saw the Lincoln, carrying around 5,000 service members, approaching Laem Chabang port in Chonburi province shortly after the destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. passed through the area. The carrier had been involved in supporting the U.S. war against Iran. Its deployment included more than 250 consecutive days at sea, setting a record for uninterrupted time at sea. Concerns have increased over the prolonged deployment amid reports of declining mental health among crew members and shortages of essential supplies, including food and hygiene products. The USS George Washington, which is normally based in Asia, replaced the Lincoln in the Middle East in August. Many of the service members are expected to visit Pattaya, a popular beach destination near the port. Thai officials said the Lincoln's stopover was intended to provide the crew with rest and recovery before the carrier returns to its U.S. base. Officials in Pattaya welcomed the visit, saying it could provide a boost to the local economy. Authorities also said security measures were being strengthened to ensure the visit proceeds smoothly.