South Korea and Japan said Pyongyang fired multiple ballistic missiles into the sea. Meanwhile, Blinken is in Seoul for the third Summit for Democracy. North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters on Monday, amid US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Seoul for a democracy summit. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported the detection of "several" suspected short-range ballistic missile launches by North Korea on Monday morning. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a parliamentary session that the North Korean missiles landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. No damage or injuries have been reported. The US State Department criticized the missile launches, calling them a threat to the security of the region. Blinken attending democracy summit This latest military posturing by Pyongyang comes as Blinken was visiting Seoul to attend a conference hosted by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Blinken is also scheduled to hold talks with his South Korean counterpart on the sidelines of the third Summit for Democracy in Seoul. The summit is an initiative of US President Joe Biden, focusing on exploring strategies to stop the global decline of democracy and the erosion of rights and freedoms. The meeting, running from March 18 to 20, will host government officials, NGOs and civil society members. The US secretary of state's trip includes meetings with South Korean officials, and aims to reinforce alliances. US-South Korea conclude joint military exercise The North Korean missile launch comes just after the 11-day annual Freedom Shield joint military exercises between the US and South Korea concluded on Thursday. North Korea has condemned the exercises in the past as preparation for invasion. Pyongyang recently threatened Seoul and Washington with severe consequences for their Freedom Shield exercises, saying there would be a "dear price" to be paid. In January, tensions soared after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un proposed constitutional changes to abandon peaceful Korean unification efforts. Kim suggested declaring South Korea as its "invariable principal enemy," and threatened annexation in case of war. Tensions in the peninsula have been high with North Korea's frequent missile tests since 2022.  

Cricketer Hasan Mahmud has tested positive for dengue fever. A member of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) medical team has confirmed the matter and said that the pacer is currently receiving treatment at home. His platelet level was found to be below the normal range. As a result, he could not join the ongoing fitness camp for the preliminary squad of the Bangladesh team, which is in preparation for the upcoming Asia Cup. Hasan's condition improved on Tuesday, and he is expected to undergo a blood test on Wednesday.

A record that had stood for more than 71 years was broken. Alf Valentine of West Indies did the 50-wicket milestone in 8 Tests. Only one wicket was required. Sri Lanka's Prabhath Jayasuriya claimed it on the last day of the second Test of the series against Ireland. He breaks the record for the fastest 50-wicket haul among spinners in Test cricket. On Friday, April 28, the 31-year-old left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya took himself to a unique heights. Prabhath Jayasuriya showed the achievement of taking 50 wickets in just seven Tests. So, he breaks the record that had been standing for more than 71 years.  West Indies Slow left-arm spinner Alf Valentine reached the 50-wicket milestone in his 8th Tests. This spinner achieved the feat in 1951 during the tour of Australia. Prabath Jayasuriya starts the match against Ireland with 43 wickets.  At the cost of 174 runs, he took 5 wickets in the first innings. Then in the second innings, he got the wicket of Peter Moor and Paul Stirling. So, he achieved the fastest Lankan bowler to reach fifty wickets in Tests. After dismissing Moor on the fourth day of the match, the record was a matter of time for Prabath. In the first hour of the first session of the match, he ended the wait.  Stirling, who scored a century in the first innings, drove the dangling delivery outside the off-stump.  Lankan player Kusal Mendis took a low catch at extra cover. Then the awaited magic moment come. On this day of Prabath jayasuriya's achievement, Sri Lanka defeated Ireland by an innings and 10 runs. The Lions whitewashed the visitors by 2-0 margin. 

Pyongyang's new underwater drone is intended to be capable of carrying out sneak attacks in enemy waters. As a test went ahead, North Korea's Kim Jong Un condemned joint US-South Korean drills. North Korean state media reported on Friday that the country's military had tested a new underwater nuclear drone. The announcement came with tensions around the Korean peninsula running high as the US and South Korea recently concluded their largest joint military exercise in five years. North Korea's Kim Jong Un has vowed to ensure that the two allies will "plunge into despair". A radioactive 'tsunami' The new drone dubbed "Haueil", meaning "tsunami" is intended to be capable of sneaking into enemy waters and destroying naval strike groups and major operational ports. This would be done using large radioactive waves through underwater explosions, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. During the test, the drone cruised underwater at a depth of 80 to 150 meters (about 260 to 490 feet) for more than 59 hours. Analysts remained skeptical about the readiness of the underwater vehicle. However, they warned that the North Korean dictator is showing off his diverse nuclear tactics as a threat to Washington and Seoul. Ankit Panda, a senior fellow at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace observed that the new drone resembled Russia's nuclear torpedoes — a new type of weapon meant to create destructive, radioactive blasts in coastal areas. North Korea warns of brewing "nuclear crisis" North Korea stepped up its weaponry demonstration as Washington and Seoul completed their 11-day joint exercise called "Freedom Shield 23." KCNA said Kim had supervised the three-day exercise, which also involved the detonations of mock nuclear warheads. The drills, the media reported, were aimed at alerting the two allies of a brewing "nuclear crisis" as they continue with their "intentional, persistent and provocative war drills." The US intends to send an aircraft carrier in the coming days for another round of joint drills with Seoul. Seoul: North Korea will pay for "reckless provocation" Kim Jong Un believes that the military drills conducted by the allies are part of a preparation for the invasion of North Korea. However, Seoul and Washington have maintained that the exercises are purely defensive. They have criticized North Korea's tests and accused the isolated country of breaching UN sanctions. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Friday that he would ensure that Pyongyang paid for its "reckless provocation." In 2022, Pyongyang fired more than 70 missiles. This year, North Korea has fired at least 20 ballistic and cruise missiles over 10 different launch events. Seoul and Washington have responded by expanding their joint military exercises which had been downsized in previous years.

Germany's health minister said Berlin would be following an EU recommendation that member states demand travelers from China provide proof of a recent negative rapid COVID test. Germany will require compulsory coronavirus testing for people entering from China because of the wave of infections there, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Thursday.  Lauterbach said that Germany would require "at least a rapid test" taken shortly before departure. He said spot tests would also be carried out at random on some arrivals, "to recognize virus variants."  This follows an EU recommendation on Wednesday that member states consider this course of action if they see fit. Although such decisions ultimately rest with national governments, the EU often provides recommendations, partly in a bid to ensure more uniform actions from EU members. Lauterbach, who is also a doctor, called the EU's recommendation a "good decision."  "On this basis we are now also changing German entry rules at short notice," Lauterbach said.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the US led condemnation of North Korea's recent missile tests. However, the council did not impose new sanctions or even give a formal statement. The United States and its allies strongly condemned North Korea's recent test of a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday. However, the Security Council did not take any action in response to North Korea's recent moves due to opposition from Russia and China. On Sunday, North Korea's foreign minister called UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres a "puppet" of the US for joining in on condemning missile tests.  "The DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is acting with impunity in the face of the Security Council's inaction," read a joint statement delivered by US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and signed by 14 countries. Earlier in the meeting, the US circulated a proposed presidential statement — a step below a legally binding resolution —  condemning the missile launches and calling for North Korea to abide by current UN sanctions in place banning Pyongyang from carrying out ballistic missile and nuclear tests. North Korea has carried out an unprecedented number of missile tests this year, amid fears it is preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2016. Russia, China block US position on North Korea However, such statements require signatures from all 15 Security Council members to be adopted.  Russia's deputy UN Ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva, said the reason for North Korea's growing aggression is "Washington's desire to force Pyongyang into unilateral disarmament by implementing sanctions and exerting force." She cited recent US military drills with South Korea that included practice strikes on North Korean missile and defense systems, as having antagonized Pyongyang. The US has maintained that all military drills with South Korea and Japan are defensive in nature. Discouraging any action which could worsen the situation, Evstigneeva called for "inter-Korean dialogue" and "multilateral negotiations". China's UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, said the UN had to meet North Korea halfway to prevent the situation from getting "out of control."  He urged the US to show "initiative, put up realistic proposals, respond positively to North Korea's concerns stop military exercises and ease sanctions." Thomas-Greenfield said the US is "prepared to meet without preconditions," and called on North Korea to "engage in serious and sustained diplomacy.'' "But the DPRK continues to not respond and instead chooses to continue this reckless behavior. The council must instead respond," she added.

The White House said the president was experiencing "very mild symptoms" and was taking a course of Paxlovid. The 79-year-old leader was vaccinated against the coronavirus.US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with the coronavirus, the White House said on Thursday. Biden,79, will continue to work in isolation until he tests negative, according to his aides, who said he will participate in his planned meetings at the White House this morning via phone and Zoom from the residence. The White House also said Biden started taking a Paxlovid course. The Pfizer-produced drug is typically administered within five days of symptoms appearing. It has proven to reduce hospitalizations and deaths among vulnerable patients by 90%. Biden took the two-course BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine against COVID shortly before taking office in 2021. He also received two booster shots this year. An official said Jill Biden, the US first lady, tested negative. Dozens of leaders and top ranking officials have contracted COVID over the past two years, including France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Boris Johnson and Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, to name a few.

The Meta-owned social media platform is testing new tools to verify ages of US users. The tech was developed by Yoti, an AI digital identity company. Instagram will test new options for users to verify their age, starting with users in the United States. The new AI-based toolbox was developed by Yoti, a company that specializes in online age verification. Yoti has been approved by a German regulator for youth media protection. We’re testing this so we can make sure teens and adults are in the right experience for their age group, Instagram wrote in a press release. Users who are not able to confirm that they are older than 13 will not be able to use Instagram. The new options US users will be able to choose from two new verification options. The first is a video selfie that Instagram will share with Yoti. The AI company will then estimate a user’s age based on their facial features and share that estimate with Instagram. The second option is what Instagram calls social vouching. The option requires a user to select three mutual followers to vouch for them. The followers will then have three days to respond to the request. Each person vouching is required to be at least 18 years old to participate. The company stated that these new measures will prevent teens from accessing Facebook Dating, adults from messaging teens, and help teens from receiving restricted ad content. How Yoti works Yoti is able to estimate facial age using AI trained on anonymous images of diverse people from around the world who have transparently allowed Yoti to use their data, Instagram wrote. Yoti claims that all images used to train its AI technology were collected transparently and can be deleted by the person at any time. Any data collected from a person under 13 required the explicit approval of a guardian. Why Instagram wants to verify users ages Instagram did not always require users to confirm their age upon sign-up. This was not introduced until 2019, following mounting pressure from law makers and child safety advocates. After the switch, Instagram introduced pop-ups that asked users to enter birth dates. The Meta-owned company beefed up this measure by rolling out a feature that allowed for age confirmation using a government-issued photo ID. Instagram may face pushback for its new verification methods from users who do not want their private photos sent to third parties. But the tech company has promised images used for age verification will be deleted and will not determine a user’s real identity. The technology cannot recognize your identity, just your age, Instagram wrote.

India says it successfully tested an interceptor capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. But could this trigger a nuclear war with Pakistan? On August 2, 2018, the Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) India's equivalent of the Pentagon's DARPA research agency launched an Advanced Area Defense (AAD) missile from Abdul Kalam island off India's eastern coast. "The endo-atmospheric missile, capable of intercepting incoming targets at an altitude of 15 to 25 kilometers [9 to 16 miles] was launched against multiple simulated targets of 1,500 kilometer [932 mile]-class ballistic missiles," according to the DRDO announcement. "One target among simultaneously incoming multiple targets was selected on real time, the weapon system radars tracked the target and the missile locked on to it and intercepted the target with a high degree of accuracy. The complete event including the engagement and interception was tracked by a number of electro-optical tracking systems, radars and telemetry stations. All the mission objectives were successfully met." India's missile defense program is a two-tiered system: the Prithvi missile (derived from the Prithvi tactical ballistic missile) for exo-atmospheric intercepts in outer space, before they near the target, and the Advanced Area Defense missile for endo-atmospheric intercepts within the Earth's atmosphere, in the terminal phase when the target warhead is making its final descent. In that sense, it is similar to the 1960s U.S. Anti-Ballistic Missile System, which used Safeguard and Sprint missiles, or any integrated air defense system. A long-range interceptor to take out the incoming missile far from the target, and a short-range point defense weapon to destroy any missile that penetrates the long-range screen. Previous tests of Indian interceptors targeted short-range Prithvi ballistic missiles on a trajectory that mimicked medium-range missiles. The Diplomat magazine suggests that the dummy target this time could have been an Agni, an intermediate-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Indian press trumpeted that India's missile defense is a homegrown program developed by India, rather than imported from Russia and America as are so many Indian weapons such as jet fighters and tanks. That's no small point of pride for the world's second most-populous nation, once the poster child for poverty, and now the world's sixth-largest economy. Interestingly, while India boasts of developing its own missile defense system, it is also buying Russian S-400 air defense missiles capable of intercepting missiles as well as aircraft. "The S-400 acquisition, which has some utility for missile defense, suggests that India is interested in the capability and not merely letting DRDO have a science project," Christopher Clary, a professor of international relations at State University of New York Albany, told The National Interest. But there is another danger with Indian missile defense, as history shows. When America and the Soviet Union developed anti-missile systems in the 1960s, the opposing superpower either built more missiles, or increased the number of warheads on existing missiles, to saturate enemy defenses. So what will Pakistan do? India and Pakistan "are already in an arms race for all intents and purposes and have been so for some time," Georgetown University professor C. Christine Fair, who has written on the Pakistani military, told The National Interest. "There is, of course more nuance: Pakistan has the world's fast growing nuclear weapons program. India has chosen not to reciprocate in growing its stockpiles. Pakistan has and is trying to acquire tactical nuclear weapons while India has demurred." "Pakistan will field more warheads on more delivery vehicles than it would in the absence of BMD [ballistic missile defense], Clary says. "Pakistan could develop multiple warheads for its current ballistic missiles, or develop short-range tactical nuclear weapons and cruise missiles that are harder to intercept." In turn, a Pakistani buildup might prompt an India buildup, sparking a vicious cycle reminiscent of the Cold War. Ironically, India is notorious for developing home-grown weapons, such as aircraft and tanks, that take much longer to develop than expected, and are plagued with problems when they are fielded. But as always with nuclear weapons and missile defense, perception is everything. "The biggest problem from India's side is that it all too frequently announced that it has a capability which mobilizes Pakistan to innovate when in fact India is a long way from achieving the stated capability but Pakistan has already developed a counter measure," Fair warns. Source: The National Interest. EK

President of Bangladesh University Council and CUET Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Md. Rafiqul Alam has informed that date for the admission tests of Bachelor (hons) degree for the session 2020-21 under different universities of the country have been fixed. The decision was taken at the virtual meeting of Bangladesh University Council, an organization of the Vice Chancellors of different universities across the country.  The admission test for the students of science, humanities and commerce group under 20 universities will be held on last two Saturdays of June and first two Saturdays of July. The admission test under cluster method of seven agricultural universities will be held on May 29. Besides, admission tests for BUET will be held on June 10 and for RUET, KUET, CUET the admission tests will be held on June 12. The admission tests of Dhaka University will take place on June 21,22,27 and 28 June. The test of Jahangir Nagar University will be held from June 3 to 18.  Moreover, tests under cluster for the engineering universities will take place on June 18, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University on June 27, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University on June 4,5. AH