United News of Bangladesh

Khadijah Farrakhan, longtime wife of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, died Saturday, the Nation of Islam has announced. She was 90. “Mother Khadijah” worked alongside her provocative and charismatic husband for decades, helping lead their religious and sociopolitical movement, which espouses Black self-reliance. Its home base was Mosque Maryam on the south side of Chicago, where the pair lived. “The Honorable Minister @LouisFarrakhan with deep sadness yet with profound gratitude to Allah informs you that his beloved wife of 72 years, the first lady of the Nation of Islam, Mother Khadijah has returned to Allah (may Allah be pleased),” a statement by the Shura Executive Council said. Her death came only seven months after devotees had marked Khadijah's 90th birthday. The statement said funeral services are to be announced. Mosque Maryam remembered Farrakhan as “a devoted follower” with “a precious soul, a sweet heart.” In a post on Facebook, R&B artist ZaRio Son Rise recalled her as “a true queen, a righteous woman, and one of the greatest examples of dignity, faith, loyalty, and grace our generation has ever witnessed.” Born Betsy Ross, Khadijah Farrakhan married her husband, then named Louis Walcott, in Boston on Sept. 12, 1953. The two had nine children. Their eldest son, Louis Farrakhan Jr., died in 2018, and son Joshua Farrakhan died in 2023. Khadijah Farrakhan converted to Islam in 1955, the same year that her husband joined the Chicago-based movement after being heavily influenced by Malcolm X, his friend from Boston. The pair changed their names around that time. Louis Farrakhan stepped into the organization's leadership vacuum shortly after Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. Among his most significant accomplishments was the Million Man March on Washington in 1995. Two years later, Khadijah Farrakhan spoke before a gathering of America's Black women in Philadelphia dubbed the Million Woman March. “A nation can rise no higher than its women,” she told the crowd. “We focus on women but cannot lose sight that we must rise as a family -- men, women and children.”

Ted Turner, the outspoken media pioneer who transformed television news by launching CNN, has died at the age of 87. CNN reported that Turner passed away on Wednesday, citing a statement from Turner Enterprises. Turner, known for his bold personality and risk-taking approach, revolutionised broadcasting with the launch of CNN in 1980 — the world’s first 24-hour news channel. His innovation reshaped how audiences consumed news, allowing them to access updates at any time. Beyond media, Turner had diverse interests. He owned professional sports teams in Atlanta, successfully defended the America’s Cup in 1977, and donated $1 billion to United Nations-related causes. He was also widely known for his marriage to actress Jane Fonda and earned nicknames such as “Captain Outrageous” and “The Mouth of the South.” In later years, Turner battled Lewy body dementia and shifted his focus to philanthropy and managing his vast land holdings, which included more than two million acres and the largest bison herd in the United States. Turner built his media empire from his father’s billboard business into a global conglomerate, Turner Broadcasting System, which he sold to Time Warner in 1996 for $7.3 billion. The company then included multiple cable networks, sports teams and film studios. CNN’s defining moment came during the 1991 Gulf War, when it became the first network to broadcast live coverage from Baghdad as the conflict unfolded, setting a new standard for real-time war reporting. Although Turner was expected to retain influence after the sale, he was gradually sidelined — a development he later described as a major mistake. The same year also saw the launch of Fox News under media mogul Rupert Murdoch, ushering in a new era of opinion-driven cable news that challenged CNN’s traditional reporting style. Turner’s legacy remains deeply tied to the creation of modern 24-hour news and the global expansion of television journalism.