PHOENIX: A 14-year-old girl was killed and eight others were wounded early Saturday in a shooting amid a crowd of people at a strip mall northwest of downtown Phoenix, police said.
Sgt. Andy Williams told reporters that nine people were taken to hospitals after the 1 a.m. shooting sent people running near 10th Avenue and Hatcher Road. The 14-year-old girl died after being taken to the hospital, two women have life-threatening injuries, and six have injuries that are not life-threatening.
In an interview posted by ABC 15 Williams said no suspects were immediately identified and no arrests were made while authorities pieced together witness accounts.
Williams said it appeared that a handgun was used after an argument erupted among those gathered for what he termed “some sort of party.”
“Many rounds were shot into this crowd of people as everyone fled the area,” he said.
Williams said the wounded range in age from about 17 to 24.
The shooting happened about an hour after police reported that a teenage boy was shot and killed outside his home about three blocks away. It was not immediately clear if the two shootings were related.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego responded to the shooting on Twitter, saying: “Seems we can’t go a day without another mass shooting.”
“Time has run out,” she said. “Change must happen now.”
1 dead, 8 hurt in overnight shooting at Phoenix strip mall
https://arab.news/26mkx
1 dead, 8 hurt in overnight shooting at Phoenix strip mall
- A 14-year-old girl died after being taken to the hospital
Bangladesh sends record 750,000 workers to Saudi Arabia in 2025
- Latest data shows 16% surge of Bangladeshis going to the Kingdom compared to 2024
- Bangladesh authorities are working on sending more skilled workers to Saudi Arabia
DHAKA: Bangladesh sent over 750,000 workers to Saudi Arabia in 2025, marking the highest overseas deployment to a single country on record, its labor bureau said on Friday.
Around 3.5 million Bangladeshis live and work in Saudi Arabia, sending home more than $5 billion every year. They have been joining the Saudi labor market since the 1970s and are the largest expatriate group in the Kingdom.
Last year, Saudi Arabia retained its spot as the top destination for Bangladeshi workers, with more than two-thirds of over 1.1 million who went abroad in 2025 choosing the Kingdom.
“More than 750,000 Bangladeshi migrants went to Saudi Arabia last year,” Ashraf Hossain, additional director-general at the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, told Arab News.
“So far, it’s the highest number for Bangladesh, in terms of sending migrants to Saudi Arabia or any other particular country in a single year.”
The latest data also showed a 16 percent increase from 2024, when about 628,000 went to the Kingdom for work, adding to the largest diaspora community outside Bangladesh.
Authorities have focused on sending more skilled workers to Saudi Arabia in recent years, after the Kingdom launched in 2023 its Skill Verification Program in Bangladesh, which aims to advance the professional competence of employees in the Saudi labor market.
Bangladesh has also increased the number of certification centers, allowing more candidates to be verified by Saudi authorities.
“Our focus is now on increasing safe, skilled and regular migration. Skilled manpower export to Saudi Arabia has increased in the last year … more than one-third of the migrants who went to Saudi Arabia did so under the Skill Verification Program by the Saudi agency Takamol,” Hossain said.
“Just three to four months ago, we had only been to certify 1,000 skilled workers per month. But now, we can conduct tests with 28 (Saudi-approved) centers across the country, which can certify around 60,000 skilled workforces (monthly) for the Kingdom’s labor market.”
On Thursday, the BMET began to provide training in mining, as Bangladesh aims to also start sending skilled workers for the sector in Saudi Arabia.
“There are huge demands for skilled mining workers in Saudi Arabia as it’s an oil-rich country,” Hossain said.
“We are … trying to produce truly skilled workers for the Saudi labor market.”
In October, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh signed a new employment agreement, which enhances worker protection, wage payments, as well as welfare and health services.
It also opens more opportunities in construction and major Vision 2030 projects, which may create up to 300,000 new jobs for Bangladeshi workers in 2026.
