Scores of Myanmar’s minority Rohingya Muslims are paying off people smugglers and returning to the squalid camps they used to live in after being held for months on overcrowded ships that were to take them to Thailand but did not…
Month: May 2015
Hollywood stars, presidents join Letterman for final act
Hollywood stars Steve Martin and Tina Fey, comedians Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld and a host of US presidents joined the band Foo Fighters on Wednesday to bid farewell to David Letterman as the veteran “Late Show” host signed off…
Mobile internet ‘fails to benefit’ Asia’s senior citizens: Telenor study
A Telenor Group research has revealed that senior citizens of Asia are not fully receiving benefits of mobile phone and internet.Data collected from its four Asian markets, including Bangladesh, also suggested that the senior segment in some of these markets…
‘Greener’ alternatives may be harmful too
Transitioning from fossil fuels to electric-powered technology is widely believed to be the best way to lower carbon emissions.But is that the real solution? Certainly not, especially in India and China, warns a new study.”Knowing where the electricity comes from…
Bangladesh asks US investors to take Bangladesh’s regional connectivity advantage
Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has urged the US businesses to invest in Bangladesh and take advantage of its “enhanced” regional connectivity.He said Bangladesh will eventually become a hub in the network of distribution channel linking all the rising…
Malaysia orders rescue of migrant boats, Thailand says no to shelters
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Thursday he had ordered the navy to conduct search and rescue missions for thousands of migrants adrift at sea as Thailand’s prime minister said his country would not provide shelter.Southeast Asia is battling…
BB King to be buried in Mississippi hometown next week
Legendary blues man BB King will be buried on Saturday, May 30 on the grounds of a museum dedicated to his life in Indianola, a small Mississippi Delta town where his career began.A funeral procession will take King’s body from…
Xavi quits Barca for Qatar after 17 glittering seasons
Barcelona midfielder and captain Xavi confirmed on Thursday he will leave his boyhood club at the end of the season and has agreed to join Qatari side Al Sadd after a glittering career stretching over 17 seasons.The 35-year-old former Spain…
Washington state finds first dinosaur fossil, T. rex relative bone
Scientists digging among coastal rocks in Washington state have found the partial left femur of a two-legged carnivorous dinosaur, a fossil believed to be about 80 million years old and the first of its kind found in the state, scientists…
‘Inside Out’ charms Cannes but shuns film jury
The new animated feature “Inside Out” from Disney-Pixar turned the Cannes festival on its head on Monday as the film about what goes on inside a young girl’s mind drew cheers from audiences and queries about why it was not…
Iraqi forces say they defeat Islamist attack near Ramadi
Iraqi forces said they fought off an overnight attack by Islamic State militants near the city of Ramadi, which the insurgents overran at the weekend in the most significant setback for the government in a year.Islamic State is seeking to…
NBR asks for information on Transcom Group chief Latifur Rahman’s bank accounts, assets
The National Board of Revenue detectives are seeking details of accounts Transcom Group Chairman Latifur Rahman and his wife Shahnaz Rahman hold with banks.The group owns Bangla daily Prothom Alo and English broadsheet The Daily Star.
Apple, Android app makers cool to Microsoft overtures
Microsoft’s plan to make its new version of Windows a mobile hit by letting it accept tweaked Apple and Android apps has met an obstacle: some of the software developers the company needs to woo just aren’t interested. Windows phones…
IMF says energy subsidised by $5.3 trillion worldwide
Governments around the world charge prices for energy that do not account for its harmful environmental, health and other side effects, amounting to a $5.3 trillion “post-tax” subsidy this year, the International Monetary Fund said in a report on Monday.The…
Fabregas gets comical red as Chelsea slump at West Brom
Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas was sent off in bizarre circumstances as the below-par Premier League champions, playing with 10 men for over an hour, slumped 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Oil down as firmer dollar, ample supplies offset Mideast turmoil
Oil slipped on Monday as a rallying dollar and concerns of growing oversupply weighed on the market after Saudi Arabia reported its highest crude exports in nearly a decade.Crude oil futures erased early gains of more than $1 a barrel…
Why do men exist? Scientific study offers an explanation
Since in many species, sperm is males’ only contribution to reproduction, biologists have long puzzled about why evolutionary selection, known for its ruthless efficiency, allows them to exist.Now British scientists have an explanation: Males are required for a process known…
US fears Shia militias could worsen Iraqi sectarian fires
The use of Shia militias to try to take back the Iraqi city of Ramadi from Islamic State risks unleashing more sectarian bloodletting, current and former US officials said, but Washington and Baghdad appear to have few other options.
‘Pitch Perfect 2’ races past ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ with outstanding $70.3 million
“Pitch Perfect 2” hit all the right notes at the box office, snagging first place on the charts with a smashing $70.3 million debut despite fierce competition from “Mad Max: Fury Road.”Universal’s acapella sequel earned more in its first weekend…
Don’t endanger lives at sea or deny protection: HRW urges EU
Anti-smuggling Operation Bound by Human Rights Law (Brussels) – European Union military action against human smuggling networks should not put the lives and rights of migrants and asylum seekers in jeopardy, Human Rights Watch said today. The Council of the…
“These are people floating around, waiting to die”
Interview with Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch Thousands of minority Rohingya Muslims remain stranded at sea without adequate food and water. On Wednesday, 20 May, Malaysia and Indonesia finally bowed to mounting international pressure, announcing that they would offer…
Branded a troublemaker – Ruth’s story
Birgit Schwarz As a little girl, Ruth Riviera (not her real name) loved to step into her dad’s army boots and strut around the house with pride and self-importance. Her dad, a Non-Commission Officer in the US Army, was her…
CSOs voice concerns over corporate takeover of WHO
Geneva, (Kanaga Raja) – The Framework for Engagement with Non-State Actors, initiated to safeguard the independence, integrity and credibility of the World Health Organisation (WHO), now seems to bear the threat of facilitating and legitimising the corporate capture of the…
Why elites love drones
Robert J. Burrowes I sometimes read that drone strikes are counterproductive to western security interests because each person killed by a drone results in more new ‘terrorists’. See, for example, ‘The more civilians US drones kill in the Mideast, the…
15 biodiversity protectors
Danielle Nierenberg May 22 is the International Day of Biodiversity—an opportunity to increase understanding and awareness of the Earth’s flora and fauna. This year’s theme is biodiversity for sustainable development. Human health and livelihoods are linked to biodiversity, the variety…
Robotic weeders
Weeds lowers crop yield to a greater extent. Globally a huge amount of herbicides are used to control weeds. But many of the herbicides are getting resistant to weeds. Moreover the chemicals used as herbicides are very poisonous and harmful…
6 Baltimore officers involved in Freddie Gray’s death indicted
By Kayla Ruble A grand jury has decided to indict the six Baltimore police officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray, who died after sustaining a severed spine while in police custody in April. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby…
‘Govt on propganda against Bnp using state agencies’
BNP on Thursday alleged that the government is carrying out false propaganda using different state agencies against it alongside continued repressive acts as part of its plot to weaken the opposition party. “The government is repeatedly attacking BNP and carrying…
Salahuddin’s court appearance uncertain on health plea
The legal process to produce BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed, receiving treatment at a Shillong hospital in police custody, before Meghalaya court is likely to be deferred for an indefinite time. Sources at the Meghalaya police told BBC Bangla that the…
Sold for ransom: On the trail of Thailand’s human traffickers
By Jonathan Head As the trade in human beings becomes more and more profitable, the BBC’s Jonathan Head discovers that entire communities in Thailand are helping the traffickers. Earlier this month, I accompanied a group of Thai volunteers through the…