Dhaka – The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called upon the members of Bangladesh’s parliament to stand against a new bill which’ puts girls at high risk of child marriage.’ Senior researcher of HRW’s Women Rights Division Heather Barr in…
Author: editor
15 feared dead in explosives factory fire in India
New Delhi (AP/UNB) — Police say a fire has engulfed a factory manufacturing explosives in southern India and 15 workers are feared dead and another three injured.
18 killed after bus plunges into lake in central China
Beijing (AP/UNB) — Chinese authorities say 18 people have died and two more are in hospital after a passenger bus plunged into a lake in the central province of Hubei.
3 Jamaat men among 55 held in BD’s Satkhira
Dhaka – Police arrested 55 people, including three activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir, from different parts of Satkhira district on various charges.
Trump names Gen James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis as defence secretary
US President-elect Donald Trump has named General James Mattis as his defence secretary. “He’s our best,” Mr Trump said, as he announced the nomination to a rally of supporters in Ohio. Gen Mattis, who is known as “Mad Dog”, was…
Bus strike on Dhaka-Rajshahi route hits commuters hard
Rajshahi – Movement of buses on Dhaka-Rajshahi route remained suspended since Thursday night as Rajshahi District Motor Workers’ Union enforced a strike on the route, protesting an attack on the workers of a bus by truckers.
Bangladesh Bank signs Green TF agreements with 6 banks
Dhaka – Bangladesh Bank on Thursday signed participatory agreements (PA) with six banks for the use of’ ‘Green Transformation Fund (GTF) for export-oriented textile and textile products and leather manufacturing industries’. The banks which signed the GFT-PA separately are Eastern…
Obaidul for reasonable solution with Uber cabservice
Dhaka – Road, Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said the government will be able to reach a reasonable consensus with the app-based taxicab service Uber, in a bid to give digital transport service to the country’s people. “I’ve…
Cyclonic storm Nada weakening in Northwest Bay of Bengal
Dhaka – The cyclonic storm Nada moving towards the north west Bay from south east Bay of Bengal is getting weak and may shrink into a depression to deep depression that may eventually weaken further into a land depression over…
Bangladesh got Indian support in 1971, refusing same to Rohingyas: BNP
Dhaka – The BNP yesterday reiterated its call to take diplomatic efforts involving the international community to force Myanmar to stop persecution on Rohingyas. “We don’t say we need to help Rohingya people to fight against Myanmar authorities. But diplomatic…
HC summons Sherpur FP officer Sr Staff Nurse over death of newborn
Dhaka – The High Court yesterday summoned the family planning officer and a senior staff nurse of Sherpur Health Complex in Bogra over refusing service and driving away an expecting woman, causing her to give birth under a tree resulting…
Crown prince formally takes over as Thailand’s new king
Bangkok (AP/UNB) — Thailand has a new king, with the country’s crown prince formally taking the throne to succeed his much-revered late father, who reigned for 70 years. The new monarch, who received the title “His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn…
Ending AIDS needs both prevention and a cure
By Lyndal Rowlands United Nations (IPS) – Eighteen million people, just slightly under half of the people living with HIV and AIDS globally, are now taking life-saving medication, but global efforts to end the disease still largely depend on prevention.…
Rohingya refugees trapped in limbo
By Mahfuzur Rahman Dhaka (IPS) – Amid growing persecution by Myanmar’s military, thousands of minority Rohingya Muslims in its western state of Rakhine have fled their frontier villages and are languishing along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border for lack of shelter and…
Alliance Française, Dhaka ‘Geet, Ghazal Evening’ Saturday
Dhaka – Alliance Française, Dhaka will organise a musical program titled “ Geet and Ghazal Evening” to be performed by Ivy Benarjee and Manzurul Islam Khan on Saturday, 3 December 2016 at 6 pm in it’s courtyard.
Bangladesh-Icimod int’l seminar on dev of CHT Dec 4
Dhaka – With the vision of promoting sustainable development in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs (MoCHTA) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) are jointly organizing a seminar during Bangladesh-ICMIOD Partnership on…
Bangladesh accidents kill 3,080, injure 7,918 in 11 months
Dhaka – At least 3,080 people were killed and 7,918 others injured in 2,717 accidents across the country in the last 11 months till November 30. The fatal accidents took place on the roads, highways, national roads and regional roads…
Leaving no one behind: The imperative of inclusive development
Abridged from UN report: Agreed after an unprecedented global conversation, the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by Member States in September 2015 has inclusion at its core. With its central pledge to leave no one behind, the historic…
What the Koran really says about women
By Carla Power, Saturday 6 November 2015, The Telegraph When Middle East correspondent Carla Power began studying the Koran with a conservative Islamic scholar, she wasn’t expecting to learn that it nowhere advocates the oppression of women – or that…
World AIDS Day Thursday: Over 9000 cases, 500 die in BD
Dhaka – The World Aids Day is being observed Thursday with the theme “Hands up for HIV Prevention” in Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world with the theme “Hands up for HIV Prevention”. According to a report of UNAIDS, it…
Pohela Baishakh rally gets UNESCO recognition
Dhaka – The traditional procession brings out on Pohela Boishakh – the first day of the Bangla New year – has got recognition of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)’s as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,…
Plane that crashed with Brazil football team did run ‘out of fuel’
The plane which crashed in Colombia killing most of a Brazilian football side had run out of fuel, according to a leaked audio recording. A pilot can be heard repeatedly requesting permission to land due to an electric failure and…
Thailand’s parliament invites crown prince to assume throne
Bangkok (AP/UNB)— Thailand’s parliament on Tuesday named Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn as the new king, completing a formal step for the heir to take the throne following the death of his father last month. The Cabinet, following a 1924 law on…
Making France Great Again: Fillon on Trump’s footsteps?
Marwan Bishara Fillon’s nationalistic rhetoric has transgressed into National Front territory. Francois Fillon, the seasoned French politician who won the weekend’s Republican primaries is nothing like Donald Trump; the two are very different political animals with different characters and different…
37 Rohingyas sent back to Myanmar
Cox’s Bazar – Members of Boarder Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) sent back some 37 Rohingyas to Myanmar following their attempt to intrude Bangladesh territory though the Naf River on Monday night.
Henry Kissinger’s stunning revelations about Pakistan in 1971
Dhaka: Under US pressure, Pakistan had in November agreed to grant independence to what was then East Pakistan, former US diplomat Henry Kissinger has revealed in an interview in the latest issue of The Atlantic magazine. Instead, Pakistan attacked India…
Dictionary.com’s word of Year 2016 is ‘xenophobia’
New York (AP/UNB) — You might have thought about it, heard it. A lot. You might have even felt it: Dictionary.com’s word of the year is “xenophobia.” While it’s difficult to get at exactly why people look words up in…
Residents of Iraq’s Mosul fight, jostle over food
Mosul (AP/UNB) — Residents of the Iraqi city of Mosul fought each other around trucks delivering humanitarian aid as they jostled for scant supplies on Monday, while government troops fighting to retake the city from Islamic State militants inched closer…
Making bird nests gives Bangladesh families livelihood, self-reliance
Benapole – Weaving decorative bird nests has turned out to be a life changing endeavour for some women in several areas of Jessore Sadar upazila in Southwest Bangladesh as they have become self-dependent by selling the handicraft product. In Kachua,…
Higher learning only for high calibre pupils: BD experts
Dhaka – The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recommended limiting the master’s course to only meritorious students to ensure the high quality of education, UNB news agency has reported. “It’s desirable that master’s courses will remain open only for selected…