Chile has declared two northern regions hit by a 8.2 magnitude earthquake to be disaster areas. At least six people are known to have died and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. The quake struck at 20:46 local…
Category: Int’l relations
Nato suspends Russia co-operation after Ukraine crisis
Nato foreign ministers have agreed to suspend all practical civilian and military co-operation with Russia. Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region was the gravest threat to European security for a generation. There could be…
Army contingent leaves for UN peacekeeping mission in Mali
A 112-member contingent of Bangladesh Army left Dhaka on Tuesday to join the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali for the first time. The team of army personnel – headed by Col Mohammad Jahangir Harun – left Hazrat Shahjalal International…
Maiden Ticfa meet to be high-level engagement: Mozena
US Ambassador Dan W Mozena on Tuesday said the first Ticfa meeting, to be held here on April 27-28, would be a high-level bilateral engagement between Dhaka and Washington which will help find ways for increasing trade and investment between…
Indian delegation in city to join JSC meeting
A 14-member high-level Indian delegation, led by Indian Power Secretary PK Sinha, arrived here on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) and joint working committee meeting on power sector. Official sources said the JSC meeting…
Dhaka clarifies its position over Crimea
Bangladesh has done the right thing by abstaining from voting in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Crimea issue as it has not deviated from its foreign policy, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam clarified on Tuesday.…
No sign of Russian troop pullout – Nato
Nato is not seeing a Russian troop pullout from the border with Ukraine, the military alliance’s chief has said.
US ambassador to India Nancy Powell resigns
The US ambassador to India has resigned and will return to the United States after less than two years, the embassy said in a statement on Monday. Nancy Powell’s move comes following a diplomatic row that strained relations between the…
Putin ‘orders partial withdrawal’ of troops from Ukraine border
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a “partial withdrawal” of troops from the border with Ukraine, the German government has said. Mr Putin informed Chancellor Angela Merkel of the move in a telephone conversation, according to her office. Thousands of…
10 more parliamentary committees formed
Parliament on Monday formed another 10 standing committees on different ministries. The JS bodies have been formed unanimously as chief whip ASM Firoze proposed the names of the committees. With this a total of 24 standing committees and parliamentary committees…
UZ polls marked by irregularities: EC calls them free, fair, peaceful
The fifth and final round of voting in 73 upazila parishads in 34 districts was held amid reports of irregularities and election boycott by a number of candidates, mostly the BNP loyalists. The polling was held from 8am to 4pm…
Maldives shuts down Dhaka mission
Maldives is shutting down its mission in Dhaka on Tuesday, nearly six years after opening it. Its acting high commissioner Ahmed Adil on Monday told journalists that they had to take the decision following the country’s “unprecedented fiscal problems”. “Even…
US regrets Dhaka’s abstention from Crimea voting
A day after Russia’s Dhaka envoy ‘thanked’ Bangladesh for abstaining from voting on the UN General Assembly resolution on Crimea, the US ambassador in Bangladesh was found fuming. “I regret that Bangladesh was not able to join the majority on…
Burma census bans people registering as Rohingya
Burmese officials have begun the first national census in three decades, but are refusing to allow people to class themselves as Rohingya.
Pakistan’s Musharraf charged in treason case
A court in Pakistan has charged former military ruler Pervez Musharraf with treason, the first army chief to face such a prosecution. Mr Musharraf is accused of unlawfully suspending the constitution and instituting emergency rule in 2007. He pleaded not…
Climate impacts ‘severe, pervasive and irreversible’ – UN
The impacts of global warming are likely to be “severe, pervasive and irreversible”, a major report by the UN has warned. Scientists and officials meeting in Japan say the document is the most comprehensive assessment to date of the impacts…
Yunan Governor for Kunming-Ctg enhanced cooperation
Visiting Yunnan Province Governor Li Jiheng on Sunday underlined the need for having more cooperation between Kunming and Chittagong, and sought Bangladesh’s cooperation under the Sister City Agreement signed in 2005 to strengthen ties in the areas of trade and…
US and Russia set for talks in Paris
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has set out demands for a neutral and federal Ukraine, ahead of crisis talks with his US counterpart in Paris.
Mising airliner: Chinese families vent anger in Malaysia
Relatives of Chinese passengers from the missing Malaysian plane have vented their anger at government officials, after arriving in Kuala Lumpur. Chanting “Tell us the truth”, they said they wanted the Malaysian prime minister to apologise for what they regard…
JS committees to be formed this week
The parliamentary standing committees on different ministries are going to be formed this week to enhance legislative activities. “We are at final stage to form the standing committees this week. The committees are likely to be formed Monday or Tuesday,” said…
Minister allegedly beats PDB engineer
Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Abdul Latif Siddique allegedly beat an engineer of the Power Development Board (PDB) in Tangail’s Kalihati Upazila on Friday. The minister at his home in the Upazila reportedly beat Deputy Assistant Engineer (Sales and…
Afghan election commission HQ under attack
Insurgents are attacking the headquarters of the Afghan election commission in Kabul, a week before the presidential election, police say. Gunmen have entered a nearby building and are firing at the election commission with automatic weapons. The attack comes a…
Putin calls Obama to discuss US proposal on Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin called US President Barack Obama on Friday to discuss a US diplomatic proposal for Ukraine, the White House said, adding that Obama told him that Russia must pull back its troops and not move deeper into…
15 Indian fishermen held in bay
Members of Bangladesh Navy arrested 15 Indian fishermen for illegally catching fish in the Bay of Bengal under Mongla upazila on Thursday. Mohammad Aminul Islam, officer-in-charge of Mongla Police Station, said a patrol team of Navy arrested the Indian fishermen…
Yunnan province, China, governor due Saturday
Southwest China’s Yunnan Province Governor Li Jiheng arrives here on Saturday on a three-day visit to discuss how cooperation in the areas of connectivity, trade, agriculture, tourism, energy and education can further be strengthened with Bangladesh. He will lead a…
EC doesn’t exercise its authority: Sujan
Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan), a non-government organisation, on Friday alleged that the Election Commission does not exercise its authority to curb vote rigging and anomalies to ensure a fair election. Sujan, working on good governance, also alleged that the commission…
Russia looking East to come back: Envoy
Russia is looking East, stepping up diplomatic efforts to make a “comeback” in Bangladesh and in other South Asian countries. Russian ambassador in Dhaka Nikolaev Alexander said on Friday the relationship between the two countries was experiencing “a renaissance now”…
Russia must pull back troops from Ukraine border: Obama
US President Barack Obama has urged Russia to “move back its troops” on Ukraine’s border and lower tensions.
Search for Malaysian airliner shifted after ‘credible lead’
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has moved to a new part of the Indian Ocean due to a “credible lead”, Australia says. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said the search would now focus on an area…
UN Rights Council: Crucial vote on Sri Lanka inquiry
On March 27, 2014, the UN Human Rights Council passed the Sri Lanka resolution by a vote of 23 to 12, with 12 abstentions. “The broad council support for the Sri Lanka resolution is a huge step forward for justice…