Dhaka, June 12 (UNB) – Bangladesh has moved nine steps down in the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2019, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace. This is the thirteenth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which ranks 163…
Category: Int’l relations
Bangladesh, US to strengthen security ties
Dhaka, June 11 (UNB)— Bangladesh and the United States have agreed to work toward security and economic cooperation and enhancing people-to-people ties in support of a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. The two countries acknowledged the continuing challenge of terrorism,…
Bangladesh seeks China, others, help solve Rohingya crisis
Yuxi City (Yunnan), June 12 (UNB) – Bangladesh has raised the Rohingya issue in an international media forum here and sought more Chinese and other Asian nations’ involvement to solve the Rohingya crisis for regional peace and stability. Bangladesh stressed…
WHO asked to report on current pathogen-sharing modalities
London 10 June (TWN): In considering the public health implications of the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing related to genetic resources, the first step should be to unpack the current modalities for pathogen sharing under…
EU Special Representative for HR Eamon Gilmore visits BD
Dhaka, EUDEL Press Office: EU Special Representative (EUSR) for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore visited Bangladesh on 10-11 June 2019. This visit, the first ever of a EUSR for Human Rights to Bangladesh, reflects the EU’s commitment to engaging with the…
Botswana decriminalises gay sex in landmark case
By Cara Anna | AP Johennesburg — Botswana became the latest country to decriminalize gay sex on Tuesday, a landmark case for Africa, as the High Court rejected laws punishing it with up to seven years in prison. Jubilant activists in the…
Progress in building economic BCIM corridor sought
Yuxi City (Yunnan), June 11 (UNB) – Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) on Tuesday felt the necessity to further deepen cooperation and promote substantial progress in building the BCIM Economic Corridor (BCIM EC) to promote regional peace, stability and…
Set up industry in Bangladesh, Dhaka tells Chinese investors
Yuxi City (Yunnan), June 10 (UNB) – Bangladesh has said Chinese entrepreneurs, especially investors from Yunnan Province, can maximise their profits by setting up industries in Bangladesh taking the advantage of proximity and getting access to huge direct and indirect…
Huawei: ‘We stand naked in front of the world’
Huawei has denied that it has any links to the Chinese government. Huawei’s cyber-security chief John Suffolk told MPs on Monday that the tech giant had never been asked by China or any other government to “do anything untoward”. Mr…
Officials say 95 dead in new ethnic massacre in central Mali
Bamako, Jun 10 (AP/UNB) — Unknown assailants killed at least 95 people in a central Mali village overnight, government officials said Monday, the latest massacre in a growing ethnic conflict driven by fear and suspicion over alleged ties to extremist…
Pakistani ex-president arrested in money laundering case
Islamabad, Jun 10 (AP/UNB) — Pakistan’s anti-graft body on Monday arrested former President Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated ex-Premier Benazir Bhutto, in a multi-million dollar money laundering case that has shaken the country. The development came hours after a…
Rohingya issue on priority list of PM’s China visit: FM
Dhaka, June 10 – Bangladesh will keep the Rohingya issue on its priority list for discussion during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s planned visit to China in the first week of July, indicates Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen. “The Rohingya…
Tree symbolizing Trump-Macron friendship has died
WASHINGTON, June 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The photo of Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron planting an oak tree in the garden of the White House symbolized the friendship shown by the two leaders. But relations between them…
Belt, Road move ‘brings new opportunities for BD, others’
Kunming (Yunnan), June 9 (UNB) – China has said its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has brought new opportunities for Bangladesh and other countries in South and Southeast Asia. “We’re making every effort to speed up and make the region…
China should lead on air pollution
by Kris Hartley, Asit K. Biswas Singapore/Hong Kong – The United Nations expects 68% of the world’s population to live in urban areas by 2050. As governments scramble to manage this flood of urban migration, they must address not only…
Won’t have to depend on others if water properly reserved: PM
Dhaka, June 9 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Sunday said Bangladesh will not have to seek water from others if water could be reserved properly. “Bangladesh is delta [country]. All rivers originated from the Himalayas flow through…
Xi, Putin lead bilateral ties into new era of int’l cooperation
St. Petersburg, June 8 (Xinhua/UNB) — Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia showed that the consensus on deepening mutual trust between the two countries is unbreakable and that China’s belief in win-win cooperation is unshakable, Chinese State Councilor and…
Biman pilot travels to Doha sans passport: Cop suspended
Dhaka, June 8 – An immigration police officer at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport has been suspended over the travel of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines pilot to Qatar without his passport. On June 5, Captain Fazal Mahmud reached Doha Hamad International…
Sri Lanka’s sacred games
By Satya Sagar In the times we live in, where smoke and mirrors are the world’s two chief weapons of war, fiction is a better guide to contemporary events than ‘facts’ presented by governments and media. A case in point…
G-20 finance chiefs mull ‘fair tax’ reforms to boost growth
Fukuoka, Jun 8 (AP/UNB) — Finance chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies meeting in the Japanese city of Fukuoka debated Saturday over how to revise tax systems to ensure big companies pay their fair share and support economies…
Theresa May officially steps down as Tory leader
Dhaka, June 7 (UNB) – Theresa May will officially step down as the leader of the Conservative Party on Friday, but will remain as prime minister until her successor is chosen. Mrs May announced her resignation two weeks ago, saying…
Storm kills one, injures around 40 in Nepal
Kathmandu, June 7 (Xinhua/UNB) – At least one person was killed and 37 others were injured when a strong storm hit several villages of Nepal’s Kailali and Kanchanpur districts on Thursday evening, authorities said here. Secretary at the Central Ministry…
Aung San Suu Kyi finds common ground with Orbán over Islam
On a rare trip to Europe, Myanmar leader and Hungary PM discuss issue of ‘growing Muslim populations’ Hannah Ellis-Petersen Thu 6 Jun 2019 06.12 BST Last modified on Fri 7 Jun 2019 02.39 BST From her failure to speak out…
Police say Oman-Dubai bus crashes, killing 17 in UAE
Dubai, June 7(AP/UNB) — Police in Dubai say 17 people were killed when bus from Oman crashed in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai police announced the death toll in tweets published early Friday. Police say the bus crashed into a…
Trump lauds ‘unbreakable’ transatlantic alliance on D-Day
CAEN, France, June 6, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – President Donald Trump sought Thursday to reassure US allies rattled by his nationalist rhetoric by saying the bonds between them were “unbreakable” on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Trump joined other…
Sudan protesters say 40 bodies pulled from Nile in Khartoum
Sudan, June 6 (AP/UNB) — More than 40 bodies of people slain by Sudanese security forces were pulled from the Nile River in the capital of Khartoum, organizers of pro-democracy demonstrations said Wednesday, and new clashes brought the death toll…
BD actress Anju Ghosh joins Modi’s BJP in West Bengal
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inducted Bangladeshi actor Anju Ghosh into the party on Wednesday. Ghosh is known for her role in Beder Meye Josna (1989), the highest-grossing movie in the history of Bangladeshi films. Later, she moved to Kolkata…
A call for concrete changes to achieve more gender equal world
By Princess Sarah Zeid Amman, May 29 2019 (IPS) – On the eve of the Women Deliver conference in Vancouver June 3-6, Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan interviewed Dr. Olfat Mahmoud, a Palestinian refugee and women’s rights advocate. Princess Sarah…
Bangladeshi shot dead in South Africa
Chattogram, June 3 (UNB)- A Bangladeshi youth was gunned down by ‘robbers’ at East Ran Diepsloot of Johannesburg in South Africa on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Shahadat Hossain, 24, son of Estefaz Uddin of Borhatia union under Lohagara…
Bangladesh, Malaysia must transparently regulate recruitment
The Malaysia-based migrant and human rights network organizations –CARAM Asia, TENAGANITA and North South Initiatives have called upon Bangladesh and Malaysia governments to strictly regulate and reform recruitment process with transparency and integrity. In a message, those NGOs said that…