Moscow, June 2 (AP/UNB) — Russia’s health ministry says 79 people have been injured in an explosion in a plant manufacturing TNT. The blast took place Saturday in Dzerzhinsk, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow. An investigation is underway…
Category: Int’l relations
Pro and anti-Israel protests draw hundreds in Berlin
Berlin, June 2 (AP/UNB) — Hundreds of people including prominent German politicians and members of the Jewish community are protesting against a larger, anti-Israel rally in Berlin. Police in the German capital of Berlin kept the competing protests on Saturday…
12 people killed in Virginia Beach shooting; suspect dead
Virginia Beach, Jun 1 (AP/UNB) — A longtime city employee opened fire at a municipal building in Virginia Beach on Friday, killing 12 people and sending terrified co-workers scrambling for cover before police shot and killed him, authorities said. Four…
BD PM Hasina for OIC support to launch Rohingya case at ICJ
Makkah, Jun 1 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday sought support from the OIC member states to launch the Rohingya case at International Court of Justice with voluntary funding and technical help to ensure the legal rights of…
How European telcos are monitoring people’s online activity
by Katherine Barnett The security and privacy of personal data are being jeopardised as Deep Packet Inspection is deployed by internet service providers. Europe has not escaped the global move towards ‘surveillance capitalism’. Numerous pieces of legislation are under consideration…
Hasina arrives in Jeddah to attend Makkah Summit
Jeddah, May 31 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday afternoon arrived here in Saudi Arabia, the second destination of her tri-nation tour, from Tokyo wrapping up her four-day visit to Japan. A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines…
Dhaka waits to see Teesta issue resolved: Hamid tells Modi
New Delhi, May 31 (UNB)— The people of Bangladesh have been waiting for years to see the Teesta River water sharing issue settled, President Abdul Hamid told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. “I believe an agreement will be…
Keeping armies out of schools – An interview
Philippa H Stewart Senior Media Officer Bede Sheppard Deputy Director, Children’s Rights Division During times of war around the world, students, teachers, and schools have frequently come under attack from armies and armed groups. Schools are deliberately targeted to stop…
Couture Council to honor Louboutin and his red-soled shoes
New York , May 30 (AP/UNB) — From a tiny bottle of nail polish, a luxury fashion empire was born. Designer Christian Louboutin says he was experimenting in his factory one day when he suddenly seized his assistant’s bottle of…
Saudi King Salman urges international effort to thwart Iran
Saudi Arabia, May 31 (AP/UNB) — Saudi Arabia’s King Salman opened an emergency summit of Arab leaders in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca on Friday with a call for the international community to use all means to confront Iran, but…
Cyberlaws in Southeast Asia spell bad news for HR, democracy
By Josef Benedict Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Apr 9 2019 (IPS) – Around the globe, cyberspace has become the new battleground in the fight for the heart and soul of democracy. And Southeast Asia is fast becoming one of the global…
Bangladesh for Ulema body at OIC to help counter militancy
Dhaka, May 30 – Bangladesh on Thursday proposed a new platform for the Ulema to work together to counter extremism and terrorism at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) Council of foreign ministers. Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen emphasised that…
Dhaka proposes new platform for Ulema to counter extremism
Dhaka, May 30 (UNB) – Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday emphasized that the Muslim nations should be able to resolve their own issues within Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and proposed a new platform for the Ulema to work…
Asia can dominate world if all work together: PM
Tokyo, May 30 (UNB)- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said Asia can dominate the world if all countries of this continent can work together. “There’re developed, developing and least developed countries in Asia. if all the countries in Asia…
Palestinians vow to battle illegal Israeli confiscations
Palestinians pledge to continue the dream of passing land to their children and grandchildren amid accelerating seizures By Shatha Hammad Tayseer Ataya stands, leaning on his cane and gazing at his plot of land on Risan hill, west of Ramallah.…
Robert L. Bernstein 96, publisher, champion of dissent, dies
By Robert D. McFadden May 27, 2019 Robert L. Bernstein, who built Random House into an international publishing giant and championed political dissent, freedom of expression and relief for oppressed peoples as the founder of Human Rights Watch, died on…
Dhaka signs US$ 2.5bn ODA deal with Tokyo
Tokyo, May 29 (UNB) – Bangladesh and Japan on Wednesday signed their 40th ODA deal involving US$ 2.5 billion for implementing four projects to bolster ties between the two countries. Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Monowar Ahmed and Japanese Ambassador…
Summit Group signs MoU with Japan’s Energy for New Era
Tokyo, May 29 (UNB) – Summit Group of Bangladesh and Japan’s Energy for New Era (JERA) signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to initiate a mega energy infrastructure project. The project will have the capacity to handle 20 million…
Amnesty Int’l charges Myanmar military with new abuses
Bangkok, May 29 (AP/UNB) — Myanmar’s military, accused of massive human rights violations against the Muslim Rohingya minority less than two years ago, is committing war crimes and other atrocities as it engages in new military operations in the western…
The Euro-elections in microcosm: Macron versus Le Pen
by Anna Nadibaidze Marine Le Pen didn’t surge forward in France, yet Emmanuel Macron lacked a winning alternative. It was the populists versus the progressives in the Euro-elections writ small. Throughout the European election campaign in France, it became clear…
Female police contingent leaves for DR Congo on rotation
Dhaka, May 28 (UNB) – A female contingent of Bangladesh Formed Police Unit-1 comprising 180 members left Dhaka on Monday night to join the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo. Superintendent of Police (SP) Salma Sayed Poly is leading the…
China sharing Brahmaputra data with India for Monsoon
China has begun sharing hydrological data with India on the Bramhaputra river for this year’s monsoon season, a senior Indian water resources ministry official said May 20. It is also expected to start sharing data on the Sutlej river from…
PM Hasina off to Tokyo on first leg of tri-nation tour
Dhaka, May 27 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Monday evening. The Prime Minister arrived at the presidential palace around 8pm when President Abdul Hamid and his wife Rashida Khanom received her with…
Identity and the politics of citizenship
By Tengku Ahmad Hazri Modern citizenship is in crisis. The resurgence of identity politics is just one manifestation of this. Identity politics is, in fact, a sign of the problem with citizenship even though it has rarely been presented or…
Knife attack at Japan bus stop wounds 19, kills at least 1
Tokyo, May 28 (AP/UNB) — A man swinging a knife attacked commuters waiting at a crowded bus stop just outside Tokyo during Tuesday morning’s rush hour, wounding at least 19 people, including 13 children, Japanese authorities said. Media reports said…
Taliban attacks kill 10 Afghan troops, 4 police
Kabul, May 27 (AP/UNB) — A roadside bombing claimed by the Taliban killed 10 Afghan soldiers in the country’s west while insurgent attacks on security checkpoints in northern Afghanistan killed four policemen, local officials said Monday. The soldiers were driving…
BD President Hamid to join Modi’s swearing-in
Dhaka, May 27 (UNB) – President Abdul Hamid will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says an official source. Modi will take oath as Indian Prime Minister for the second term on May 30 at the…
Hasina-Modi goodwill sharing likely on Delhi stopover June 8
Dhaka, May 27 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has planned to make a 12-hour stopover in New Delhi on June 8 on her way back home after wrapping up her tri-nation visit to Japan, Saudi Arabia and Finland. There…
Trump says he backs Japan’s efforts to talk with Iran
Tokyo, May 27 (AP/UNB) — President Donald Trump on Monday backed the Japanese prime minister’s interest in using his country’s good relations with Iran to help broker a possible dialogue between the U.S. and its nemesis in the Middle East.…
Europe-wide vote fragments centre as far right, Greens gain
Brussels, May 27 (AP/UNB) — The European Union’s traditional center splintered in the hardest-fought European Parliament elections in decades, with the far right and pro-environment Greens gaining ground on Sunday after four days of a polarized vote. Turnout was at…