Dhaka, Sept 5 – Top leaders of opposition political parties at a discussion meeting in the city on Wednesday called for a greater unity on the basis of minimum-programme to ensure holding of the next general elections under a neutral…
Category: Lead 1
UN Relief Works Agency will prevail despite US funding cut
Geneva, 3 Sep (Kanaga Raja) – Expressing deep regret and disappointment at the decision by the United States on 31 August to provide no additional funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East…
30 JS seats for minorities if JP comes to power: Ershad
Dhaka, Sept 4 – Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad on Tuesday said 30 parliamentary seats will be kept reserved for the minority communities if his party comes to power.
Improved cookstove to reduce household air pollution
Rafiqul Islam, UNB Staff Writer Dhaka – As part of the government target to distribute 30 million improved cookstoves by 2030, some 70,000 improved stoves have been installed in the coastal region of Bangladesh, aiming to reduce household air pollution…
Trump visits golf course while Washington mourns McCain
Sterling, Sep 2 (AP/UNB) — For President Donald Trump, it was just like any other Saturday. As political dignitaries gathered in Washington to memorialize Sen. John McCain, the president tweeted familiar grievances and headed to the golf course.
Obama, Bush – not Trump – give McCain presidential farewell
Washington (AP/UNB) — John McCain is getting a presidential farewell, but not from the actual sitting president.
South Asia’s transport corridors can lead to prosperity
Martin Melecky This blog is based on the report The Web of Transport Corridors in South Asia — jointly produced with the Asian Development Bank, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency No doubt,…
No substitute to filters to keep media free: Inu
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, MP, said today “to keep the media free of trash of yellow journalism, lie, provocation, vulgarity, chitchat and truncated information there was no choice to having an efficient sift.”
Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker cancels Prophet cartoon contest
The Hague, Aug 30 (AP/UNB) — A Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker cancelled a planned Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest Thursday following death threats and concerns other people could be put at risk.
Rwanda is saving its important crop – the banana – with SMS
By Aimable Twahirwa Kigali, Aug 29 2018 (IPS) – When Telesphore Ruzigamanzi, a smallholder banana farmer from a remote village in Eastern Rwanda, discovered a peculiar yellowish hue on his crop before it started to dry up, he did not…
Myanmar rejects UN report on genocide against Rohingya
Dhaka, Aug 29 – Myanmar on Wednesday rejected the findings of a UN investigation accusing its armed forces of genocide against the Rohingya.
How a melting glacier 7000 km away influences our monsoon
by Sahana Ghosh on 28 August 2018 • Indian researchers have documented accelerated glacial melting at an Arctic fjord, a much-discussed factor projected to influence Indian monsoon with changing global climate.
Take action on Rakhine HR violations: Australia asks Myanmar
‘Perpetrators must be held to account’ Dhaka, Aug 27 – Australia has urged Myanmar to take action on human rights violations and welcomed the establishment of Myanmar’s Commission of Enquiry, which needs to be provided with authority to respond comprehensively…
Wrong dams management create floods: India’s officials, experts
August 27, 2018, SANDRP – Accepting that reservoirs operation and flood management in India lack scientific supports, Madhavan Nair Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, in an interview has revealed that dams and water reservoirs need flood management systems that…
Tiny reminder of rape: Rohingya mothers cradle the unwanted
Story and photographs by Julie Zaugg, CNN Updated August 25, 2018 Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh (CNN)Yasmin is 33 days old. Wrapped in a checkered blanket, she writhes around in her makeshift crib, a rice sack attached to the ceiling with rope.…
ISIS-given ‘breathing space’ in US-occupied areas of Syria?
By Whitney Webb By maintaining an ISIS pocket in the territory it occupies, the U.S. can continue to justify its illegal presence in the country for the long-term, ultimately substituting Iran for ISIS as its new regional boogeyman.
Blast at Trinamool office in West Bengal, 1 killed
A man was killed in an explosion at an office of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Midnapore district on Thursday.
Harvey’s deluge killed dozens and caused billions in damage
Houston, Aug 23 (AP/UNB) — Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas last August as a powerful Category 4 storm, killing dozens of people and causing billions of dollars in damage. Though its fiercest winds quickly dissipated, the storm hovered for days…
Race to save drowning Rohingya boy exposes spiraling crisis
Ukhiya, Aug 23 (AP/UNB) — The little boy emerges into view amid a chorus of panicked shouts and the thunder of feet from the horde sweeping past us. He is slumped over the shoulder of a man, his skinny arms…
IS releases new audio, purportedly of its leader al-Baghdadi
Beirut, Aug 23 (AP/UNB) — The Islamic State group has released a new militant audio recording, purportedly of its shadowy leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his first in almost a year.
Myanmar security forces torture Rohingya returnees: HRW
Refugees Arrested, Mistreated as Accused Militants Bangkok – Myanmar authorities have tortured and imprisoned Rohingya refugees who returned to Rakhine State from Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The mistreatment reinforces the need for international protection, including United Nations monitors…
More than two million Muslims begin hajj pilgrimage
More than two million Muslims from around the globe started the hajj pilgrimage on Sunday in Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest annual gatherings in a country undergoing unprecedented change.
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan dies
Kofi Annan, one of the world’s most celebrated diplomats and a charismatic symbol of the United Nations who rose through its ranks to become the first black African secretary-general, has died. He was 80.
Imran Khan elected Pakistan prime minister
Islamabad, Aug 17 (AP/UNB) — Pakistani lawmakers on Friday elected former cricket star and longtime politician Imran Khan as the country’s next prime minister, in a step toward the country’s third civilian transfer of power.
FM Mahmood Ali in New Delhi to attend Vajpayee’s funeral
Dhaka, Aug 17 (UNB) – Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali reached New Delhi on Friday morning to attend the funeral of former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Let food be thy medicine
By Adelheid Onyango and Bibi Giyose Brazzaville, Congo, Aug 14 2018 (IPS) – When faced with a crisis, our natural reaction is to deal with its immediate threats. Ateka (name has been changed) came to the make-shift clinic with profuse…
Jukta Front to carry out countrywide campaign for democracy
Dhaka, Aug 15 – Jukta Front, led by Dr Badruddoza Chowdhury, will carry out a mass campaign and hold mass rallies across the country in September to mobilise public support against ‘undemocratic’ forces.
Remove ‘Myanmar national’ from Rohingya ID cards: Yangon
Bangladesh has agreed to a request from Myanmar officials to replace the words “Myanmar nationals” with “displaced persons from Rakhine state” on identity cards issued to Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, a Bangladeshi official told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news…
Mobile uniform minimum call rate 45 paisa from Aug 14
Dhaka, Aug 13 – The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has fixed Tk 0.45 per minute as the uniform minimum call rate for all mobile phone operators.
Eid-ul-Azha in Bangladesh on Aug 22
Dhaka, Aug 12 – Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of Muslims, will be celebrated across Bangladesh on August 22 as the new moon of the Al-Hizri month of Zilhad was sighted in the sky on Sunday.