Agence France-Presse . Geneva Nearly 100 journalists were killed doing their job during 2008, a slight fall from the previous year due to security improvements in Iraq, a press rights group said Monday. The Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign said in its annual report that 95 journalists were killed in 32 different countries in the past ... Read more
Dhaka Mirror
Arab world hails shoe attack as Bush’s farewell gift
Afp, Baghdad Iraq faced mounting calls yesterday to release the journalist who hurled his shoes at George W Bush, an action branded shameful by the government but hailed by many in the Arab world as an ideal parting gift to the unpopular US president. Colleagues of Muntazer al-Zaidi, who works for independent Iraqi television station ... Read more
Bush shoe attacker ‘detested America’
Agence France-Presse (Baghdad): The Iraqi journalist who caused a furore when he hurled his shoes at visiting US President George W Bush “detested America” and had been plotting such an attack for months, colleagues said on Monday. Muntazer al-Zaidi, 28, was being hailed as a hero by some after his action against the US President ... Read more
Japan cracking US pop culture hegemony
GLOBAL BESTSELLER: Suzue Miuchi (l.) writes one of Japan’s longest-running girls’ manga. Andy Nelson/The Christian Science Monitor Japan is quietly emerging as a global trendsetter in pop culture, as well as in green technology and environmental practices. By Amelia Newcomb | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor TOKYO – Just two decades ago, Japan’s ... Read more
Spider as big as a plate among scores of new species found in Greater Mekong
A spider as big as a dinner plate has been found living in one of the world’s last scientifically unexplored regions. The Greater Mekong, which is made up of 600,000 square kilometres of wetlands and rainforest along the Mekong River in Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and China, is also home to striped rabbits, bright ... Read more
Fight within alliances for at least 22 seats
Total candidates 1,538; ballot paper printing starts in full swing, Noakhali-1 polls on Jan 12 Staff Correspondent Candidates of the grand alliance’s Awami League and Jatiya Party are set to fight each other in at least 11 constituencies, shows the final list of runners published by the Election Commission (EC) yesterday. The seats are in ... Read more
AL, BNP bank on freshers in Dhaka
Conviction, graft charges herald the change of guards Rakib Hasnet Suman and Hasan Jahid Tusher The two electoral alliances led by the Awami League (AL) and the BNP have for the first time picked a number of fresh less known persons as their candidates for city constituencies in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The two alliances ... Read more
Khaleda asks party men to guard against polls rigging
Shahidul Islam Chowdhury . Kushtia Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia on Sunday called for a consensus among all political parties to work together for making the country strong and prosperous. She asked her party activists to remain alert on December 29, the national polling day, so that none could rig the polls. ‘We will ... Read more
Hasina calls on people to cast vote for AL-led alliance
Staff Correspondent The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday called on the people to cast their vote for the Awami League-led alliance candidates in the ninth parliamentary polls to ensure their rights for food and franchise, food security, reduction in essential goods prices and happy and prosperous life for them. ‘The national elections of ... Read more
Azam Chy applies to withdraw case against Hasina
Staff Reporter In a surprise move, business tycoon Azam Jahangir Chowdhury yesterday prayed for withdrawing his Tk 3 crore extortion case against Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina and said he had not directly sued anyone. The Prime Bank chairman and top businessman, Azam, said to reporters at his Gulshan office, “I did not directly ... Read more
Govt on last mile on road to polls: Hossain Zillur
Staff Correspondent The commerce and education adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman, on Sunday said the government was traversing the last mile on road to the national polls scheduled for December 29. ‘We are now on the last mile on the highway to the elections… Best wishes to all the candidates contesting the polls,’ Zillur said as ... Read more
Mohiuddin resumes office
Tushar Hayat . Chittagong The Chittagong mayor, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, arrested by the joint forces on March 7, 2007 and released on bail on October 28 last, resumed office on Sunday. Ward commissioners, officials and employees of the city corporation received the mayor with bouquet when he reached the office in the morning after one ... Read more
Winter to set in at Dec end
Taib Ahmed This year’s winter is likely to set in at the end of the current month while the fog which has overcast the country excluding Khulna and Chittagong districts will take more two or three days to go, said meteorologists of the Bangladesh meteorology department. ‘The full-fledged winter will take at least two weeks ... Read more
Govt to set up automated DEDO for online bill collection
Staff Correspondent The government has decided to set up an automated Duty Exemption and Drawback Office (DEDO) aiming to reduce time to collect bills of entry from the customs houses through online across the country. “Collection of DEDO copy of bills of entry that is one of the major hassles often takes a long time. ... Read more
Govt invites parties to speak on media
bdnews24.com, Dhaka Fifteen political parties are being given the chance to deliver electoral speeches on state-run Bangla-desh Television and Bangladesh Betar. “The speeches will be broadcast from Dec 17 but the draft texts have to be submitted beforehand (by Dec 15),” information secretary Jamil Osman said on Sunday. The information ministry has sent letters to ... Read more
Govt steps in pipeline to keep remittance stable
Asif Showkat The government has decided to take initiatives to keep the remittance inflow stable in this stormy time of global financial turmoil, sources in Bangladesh Bank said. ‘We will take several plans for increasing remittance inflow, including asking the banks to reduce their charges on remitted money; as a result, more remittance will come ... Read more
Dhaka stocks see lacklustre day
Turnover drops to 9-month low Staff Correspondent Dhaka stocks finished lower on Sunday amid thin participation of investors as the bourse returned to trading after a nine-day closure, market operators said. The Dhaka Stock Exchange remained closed from December 5 to 13 on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha and the weekly holidays. The DSE general index ... Read more
Siemens bribed to bag contracts in Bangladesh, other countries
Kazi Azizul Islam Documents submitted to a US court in a case disclose that German industrial conglomerate Siemens bribed the authorities concerned to gain a telecom infrastructure contract in Bangladesh as it did at least in two other countries. The case documents were submitted on Friday to a US court, which is scheduled to hear ... Read more
TeleTalk eyes loan from China
Md Hasan State-run mobile operator TeleTalk seeks to get $221 million loans from the Chinese government, mainly to expand its network to provide third-generation technology (3G). The operator said its board had accepted the loan proposal, now pending with the Economic Relations Division (ERD) for further processing. “The telecommunication ministry is in talks over the ... Read more
Victory Day celebration at Liberation War Museum
Nadia Sarwat A four-day celebration by Liberation War Museum (LWM) on our Victory day started on December 13 at the museum premises with a demand to include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the curriculum of schools, colleges and Madrassas. Mafidul Haque, trustee and member secretary of LWM welcomed the audience and presented the ... Read more