Headlines

Zaman Monir . Sylhet Ten heavyweight candidates of rival Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party are in the race for 11 out of 19 electoral constituencies in Sylhet division in the forthcoming parliamentary polls set for December 29. Among them, 7 candidates are contesting the polls on Awami League’s tickets and 3 have been nominated ... Read more

Farewell Iraq tour marred by shoe assault Ap, Afp, Baghdad/ Washington An Iraqi official says a reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush is being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s guards and is being tested for alcohol and drugs. The official tells The Associated Press that Muntadar al-Zeidi is being interrogated ... Read more

Ap, Bangkok Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was chosen as Thailand’s prime minister yesterday in an effort to end months of political turmoil, but the move unleashed new protests by supporters of the previous government who hurled rocks at lawmakers. Abhisit, 44, one of the world’s youngest heads of government gathered 235 votes against 198 by ... Read more

Agence France-Presse . Hong Kong From the devastating China earthquake and Myanmar cyclone to the terror attacks in Mumbai and the freefall on the stock markets, 2008 was a year that exposed Asia’s vulnerability. A region hailed for its booming economies, led by China and India, and its enormous potential suddenly found itself fending off ... Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Khaleda unveils 36-point election manifesto Shahidul Islam Chowdhury  The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, pledged to create a responsible and accountable political system in the country as she unveiled the party’s 36-point election manifesto on Saturday. She also promised to make Jatiya Sangsad the ‘centre of politics’, amendments to provisions of the caretaker government ... Read more

Staff Correspondent Economists and political analysts on Saturday termed Awami League ‘election manifesto’ as positive but said political parties before election usually promise to do all good for the people and the country but when they go to power, they don’t implement their commitment. To The Bangladesh Today, economist and political analyst Farhad Mazhar said ... Read more

Staff Correspondent The nation pays tribute to the martyred intellectuals today amid increasing demand for trial of war criminals who systematically killed prominent Bangladeshi intellectuals and professionals at the fag end of the Liberation War on this day in 1971. On this day in 1971 renowned academics, doctors, engineers, journalists, teachers and other eminent personalities ... Read more

9,976 nomination papers filed Staff Correspondent The election authorities received a total of 9,976 nomination papers from aspirants in 481 upazilas till Saturday, the last date for the filing of nominations for the January 22 polls, the Election Commission said. Of the total aspirants, 3,562 filed nominations for the post of chairman, 2,968 for the ... Read more

Staff Correspondent BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday urged people to vote for the BNP-led four-party alliance to foil the conspiracy to make the country a ‘failed and subservient’ state. “A political alliance has been conspiring to make the country a failed and subservient state. They foiled the January 22 election last year killing people and ... Read more