Other Headlines

The chief election commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, said on Monday that media and local observers would oversee the January 5 elections in absence of foreign observers. ‘We had invited them to observe the polls. But every organisation has its own guidelines and policy. They will decide whether they will send the observers

Even though water resources minister Anisul Islam Mahmud of the Jatiya Party (JP) has already submitted his resignation letter to his party chairman, he suddenly visited his office at the Secretariat at 12.30pm on Monday. This has exacerbated the confusion over the status of the JP ministers in the Cabinet. When officials of the ministry learnt ... Read more

United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernández-Taranco has submitted a report on his recent Bangladesh visit to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Taranco visited Bangladesh from December 6 to December 11 in an effort to resolve the political impasse in the country over the poll-time governance issue. A source familiar with

Personnel of the Detective Branch of the police early on Monday arrested seven people, including a local leader of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the students’ wing of the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), from a residential house at East Goran in Khilgaon area in the city along with eight kilograms of bomb-making materials. Those arrested ... Read more

As the nationwide siege by the opposition continues, it has taken a heavy toll on the country’s exports, imports and marketing of perishable commodities, leaving everyone — from producers to buyers — gasping. On Sunday night, only 100 to 150 container lorries rolled in and out the Chittagong Port, the country’s gateway to the world by ... Read more

Strikes, blockades do it Commercial party centres have suffered huge financial losses in the last few months due to ongoing political turmoil, businessmen said Monday. A number of owners said nearly 200 party centres in Dhaka city are now facing the biggest blow in their business operations this season as even

An 8-year old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in Shipaibagh area in the capital. Khilgaon police recovered the body of Antora from her aunt’s residence in Shipaibagh at around 9:00am Monday. Antora was a student of class two. She was the daughter of Ali Hossain, from Araihazar upazila in Narayanganj. The girl along with her ... Read more

Tazreen Fire Probe Tazreen Fashions owner Delwar, 12 others indicted Police on Sunday filed a charge sheet against 13 people for the fire at Tazreen Fashions in Savar last year. As many as 112 workers, most of them women, were killed in the blaze in the readymade garments factory at Nishchintapur of Ashulia in Savar ... Read more

The capital remained cut off from the rest of the country on the second day of the opposition-enforced fifth spell of blockade of roads, railway and waterways that passed off amid violence and drives of joint forces to arrest ‘anarchists’ across the country. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led opposition alliance began to enforce the fifth spell of ... Read more

The Rapid Action Battalion in a raid on a house at Uttara in the capital detained at least 37 foreigners and four Bangladeshis with huge VoIP equipment on Sunday night. Among the detainees, 32 were Taiwanese and five Chinese nationals, a RAB official said. Seven of the detainees were women, he said.

Law enforcers on Sunday were uncertain over the motive behind the murders of controversial pir Lutfur Rahman and five others in a flat in Dhaka’s Gopibagh area on Saturday evening. Investigators from the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and detective branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) suspected that the gruesome

Following the European Union’s (EU’s) suit, the United States and the Commonwealth have also decided not to send observers to monitor the Jan 5 Bangladesh elections. US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki announced the US decision in a press statement issued in Washington on Sunday. UNB adds:Commonwealth

The government will not allow the Hefazat-e-Islam, an Islamic outfit, to hold a rally at Shapla Chattar in the city, state minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs Quamrul Islam said on Sunday. “We’ve heard that the Hefazat is planning to hold a rally in the city on December 24. But we want to tell them ... Read more

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday directed the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) to start operating its long-distance buses immediately amid the opposition called countrywide rail-road-waterway blockade. “The BRTC is a state-owned entity. It should serve the people’s interests. It is not acceptable that only private vehicles

Khaleda to address press on Dec 24 Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday said holding of the 10th parliamentary election is still possible after January 24 as per Constitution with participation of all political parties through a consensus. BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia would address a press conference on December 24 on the current crisis and latest political ... Read more

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) is likely to sue National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Ghulam Hussain on corruption charges, which are being investigated by the anti-graft watchdog. ACC Commissioner Nasiruddin Ahmed has already sent a letter to Principal Secretary of Prime Minister’s Office Sheikh Md Wahid-uz-Zaman on December 17 and

The Rapid Action Battalion rescued a bank official from Mirpur area in the capital on Sunday, a day after his kidnapping. RAB also arrested seven people in connection with the kidnapping of Abul Khayer Alok, a BRAC Bank officer. The arrestees are Saddam Hossain, 20, Sajedul Haque, 23, Masudur Rahman, 24, Dipu Khan, 18, Abdullah Al Mamun, ... Read more

The solution to the current political deadlock with regards to the election-period governance lies with the people of Bangladesh rather than outsiders, including the United States. US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan Mozena made the remarks while replying to a question on what plan Washington had regarding the political stalemate

Chinese Vice-foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin is likely to visit Dhaka shortly to discuss political situation in the country and bilateral issues. Zhenmin is expected to arrive in the capital either on December 26 or 27, said sources concerned. The exact date of the visit will be finalized today,

The Anti-Corruption Commission has detected another case of corruption by Hallmark Group in which it embezzled more than Tk 343 crore, a commission investigator told New Age on Sunday. The official said that an inquiry team had found that six other sister concerns of the Hallmark Group had embezzled the amount from Janta Bank Limited through ... Read more