NBR freezes Ashraful’s bank accounts

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has frozen the bank accounts of cricketer Mohammad Ashraful who is at the heart of a spot-fixing scandal in Bangladesh. NBR’s Income Tax Policy Department member Syed Md Aminul Karim confirmed the revenue board’s action on Thursday. The former Bangladesh captain...

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11 missing as cargo ship ‘sinks’ off Phuket

Thai news agency The Phuket News has said quoting The Royal Thai Navy on Thursday that Bangladeshi cargo ship MV Hope did not sink but was lying on its side, with 11 crew members still missing. The crewmen went missing after MV Hope ‘sank’ off the coast of Phuket early on Thursday amid hostile weather,...

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Final preparations for Gazipur poll

Election Commission on Friday started the final preparations for the maiden Gazipur City Corporation elections by sending poll materials to voting stations.  Returning Official Matiar Rahman said the commission started distributing ballots, boxes and other materials from four centre s of Nagar...

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CNG strike called off, magistrate suspended

The nationwide CNG-refuelling-station strike called off around midday on Friday after an Executive Magistrate of a mobile court Abdul Hai, against whom refuelling station owners called the strike, was suspended. Petrol Pump and CNG Filling Station Owners’ Association Executive Committee member Abdullah...

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3 more Bangladeshis missing

Three more Bangladeshi went missing along with eight others after a fishing trawler capsized in Phuket coast of Thailand. Ship owners’ P&I Club representative Captain Mahiuddin Abdul Kader said the Thai flag MV Pilin was headed for Chittagong port. Though he said that a Bangladeshi had recently...

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Shibir calls hartal for Sunday if leaders not released by Saturday

Islami Chhatra Shibir on Friday threatened to enforce a nationwide daylong hartal on Sunday if its arrested leaders and activists are not released and missing ones are not traced by Saturday. Shibir, the associate student wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, will stage demonstrations across the country...

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Central BNP leaders throng to Gazipur for winning

Buoyed by their successes in the recently-held four city polls, opposition BNP has formed 57 committees, one in each ward, comprising central leaders, to carry out strong electioneering in Gazipur City Corporation to help their party-backed mayoral candidate MA Mannan come out winner in its polls slated...

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Case filed against Sheikh Hasina, 25 others in ICC

A case against Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and 25 others has been filed in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their allegedly involvement in crimes against humanity in Bangladesh.  Martin F. McMahon & Associates on behalf of the two organizations named Human Rights...

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Egypt violence builds, American among dead

Two people, one an American, were killed when protesters stormed an office of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria, adding to growing tension ahead of mass rallies aimed at unseating the Islamist president.  A third man was killed and 10 injured in an explosion during a protest in Port...

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Workers’ bodies flay GSP suspension

The US decision to suspend the GSP facilities for Bangladesh will not help of workers, though the move was made to press the government into implementing their rights, ready-made garment workers’ bodies say. They fear that similar steps by the European Union after the ‘tough’ US action would badly...

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GSP cut to push Bangladesh improve: US

The US says suspension of preferential trading status for Bangladesh is an ‘opportunity’ to work on improving labour and safety standards in its factories. Its Press Office Director says the US will work with Bangladesh on the steps needed to restore the GSP facility. “The United States believes...

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Grameen Bank employees outraged

Suspecting trickery in the government move to split the micro-finance institution Grameen Bank (GB), its employees now seek Prime Minister’s intervention to stop it.  Talking to reporters about the much talked about speculation that the bank will be split into 19 entities, Grameen Bank Employees...

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Suranjit tips off constitutional vacuum

Minister without portfolio Suranjit Sengupta on Thursday in Parliament warned the opposition BNP of grave consequences if they wanted to create constitutional vacuum in the country.  “You want to create constitutional vacuum by threatening not to join the next election under the interim government....

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Propose if you want talks: Moudud

Senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed has asked the government to initiate efforts to overcome the political impasse over the next general elections. His comment came after several MPs of the ruling party on Thursday laid emphasis on discussions to solve the political problem. Moudud said in Parliament on...

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Still in coalition: Ershad

The Jatiya Party is still in Grand Alliance, its Chairman HM Ershad said after meeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her parliament office on Thursday afternoon. The one-on-one meeting lasted for about 40 minutes, Asif Kabir, the Prime Minister’s Assistant Press Secretary, told . “I came for a courtesy...

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Bangladesh loses GSP facility in US

President Barack Obama has suspended long-time US preferential trade benefits, or GSP status, for Bangladesh in a mostly symbolic response to dangerous conditions in the garment industry that have cost more than 1,200 lives in the past year. "I have determined that it is appropriate to suspend Bangladesh...

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Padma tender floated

The government has floated the much-awaited global tender for constructing the mainframe of Padma bridge, Bangladesh's largest infrastructure project till date. Communications Minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday said the tender was being published on the websites of the Bridges Division and Central...

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Khaleda seeks army in Gazipur

Khaleda Zia has demanded deployment of Army in Gazipur to ensure free and fair city corporation elections which she claimed were at risk of being rigged. The BNP Chairperson made the demand when newly elected Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury and councillors saw her at her Gulshan...

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Tarique’s bail extended

The High Court has extended the bail of BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman by three months in two cases of tax evasion and extortion. The vacation bench of Justices M Moazzam Husain and Jahangir Hossain extended the bail on Wednesday. Nazmul Huda represented Tarique Rahman in court. National...

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Hasina calls for end to torture

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that her government enacted several laws to prevent oppression and torture in keeping with the ideals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s founder. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hands cheques on Thursday to each of the families of eight policemen...

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48 hours in Houston, Texas

Houston is known for its energy companies, urban sprawl, humidity and NASA's Johnson Space Center. But lately the Bayou City has been gaining accolades for a robust cultural scene. From the performing and visual arts to food and festivals, the United State’s fourth-largest city is gaining recognition...

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