AFP: Voting began across government-controlled parts of Syria on Sunday for the war-ravaged country’s first local elections since 2011, state news agency SANA said. Polling booths opened at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) and stayed open for 12 hours. “Voting centres opened for citizens to cast their ballots to elect their representatives in the local administrative…
Afsan Chowdhury, Researcher and Political Analyst : The structure of the country is helpful for creating an affluent section of the society. It does not mean that the other sections of the society are not being supported by the state. However, the rich get the benefit mostly. The problem of loan default originates from the banking…
M Humayun Kabir: Some 18,000 deaths from environmental pollution occurred in 2015 in Dhaka, according to a World Bank report. Showing the urgency to immediately fix the city’s environment, the report also said nearly 578,000 life years were lost in the capital in that year alone, reports The Daily Star. The report on Country Environmental…
Kabir Humayun: Shah Md Azizur Rahman, freedom fighter and former Member of Parliament, passed away at a city hospital yesterday morning. He was 80. The parliamentarian, had been suffering from old-age complications and was on life support at the hospital, breathed his last around 8 am, said Sylhet Awami League organising secretary Shafiul Alam Nadel,…
Kabir Humayun: Envir-onment & Forests Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud yesterday said tourists in Bangladesh will be banned from staying at the Saint Martin’s Island during night time to preserve its environment. “All preparations have been done. It will come into effect within few days,” he said, reports Banglanews24.com. The minister was addressing a program on…
M Humayun Kabir: The Rohingya issue, among other pressing global concerns, will come up prominently in the upcoming 73rd UN General Assembly for the second consecutive year for its sustainable solution. To solve Rohingya crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s five-point specific proposal was appreciated by the international community. Bangladesh is likely to place fresh proposals…
Arab News: A lawyer representing victims of fighting in the Libyan town of Tawergha is urging the international community to stop Qatar from supporting armed militias behind the violence. Siraj al-Tawerghi said that Tawergha, now a ghost town in the city Misrata, has been witnessing a humanitarian tragedy since 2011, and the biggest tragedy is…
BBC: Kenyan Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge set a new marathon world record Sunday, winning the Berlin race in 2 hours, 1 minute and 39 seconds. Kipchoge finished with “a new world record that will be remembered for decades,” the Berlin Marathon tweeted, describing him as “the greatest marathon runner of all times.” Kipchoge, 33, broke…
Reuters: London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for another referendum on Britain’s European Union membership, saying the prime minister’s handling of Brexit negotiations had become “mired in confusion and deadlock” and was leading the country down a damaging path. Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29. But with Prime Minister Theresa…
Russia Today: Militants in Syria’s Idlib have transported several canisters containing chlorine to the village of Bsanqul, apparently preparing to stage a false flag chemical attack, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. The chlorine-filled canisters were delivered by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants of Tahrir al Sham, formerly known as Al-Nusra Front, a spokesman of the Russian…