War Crimes: Alim being quizzed at his house

NARASINGDI: Agitated people on Wednesday set fire to a train after the killing of the local mayor, Lokman Hossain.    Independent photo See details

Source: theindependentbd.com

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ICT dismisses Sayedee’s plea against ICT chief

NARASINGDI: Agitated people on Wednesday set fire to a train after the killing of the local mayor, Lokman Hossain.    Independent photo See details

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WikiLeaks wins Australian journalism award

Other International

Author / Source : Independent Online/AFP

SYDNEY, Australia:  WikiLeaks has been recognised in Australia for its "outstanding contribution to journalism", with founder Julian Assange lashing out at "cowardly" Prime Minister Julia Gillard in an acceptance speech.

The anti-secrecy website was lauded at the annual Walkley Awards, where winners are chosen by an independent panel of journalists and photographers, for its courageous reporting of secret US cables.

"WikiLeaks applied new technology to penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup," the Walkley trustees said in bestowing the award Sunday evening.

"Its revelations, from the way the war on terror was being waged, to diplomatic bastardry, high-level horse-trading and the interference in the domestic affairs of nations, have had an undeniable impact."

The whistleblowing website has published thousands of cables in which US diplomats give their often candid views on world leaders, to Washington's acute embarrassment.

Assange, an Australian citizen who has previously blasted Canberra for not doing enough to protect him in the fallout from the leaks, was scathing of the government in accepting the accolade in a pre-recorded video message.

"The Gillard government has shown its true colours in relation to how it’s handled US pressure on WikiLeaks," he said in footage shown on SBS television which broadcast the awards.

"Australian journalists are courageous, the Australian population is supportive, but Julia Gillard is a cowardly Australian prime minister.

"As Australians we shall not despair, as long as we can speak out, as long as we can publish, and as long as the Internet remains free, we will continue to fight back, armed with the truth," he added.

Assange has spent much of the last year under virtual house arrest in Britain since he was detained in December 2010 over claims of rape and sexual assault made by two women in Sweden.

He has strongly denied the allegations against him, claiming they are politically motivated and linked to the activities of WikiLeaks.

The former computer hacker is currently appealing a decision against his extradition to Sweden to face the charges.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Speaker, MPs now under taxable income

NARASINGDI: Agitated people on Wednesday set fire to a train after the killing of the local mayor, Lokman Hossain.    Independent photo See details

Source: theindependentbd.com

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2.5m perform holy Hajj

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MOUNT ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia, Nov 5: About two and a half million Muslims gathered Saturday on Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat and its surrounding plain, marking the peak day of the hajj, the world’s largest annual pilgrimage.
Dressed in white garments, the pilgrims filled the Namera Mosque in Arafat and the nearby streets and camps for collective prayer, led by Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh. “Islam is the solution for the problems” of Muslims, he said in a speech before the prayer began, warning the faithful of “a media and cultural invasion that seeks to weaken (their) faith.”
He urged Muslims to solve their problems “without interference from their enemies,” condemning those who want to “provoke hostility between you and your leaders.”
This year’s hajj coincides with the Arab Spring democracy protests that have swept many nations in the region and led to the ouster of the autocratic leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
Saudi Arabia has been spared the unrest despite small-scale, sporadic Shiite-led protests that took place in its Eastern Province, which the Sunni-majority kingdom quickly controlled.
There were no immediate reports of major incidents as security officials focused on crowd control.
“Things are going well and according to plans,” interior ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki told the news agency.
Many went on buses, while others set off on foot from Mina, a tent-village that comes to life only during the five-day pilgrimage.
Others took the Mashair Railway, also known as the Makka Metro, to go to Mount Arafat and its surrounding plains, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.
The Chinese-built railway is operating for the first time this year at its full capacity of 72,000 people per hour to ease congestion and prevent stampedes in which hundreds have been killed in past years.

The dual-track light railway connects the three holy sites of Mina, Muzdalifah and Mount Arafat—areas that see a massive influx of pilgrims during the hajj.
After sunset, pilgrims move to Muzdalifah, half way between Mount Arafat and Mina, to spend the night.
On Sunday, they return to Mina after dawn prayers for the first stage of the symbolic “stoning of the devil” and to make the ritual sacrifice of an animal, usually a lamb with the beginning of Eid-ul-Azha, or the Feast of Sacrifice.
On the remaining three days of the hajj, the pilgrims continue the ritual stoning before performing the circumambulation of the Kaaba shrine in Makka and then heading home.
However, the gathering in the plains around Mount Arafat symbolises the climax of the hajj.
The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all those who are able to make the journey, and it is a dream that can take years to come true.
Mukhtar al-Rahman, who is more than 100 years of age, told that “this is the dream of my life which took a century to come true.”
“The crowds have tired me and as you can see I can’t stand properly because of the huge crowds flooding” into the area, the elderly Bengali said panting as he looked for a small chair to sit on.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Noor Laila said: “I’m so happy to have set foot on Arafat’s sacred soil.”
“I want to wash away all my sins and ask God to forgive my mistakes. This is the first time I come to hajj and I hope it won’t be the last,” said the 36-year-old.
Malaysian Abdullah Wali al-Deen, 45, said he had been working for years for this day.
“I came here with my family after we managed to save enough money,” he said.
“Everyone in here is equal. There are no differences between various nationalities. This is the religion of peace, love and brotherhood.”
More than 1.83 million pilgrims have arrived in the kingdom from abroad, marking a 1.5 percent increase from last year, said Mecca governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal.
Several hundred thousand Saudis and foreign residents in the kingdom were also granted permits to join them, he added.
Coping with the world’s largest annual human assembly poses a security headache for Saudi Arabia—guardian of the two holiest Muslim shrines in the cities of Mecca and Medina, the birth places of Islam.
To help prevent chaos, the authorities have numbered buses and tents in Mina and Arafat according to the countries from which the pilgrims have come.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has invested billions of dollars over the years to avoid deadly stampedes that have marred the hajj in the past.
In January 2006, 364 pilgrims were killed in a stampede at the entrance to a bridge leading to the stoning site in Mina, outside Makka, while 251 were trampled to death in 2004.
In July 1990, 1,426 pilgrims were trampled to death or suffocated in a stampede in a tunnel, also in Mina.
The deaths prompted authorities to dismantle the old bridge and replace it with a multi-level walkway with one-way lanes to ensure a smooth flow of pilgrims.
Saudi Arabia also launched a new $10.6-billion project for a new extension to Makka’s Grand Mosque to increase its capacity to two million worshippers.
For the first time this year, the hajj is being streamed live on video-sharing website YouTube in cooperation with the Saudi government.     AFP

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Eid-ul-Azha tomorrow

Dhaka, Nov 5: The holy Eid-ul-Azha wil be observed in the country on Monday with reverence, offering prayers and sacrificing animals, seeking divine blessings from the Almighty.
With the weekends the Eid holidays virtually began since Thursday which would continue until Tuesday, making it a five -day vacation. The met office forecasts mainly a dry weather with partly cloudy sky over the country and the city with the temperatures ranging between 19-20 degrees Celsius and 28-30 Degrees Celsius on Monday.

The river basins and wetlands will be enveloped under fog in the early hours, with little chill in the air as winter advances slowly, tiptoeing across the country.
Streams of people availing all kinds of transports- buses, trains and launches- are leaving the city towards their roots in the countryside, to be with their near and dear ones to share the joy of the second biggest religious congregation of the Muslim.
To commemorate Hazrat Ibrahim’s (AS) devotion to the Almighty  as illustrated by his readiness to give up his dearest son Hazrat Ismail (AS), well-off Muslims will sacrifice animals and share the sacrificial meat with their relatives, neighbours and poor people. Braving many odds, including struggle for tickets and sufferings, hundreds of thousands of people have already left the capital for their village homes.
The last moment rush for home will continue on Sunday. The hustling bustling metropolis started showing signs of tranquillity, which would remain for a few more days.
Important public buildings, thoroughfares and road islands of the capital will be decorated with national flags and banners inscribed with “Eid Mubarak.” Major government buildings will also be illuminated.
The main Eid jamaat (congregation) will be held at National Eidgah on the High Court premises at 8:00am on monday, according to an Islamic Foundation press release. Separate arrangements have been made there for women, diplomats and their spouses.
Five Eid congregations have been arranged at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in the morning at 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 and 10:45.
The public holiday for Eid-ul-Azha begins on Sunday. Newspaper offices will also remain closed for three days from today.
President Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday gave separate messages, greeting the countrymen on this occasion. In his message, the president called upon all to reflect the spirit of sacrifice of Eid-ul-Azha in their thoughts and deeds for building a peaceful and tolerant society. Sheikh Hasina, in her message, said the unique sacrifice of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS), in the name of Almighty Allah for His satisfaction, would ever remain an example for mankind to follow.
The state-run Bangladesh Betar and BTV and private television and radio channels will air special programmes on the occasion. The national dailies will bring out special supplements on Sunday highlighting the significance of the festival.
Special meals will be served at jails, orphanages, vagrant centres and dormitories on the day.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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8 fall from train roof top to death

DHAKA, Nov 5: Going home to celebrate Eid with kith and kin has turned into a nightmare due to long gridlock on highways, disarray in the train schedule and overcrowded launches.
At least eight people died after falling off the roofs of two trains in Joypurhat, Naogaon and Tangail early Saturday and Friday night.
The victims were going home to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of the Muslims, with their near and dear ones. The Eid will be celebrated in the country on Monday. According to railway officials in Joypurhat, four passengers, who were riding on the roof of the Parbatipur-bound Eid special train, fell on the ground along the railway tracks after being hit with an iron structure of Halhaliya Bridge under Akkelpur upazila at around 2am Saturday.
Two of the victims died in the morning while the others succumbed to their injuries in the afternoon at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in Bogra.
The deceased were identified as Uzzal Miah, 30, son of Rawshan Ali of Parbatipur in Dinajpur, Dulal, 30, son of Sona Miah of Kaharol in Bogra and Julfikar Ali, 32, son of Habibur Rahman of Nilphamari.
In Naogaon, the railway police recovered body of a garment worker, Harunur Rashid, 27, of Palashbari in Gaibandha from beside the railway tracks at Raninagar railway station at around 11am Saturday.

Quoting family members, railway officials said the victim was on way to the village home on Eid vacation travelling on the roof of a train from which he might fell from the roof sometime at night and died.
In Tangail, four people died and three were injured after falling off the roof of a running train in Mirzapur upazila of Tangail Friday night.
Three of the deceased were identified as Mintu Miah, 18, of Shahzadpur upazila in Sirajganj, Mamun Miah, 22, of Faridpur in Pabna and Jahirul Islam, 25, of Bholahat upazila of Chapainawabganj while the other, aged about 30, could not be known. Railway officials said that the seven people, who were travelling on the roof of Rajshahi-bound Silk City Express from Dhaka, fell off the train after they were hit by an electric wire when the train reached Deobhog near Mohera Railway Station at around 9pm Friday.
Two of the passengers died on the spot while five injured were taken to Mirzapur Kumudini Hospital where two succumbed to their injuries.
Thousands of people who are travelling by bus in different routes across country got trapped in gridlocks, especially on Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Aricha highways. It is taking double or triple times to reach their destinations due to heavy traffic jam.
Passengers in the buses services stuck on different routes and had to suffer the worst especially women and children without food, water or toilet facilities.
Buses and trucks created a 40-50km-long tailback on Dhaka-Chittagong highway between Daudkandi and Comilla cantonment.
It is taking 2-3 hours more than the usual schedule on the Dhaka-Chattagong route and it has created much suffering to the homebound passengers in the eastern zone.
Our Tangail correspondent said: Traffic congestion on Dhaka-Tangail highways cause immense sufferings to the home-bound people, especially women and children. The congestion started from Friday and is continuing.
The Dhaka-Tangail traffic system had also been collapsed and had created 75-km long gridlock stretching between Mirzapur and Elenga since morning from Chandra to the Bangabandhu Bridge.
Sanower Hossain Inspector of Highway Police of Tangail  told The Independent that huge congestion caused at Derua railway crossing, Gorai Industrial area, Pakulla, Natiyapara, Korotia, Elenga, Elanga rail crossing.
The heavy rush of transports on the two lane route has created the unending traffic jam. The police department is trying hard and soul to ease the traffic jam, he claimed.
Police Super of Tangail AKM Hafiz Akhter told the Independent that they have deployed 750 police personnel to control traffic movement. SP, Additional SP, Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors are also toiling round the clock in discharging their duties to ease the jam. He hopes that by ending of the day normalcy may come by their hard efforts.
Romesh Chandra Ghosh, Managing Director of Shyamoli Paribahan said, “Traffic jam is the reason for the collapse of their bus schedule. We really do not know where the buses are. So it is impossible to say when the bus will arrive.”
“I have come here at 6:00 am and now it is 12:30 pm. The employees cannot even say when the bus will arrive,” said Kamrul Hasan, a Rangpur-bound passenger, at Kalyanpur.
Excessive number of vehicles and delays in toll collection at Tora Toll Plaza created huge tailbacks on Dhaka Aricha highway in Ghior. A 6km-long queue was seen there around noon.
Delays in getting on ferries at Paturia and Daulatdia terminals caused traffic jam on both sides of the river adding woe to the passengers’ sufferings.
Shaymol Kumar Nath, additional superintendent of highway police (Comilla), said, “The gridlock became severe around 10:00am and lasted until 2:00pm between Meghna Bridge and Daudkandi.
Huge rush of vehicles, delays in paying toll at Meghna Bridge and breakdowns caused the gridlock, he claimed.
Meanwhile, thousand of people taking the risk of life are traveling on the roof of the train. But all trains were reaching destinations around 2 or 3 hours late. Khulna-bound Sundarbans Express was supposed to reach Dhaka at 6:20am but it came around 9:30, while Rangpur Express arrived five hours late.
However, the situation turned worse later in the day when a freight train derailed between Rajapur and Sadar Rasulpur railway stations in Comilla. The derailment snapped train communication between Dhaka and Chittagong, and Chittagong and Sylhet for five hours.
While hundreds were seen getting on the roof of launches at Sadarghat Launch Terminal, despite the government ban on the risky travel. All launches were seen overloaded.
Launch operators have started making two trips a day to cope with the rush of people heading home. Many passengers were seen looking for tickets, while most of the passengers travelled on
deck.  Around 90 launches left the terminal yesterday for their destinations, said Mahbubur Rahman, traffic inspector of Sadarghat.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Greece PM wins confidence vote

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Europe

Author / Source : Independent online/bbc

Athens: Greece Prime Minister George Papandreou has won a crucial confidence vote on Friday after promising to hold power-sharing talks.

In an address to parliament before the vote he ruled out snap elections, saying they would be "catastrophic".

He said he did not care about his post and the leadership of any government of national unity would be negotiable.

Papandreou previously shocked EU partners and sent markets into turmoil after calling for a referendum on an EU deal to bail out debt-ridden Greece.

Papandreou said the bail-out deal currently on offer by the EU had to be accepted, and it would be "historically irresponsible" to lose it.

He said immediate elections would be "catastrophic" for the deal, so proposed a new coalition to take charge until it had been agreed.

"I have been in contact with the president and I will visit him tomorrow (Saturday) to inform him of my intentions and that I am moving forward with all the parties for a broader coalition government, and to agree on common goals, a timeframe and people, to agree on its composition and even the head of this coalition," he said.

"I therefore ask for a vote of confidence in order to ensure the security of this nation."

The vote took place after several hours' debate. Papandreou addressed parliament for more than half an hour.

Thousands of protesters have gathered in Athens' Syntagma Square. Security has been tightened around the nearby parliament building.

Eurozone leaders fear that failure to solve the Greek debt crisis could risk it spreading to other vulnerable economies, particularly Italy.

The figures in the Greek parliament revealed Papandreou's vulnerability. His governing Socialist party (Pasok) held a tiny majority - 152 out of 300 seats. In the end 153 MPs voted for the government.

The vote was timed to take place when the markets in Europe and the US are closed, such is the sensitivity of the issue.

Although Papandreou survived the confidence vote, the political situation in Greece still seemed far from certain.

Leader of the main opposition New Democracy party Antonis Samaras rejected the prime minister's idea of a coalition government and repeated his demands for immediate elections.

"Papandreou rejected our proposal. The only solution is elections," a party spokesman quoted Samaras as saying.

On Thursday Samaras led his MPs in a dramatic walkout of parliament.

The proposed referendum had caused serious divisions in Pasok, with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos insisting it should not be held.

He told European partners on Friday that Greece had officially scrapped the referendum.

Venizelos said he had informed EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and eurozone chairman Jean-Claude Juncker of the decision.

Papandreou had earlier said the referendum was never an end in itself, and there were two other choices - an election, which he said would bankrupt the country, or a consensus in parliament.

Earlier on Friday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the BBC he expected a government of national unity to be formed in Greece and that the economic problems "will be solved".

In another development on Friday, international ratings agency Moody's cut Cyprus's credit grade by two notches - to the brink of junk status - over its banking sector's exposure to Greek bonds.

The Greek crisis overshadowed the G20 summit in Cannes which ended on Friday.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy said leaders had agreed to increase the firepower of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but gave no specifics on the funding.

Papandreou had been summoned for urgent talks at the G20 on Wednesday, where he was told that any referendum would turn on the question of whether Greece wanted to stay in the eurozone.

The next tranche of Greece's existing bailout was also put on hold.

Without the bailout funds, Greece may go bankrupt before the end of the year.

The EU bailout deal, agreed last month, would give the heavily indebted Greek government 130 billion euros and it imposes a 50 percent write-off on private holders of Greek debts, in return for deeply unpopular austerity measures.

Although the Greek public has strongly resisted the austerity measures, a recent opinion poll in a newspaper showed 70 percent wanted to remain within the eurozone.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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West Indies score 62/2

Dhaka: West Indies scored 62 for the loss of two wickets in the second innings of the second and final Test against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in the capital on Monday.

West Indies lead by 180 runs with 8 wickets remaining till filing of this report at 12:45pm.

Opener Kraigg Brathwaite was sent back to the pavilion after being run-out on the first ball.

Earlier, Bangladesh were all out for 231 in their first innings in reply to West Indies’ 355.

Bangladesh squad: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain), Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain and Suhrawadi Shuvo.

West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh, Darren Sammy (Captain), Fidel Edwards, Devendra Bishoo and Kemar Roach.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Suicide bombers hit US charity in Kandahar

Suicide attackers on Monday blew up a truck bomb and raided the offices of a US charity in Kandahar, killing at least four Afghans in the main city of southern Afghanistan, officials said.

One attacker detonated the vehicle outside the offices of US-based International Relief and Development (IRD), before two others entered the compound and fired on security forces, said police and government officials.

The Kandahar government said the attackers struck at 6am (0130 GMT) and that two gunmen remained holed up in a veterinary clinic inside the compound -- which also houses UN offices -- and were shooting at security forces.

"There were three suicide attackers. One exploded in front of the office. The two others entered the compound (wearing suicide vests). They are still alive, but the police are surrounding them," said police spokesman Ghorzang.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said the insurgent group carried out a car bomb attack in the city, but claimed to have targeted the UN refugee agency.

The bodies of the dead were taken to the nearby Mirwais hospital along with several people wounded in the assault.

"Four bodies, all Afghan civilians, and five people including a Nepali guard have been admitted to our hospital with injuries," said Sardar, a hospital doctor who like many Afghans goes by only one name.

The United Nations has some offices in the compound but the Kandahar government's media office said the UN properties appeared safe.

According to its website, IRD provides nearly $500 million annually in development assistance to Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East; and works in nearly 40 countries.

The volatile southern city is the birthplace of the Taliban movement, which has been waging bloody battle for a return to power since its ouster in a US-led invasion in late 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

A day earlier a Kandahar provincial government official and former Taliban shadow governor escaped a roadside bombing in the city with minor injuries.

On Friday, the Taliban also launched a major assault on a US-run civilian-military base in Kandahar, sparking a four-hour siege that left one Afghan interpreter dead and eight other people wounded.

In the capital Kabul, the US-led NATO mission saw one of their worst days in the decade-long war on Sunday when a Taliban car bomb attack on a convoy killed 10 Americans, two Britons, a Canadian and four Afghans.

There is increasing acceptance that there can no battlefield victory in the war, with Western diplomats urging talks to negotiate a political settlement.

A regional conference is to be held in Istanbul this week at which President Hamid Karzai is to announce areas in up to 17 provinces that will soon see a handover from NATO to Afghan control.

That will mark the second stage of a transition process that began in July and is scheduled to see Afghans take responsibility for national security by the time that NATO winds down its combat mission in the end of 2014.

But there is widespread scepticism over the ability of the Afghan army and police to secure the country, with the Taliban mounting a series of high-profile deadly attacks and so far showing little willingness to talk.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Asian stock markets lower ahead of US data

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Stock Market

Author / Source : Independent Online/AP

BANGKOK: Asian markets were mostly lower in early trading Monday, as investors shifted their focus from Europe to the U.S. economy.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5 percent to 9,096.27. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.4 percent to 19,938.46, while South Korea's Kospi was 0.4 percent lower at 1,921.78. Benchmarks in Australia and Singapore also fell, while New Zealand's rose.

In currencies, the dollar surged to the 78-yen range. The surge came after a yen-selling intervention by Japanese authorities, Kyodo News Agency reported, citing Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi.

Azumi had warned early Monday that the country might conduct a yen-selling intervention "if necessary" to stop the yen's rapid appreciation.

This week, investors will likely turn their attention to the U.S., where a jobs report for October, a Federal Reserve policy meeting and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's quarterly news conference are due.

A report Thursday showed that the U.S. economy expanded at a solid 2.5 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. That helped ease concerns that another recession might be nearing. Yet the news may have also raised unrealistic expectations about the economy.

Last week, investors were cheered by the deal reached by European leaders. European banks agreed Thursday to take a 50 percent loss on their holdings of Greek government bonds. They will also set aside more money to cushion against future losses. Leaders also pledged to expand the European Union's bailout fund.

But economists caution that many details in the plan still have to be worked out, including the difficult task of deciding who will pay for it.

In currencies Monday, the euro fell to $1.4077 from $1.4170 on Friday in New York. The dollar sprinted to 78.44 yen from 75.76 yen.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Nato set to conclude its mission over Libya

Nato's mission over Libya is due to formally come to an end at one minute to midnight Libyan time on Monday.

It follows the unanimous vote last week at the UN Security Council to end internationally military operations after seven months.

In March, the council had authorised "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.

The UN mandate came after then leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi launched a deadly assault on protesters.

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that Operation Unified Protector was "one of the most successful in Nato history''.

The first missions were flown on the evening of 19 March, as Colonel Gaddafi's forces approached the rebel-held city of Benghazi.

With the help of America's massive military machine, Nato managed to sustain the Libya operation.

Overall, its warplanes flew more than 26,000 sorties, including nearly 10,000 strike missions. More than 1000 tanks, vehicles and guns were destroyed, along with Colonel Gaddafi's command and control network.

Mr Rasmussen said Nato's military forces had prevented a massacre and saved countless lives.

"We created the conditions for the people of Libya to determine their own future," he said.

Despite the expected formal announcement that Nato's mission is over, Western powers were likely to be involved in Libya for some considerable time, says the BBC's Jonathan Beale.

The Security Council decided to end its role, despite a call by Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) for Nato to continue its military action.

The Libyan envoy to the UN had said the NTC needed more time to assess its security needs. But diplomats said that the mandate to protect civilians had been accomplished, and any further security assistance would have to be negotiated separately.

A small team of military advisers remains on the ground to aid the National Transitional Council. US and British experts are also trying to ensure that the surfeit of weapons in the country do not end up in the wrong hands.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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WB to provide $29m for poor and vulnerable women

Dhaka: The World Bank (WB) on Friday approved $29 million concessional IDA credit to Bangladesh to support the employment of poor and vulnerable women, coming from monga-prone areas, in the garment sector located in Export Processing Zones (EPZs).

The Northern Areas Reduction of Poverty Initiative (NARI) project will facilitate their employment by providing life-skills training, transitional housing, counseling and job placement services in the garment sector in three EPZs, WB said.

The beneficiaries of the project will include about 10,800 women from five Northern districts, namely Gailbandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, and Rangpur, areas that suffer from seasonal deprivation and famine-like conditions, a phenomenon known as monga, the bank statement added.

Migration of poor women from the impoverished monga-prone northwestern districts to formal employment in the garment sector is substantially lower than that of poor women from other parts of the country, WB Country Director Ellen Goldstein said.

The project aims to link the growth poles of Bangladesh’s rapidly expanding garment sector to one of the poorest and vulnerable groups in the country.

It will undertake awareness raising activities in the five pilot districts, where a screening and orientation program will be used to select appropriate candidates. The selected candidates will be helped to find employment in the Dhaka, Karnaphuli, and Ishwardi EPZs where dormitories and training centers will be constructed.

The credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary arm, has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; it carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Syria unrest: Arab League denounces civilian killings

The Arab League has sent an "urgent message" to the Syrian government, denouncing "the continued killings of civilians" taking part in protests.

The League's ministerial committee on the Syrian crisis also urged Damascus to "take the necessary measures" to protect civilians.

The call came as at least 37 protesters were killed in Syria, activists said.

The deaths took place mostly in Homs and Hama as protesters called for a no-fly-zone to be imposed, activists said.

More than 3,000 people have died in the unrest since protests broke out in March.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad says the unrest is being stoked by armed gangs and foreign extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife.

Foreign journalists have been largely prevented from reporting from the country, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground.

'Frank talks'

The Arab League's committee on Syria issued its statement on Friday.

It said that the committee would meet Syrian officials on Sunday in Qatar to try to reach "serious results" on a way to end the crisis.

The ministers also said that they had held "frank and friendly" talks with President Assad on Wednesday.

Earlier on Friday, protesters in Syria called for international protection from Nato whose war planes played a vital role in the overthrow of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"God, Syria, we want a no-fly zone over it," protesters shouted in the Bab Tadmur neighbourhood of Homs, while others carried banners demanding international protection, Reuters reports.

In the restive Balaa neighbourhood, around 20,000 people marched calling for the fall of President Assad's regime, Agence France-Presse reports, quoting the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

An armed insurgency has emerged over the past few weeks around the city, home to one million people and some 140km (85 miles) north of Damascus, the news agency reports.

Dozens of young protesters marched in Damascus' Barzeh neighbourhood, the Observatory said, adding that 40 were arrested.

Internet and communications services were reportedly disrupted in parts of the capital, as well as in Homs.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Military rule has slowed, Dhaka growth: Merkel

 

Berlin, Oct 25: Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Bangladesh failed to reach its expected development even after 40 years of independence due to its long-standing military rule.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the law firm in Berlin on Tuesday, she said that the civil society of the country for his development of her should come.
Germany continue their support for Bangladesh, it added. They had a meeting with Hasina before the press conference, the Hasina was called "very fruitful".
"The visit is a milestone in our existing relationships," she added.
Merkel welcomed Hasina, when they, the law firm in the watch (local time arrived).
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh was given red carpet reception and an honor guard. At the beginning of the press meet, Merkel noted on good relations of Germany to Bangladesh and hoped it further.
Bangladesh economic conditions are good and it in the coming days better be, Merkel said.
"Bangladesh way poverty under the strong leadership of Sheikh Hasina," she said.
In the session, the Chancellor, that had discussed them and Hasina said to like Germany Bangladesh in the fight against climate change, primary and secondary education could improve and that will help the flow of urban migration.
Hasina said Germany a tested friend of Bangladesh. "Germany has helped always the social-economic development of Bangladesh," added to it.
Merkel she thanked for their creative role in the Affairs of Germany and European issues in the midst of the global economic turmoil.
Hasina invited, the German Chancellor to visit Bangladesh. "I hope, you soon will come to Bangladesh to visit," she said.

Merkel their interest to Bangladesh to visit but said that they do not know whether it would be soon possible.
Hasina at this point said, "we are both women leaders." "I hope you will this invitation from me."
Merkel replied by saying: "I know you load me as a woman leader and I hope to go to Bangladesh as the German Chancellor."
Question of whether there has been discussion on the financing of the Padma bridge, Merkel said that there was no such discussion.
Hasina said, "we Padma bridge will not discuss." "But Germany Bangladesh in the infrastructure development to support and we hope that support will continue."
Hasina began for home from the airport Tegel to around 17 local time. Bangladesh Ambassador to Berlin Masud Mannan and the German Foreign Ministry officials were there, to see them from.
Bangladesh Prime Minister calls for still existing German economic cooperation with Bangladesh and improve German support in sustainable development projects.
The Chancellor has the Prime Minister, that provide their own security the best cooperation in Bangladesh of the economic development program and infrastructure development.
Sheikh Hasina expanded their Merkel thanks to facilitate the signing of two messages - one for cooperation in the field of health and the other for climate change.
She asked also to more investment and technology support in the renewable energy and infrastructure-building sector in Bangladesh.
In the meantime, Bangladesh and Germany signed two joint declarations of intent on climate and health.
Declarations cooperation in the area of adaptation and climate climate change and cooperation in the field of health - signed in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the Berlin Adlon hotel on Tuesday.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Berlin Masud Mannan told reporters after the signing of this economic cooperation and Development Minister Dirk niebel promised a grant of € 10.9 million to Bangladesh.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni signed declaration climate for Bangladesh, while the Minister, signed the niebel for Germany.
Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque signed declaration on the health of the country, while the signed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for health Annette Widmann-Mauz for Germany.
At another function, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Tuesday their Government encouraging participation of women in all national sections, especially in politics, as women empowerment is for genuine and sustainable democracy crucial.
She said that her Government a company lead step towards democracy by strengthening the parliamentary procedures and media as well as the strengthening of women is.
The Prime Minister who now participate in the German capital, World Health Summit, was a dinner German-South Asia parliamentary group (GSAPG) at Regent Hotel here last night addressing.
She said that the Government also efforts to strengthening all democratic institutions such as electoral, Human Rights Commission and anti - corruption makes Commission.
"I think that only democracy can lead to the sustainable development of the people and nation," she said, adding, "I this the political career of my father and the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman learned."
But the brutal killing of the father of the nation along with the members of his family in 1975, to put an end to Bangladesh democratic process, she said.
"After taking office in 1996, we should again Bangabandhu's efforts in establishing firmly the democratic principles and ideal in our country," Sheikh Hasina said.
Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Ambassador at large M Ziya, Principal Secretary of PM Sheikh Whaid uz-Zaman and PM spokesman Abul Kalam Azad were also present.     bdnews24.com, BSS

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Afghan officials: truck bomb kills 5, wounds 45

Asia

Author / source: independent online/ap

KABUL, Afghanistan: A bomb which exploded hiding in a fuel truck into a centre of the province, gathered as dozens of people around the vehicle to collect fuel, which was leaking to kill at least five years in an explosion, which devastated a time of relative calm in the nation war battered officials said Wednesday.

The explosion at 20 Tuesday, took place in Parwan Province, about 25 miles (40 km) North of the capital Kabul. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the explosion is the first major attack since an attack on the US Embassy in Kabul last month.

Dozens gathered had fuel to collect the fuel truck, which was leaking Kabir Ahmad, said District Chief Parwan Province Bagram district. Suddenly exploded the truck, said he.

At least three people were killed at the scene, said hospital Khalil Farhangi, Chief of the province.

Kabir Amiri, which hospitals directs all Kabul, said 47 people were injured and two of them died, increase the death of toll to five so far. He said that at least 10 people suffered burns.

Spectacular attacks in Kabul have the al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked Haqqani network, which operates from Pakistan, for many of the most recent and have been blamed.

The United States and Afghanistan have asked Pakistan, do more, to purely or the network to combat, and earlier in this month, NATO launched a major operation, the tens of thousands of coalition and Afghan national army to target insurgents on Afghanistan eastern border with Pakistan.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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An indefinite transport strike in 21 dists cancelled

Dhaka: Workers cancelled their indefinite transport strike in 21 districts of South-Western region including 10 districts in Khulna Division.

Earlier on Wednesday forced they are calling for the strike immediate release of the bus driver Jamir Uddin in connection with the death of Tareque Masud and Ashfaque Munier Mishuk was arrested.

Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation of the strike called off at noon on assurance of communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain.

Ten districts under the Division of Khulna, Jessore, Narail, Magura, Jhenidah, Chuadanga, Meherpur, Kushtia, Bagerhat and Satkhira.

Vehicle remained from movement in the districts, the commuters inflicting indescribable suffering.

The liberation of the driver of section 302 of Bangladesh transport workers called Penal Code.

Filmmaker Tareque Masud, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ATN news Ashfaque Munier and three others died when a passenger bus Chuadanga Deluxe their minibus on the highway, Dhaka-Aricha in Ghior shortly from Manikganj taken on 13.

The driver of the bus, Jamir Uddin, arrested in Gangni shortly of Meherpur on 15.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Asian shares mixed ahead of Europe plan

TOKYO: Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as investors waited for European leaders to unveil a plan to tackle the continent's ongoing debt crisis.

Markets turned cautious after solid gains in Asia the previous day, unable to extend a Wall Street rally overnight.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average slipped 0.3 percent to 8,820.29 as exporters struggled in the face of a strong yen. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.6 percent to 1,887.76, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent to 4,234.90.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.4 percent to 18,838.06. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also advanced modestly.

European leaders have said they made progress at a weekend summit and plan to unveil concrete plans for containing the crisis by Wednesday.

The 17-nation eurozone is set to shore up its bailout fund to contain the debt turmoil that threatens to engulf more countries, and German lawmakers said the plan could boost the fund's lending capacity to more than euro1 trillion ($1.39 trillion).

Overnight in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average finished with a gain of 104.83 points, or 0.9 percent, at 11,913.62.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose to 1,254.19, marking the highest close for the S&P 500 since Aug. 3, just as Washington was resolving a showdown over raising the country's borrowing limit.

In currencies, the dollar rose slightly to 76.14 yen from 76.05 yen late Monday in New York. The euro stood at $1.3905 from $1.3951.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Only democracy can lead to sustainable dev: PM

Berlin: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that only democracy can lead to sustainable development of people and nations, and she is trying hard to establish democracy firmly by strengthening parliamentary practices and the media.

“We have indeed been trying hard to establish democracy firmly through strengthening our parliamentary practices and our media, empowering our women, as well as through establishing other democratic institutions such as the Commissions on Election, Human Rights, Anti-Corruption and Information,” she said at a dinner hosted by German-South Asian Parliamentary Group at Hotel Regent Monday evening.

Hasina said that since women empowerment is vital for real and sustainable democracy, the present government is encouraging women to participate in all spheres of national life, particularly in politics.

She said that in the local government elections 45,000 women contested and nearly 13,000 were elected to seats reserved for women. In the parliament, the number of reserved seats for women has also been increased to 50 from earlier 45.

The Prime Minister said that during her first tenure, the Prime Minister’s Question Hour has been introduced in parliament to ensure transparency and accountability.

She said her government has also introduced live television coverage of the parliamentary proceedings for the benefit of the people.

Besides, Hasina said, one of the first steps she took to consolidate democracy was to establish 48 parliamentary standing committees in the first session of the present parliament, something that was never done before.

“I have also revived the `Prime Minister’s Question-Answer Time’ and allowed 22 private TV channels and 352 daily newspapers to strengthen democratic practice in the country,” she said.

The Prime Minister said that for empowering women, she has laid the ground for 64 women to become MPs of whom, 19 are directly elected, a Whip and two women chairperson of parliamentary standing committees that include other women as members.

She said there is also a woman deputy leader of the house, leader of the opposition and the prime minister.

Moreover, Hasina said, she has appointed five ministers who hold the important portfolios of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Labour, and Women and Children’s Affairs.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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N.Korea's Kim calls for nuclear talks, doubts on uranium

BEIJING: North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il told Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang that a moribund 2005 deal should be the basis for fresh talks about Pyongyang's nuclear program, Chinese state media reported, leaving unanswered a key question on uranium enrichment.

The United States and South Korea insist that the North must immediately halt its uranium enrichment program, which it unveiled last year, as a precursor to restart regional talks that offer economic aid in return for denuclearization.

Kim's latest offer of fresh nuclear negotiations came as Washington said it had narrowed differences with North Korea on issues standing in the way of a new round of multilateral nuclear talks.

In his meeting with Li, Kim repeated that North Korea is willing to return to six-party talks -- also involving Russia and Japan -- that it walked out of more than two years ago.

But his published comments did not address Pyongyang's uranium enrichment activities, a key obstacle to talks.

"Kim said the DPRK hopes the six-party talks should be restarted as soon as possible," said the Xinhua news agency report on Tuesday of the meeting between Kim and Li in North Korea on Monday night.

The DPRK is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- the North's official name.

"All the six parties should fully implement the September 19 joint statement, signed by them in 2005 in Beijing, on the principle of simultaneous action," Kim said, according to the report.

The North's uranium enrichment program, which opens a second route to make an atomic bomb along with its plutonium program, is not specifically referred to in the 2005 agreement.

However, Seoul and Washington argue uranium enrichment falls under the broader term "existing nuclear programs," which the 2005 deal says must be stopped.

Pyongyang states it is willing to discuss the issue once six-party talks resume, but Seoul and Washington say there will be no talks until uranium enrichment is stopped. They say any halt must be verified by international nuclear inspectors.

The United States, South Korea and their allies have been skeptical of North Korea's recent assertions that it stands ready to return to the six-party talks, saying Pyongyang has reneged on past disarmament pledges.

The talks and the embryonic agreement were a diplomatic trophy for Beijing. But North Korea walked out of the negotiations more than two years ago after the United Nations imposed fresh sanctions for a long-range missile test. The following month Pyongyang conducted a second nuclear test.

The North says its uranium enrichment program is designed to produce power, and argues that the 2005 agreement respects its right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

In Geneva, Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, said the two sides "narrowed some differences but we still have differences that we have to resolve."

Throughout the regional turbulence, Beijing has stood by its ally, North Korea, which it sees as a buffer against the influence of the United States and its allies. But China has also tried to preserve ties with South Korea, and to revive the stalled talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament.

Li, 56, is the favorite to become premier from early 2013, when Wen Jiabao will step down. He will visit South Korea after his trip to the North.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Nusrat Bhutto, former first lady of Pakistan, dies

Pakistan's former first lady Begum Nusrat Bhutto has died in Dubai after a long illness. She was 82.

She was the widow of the former Pakistani Prime Minister and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and the mother of Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated four years ago.

Nusrat Bhutto was herself elected twice to the Pakistani parliament.

She led the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) until her daughter took over in the mid-1980s.

Her husband, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the PPP, which controls the government in Pakistan today.

He was prime minister and president in the 1970s.

Nusrat Bhutto led the PPP for several years after her husband was hanged in 1979, during the military rule of Gen Zia-ul-Haq.

Her daughter, Benazir, later took over as head of the PPP and served twice as prime minister.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007, shortly after returning to the country to participate in elections following years of exile. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is now Pakistan's president.

Nusrat Bhutto will be buried in the family's mausoleum in southern Sindh province, a PPP spokesman said.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Argentine president wins landslide re-election

BUENOS AIRES: President Cristina Fernandez was re-elected in a landslide Sunday, winning with the widest victory margin in Argentina's history after her government spread the wealth of a booming economy.

Fernandez had 53 percent of the vote after 58 percent of the polling stations reported nationwide. Her nearest challenger got just 17 percent. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo predicted the president's share would rise as polls reported from her party's stronghold of densely populated Buenos Aires province.

"Count on me to continue pursuing the project," Fernandez vowed in her victory speech. "All I want is to keep collaborating ... to keep Argentina growing. I want to keep changing history."

Fernandez is Latin America's first woman to be re-elected as president, but the victory was personally bittersweet — the first without her husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, who died of a heart attack last Oct. 27.

"This is a strange night for me," she said, describing her mix of emotions. "This man who transformed Argentina led us all and gave everything he had and more ... Without him, without his valor and courage, it would have been impossible to get to this point."

Thousands of jubilant, flag-waving people crowded into the capital's historic Plaza de Mayo to watch on a huge TV screen as she spoke from a downtown hotel, where her supporters interrupted so frequently with their chants that she lectured them as a mother would her children: "The worst that people can be is small. In history, you always must be bigger still — more generous, more thoughtful, more thankful."

Then, she showed her teeth, vowing to protect Argentina from outside threats or special interests.

"This woman isn't moved by any interest. The only thing that moves her is profound love for the country. Of that I'm responsible," Fernandez said.

Later, she appeared in the plaza as well, giving a rousing, second victory speech, her amplified voice echoing through the capital as she called on Argentina's youth to dedicate themselves to social projects nationwide.

Fernandez was on track to win a larger share of votes than any president since Argentina's democracy was restored in 1983, when Raul Alfonsin was elected with 52 percent. Her margin over Gov. Hermes Binner and five other candidates was wider even than the 1973 victory margin of her strongman hero, Juan Domingo Peron.

Her political coalition also hoped to regain enough seats in Congress to form new alliances and regain the control it lost in 2009. At play were 130 seats in the lower house and 24 in the Senate.

Fernandez suffered high negative ratings early in her presidency, but soared in popularity as a widow by softening her usually combative tone and proving her ability to command loyalty or respect from an unruly political elite.

Most voters polled beforehand said they wanted government stability to keep their financial situations improving in what has been one of Argentina's longest spells of economic growth in history.

Fernandez, 58, chose her youthful, guitar-playing, long-haired economy minister, Amado Boudou, as her running mate. Together, the pair championed Argentina's approach to the global financial crisis: nationalize private pensions and use central bank reserves to increase government spending rather than impose austerity measures, and force investors in foreign debt to suffer before ordinary citizens.

Argentina's world-record debt default in 2001 closed off most international lending, but it has kept the country booming ever since, with its economy expanding at twice the rate of Brazil's, economist Mark Weisbrot said.

The country faces tough challenges in 2012: Its commodities exports are vulnerable to a global recession, and economic growth is forecast to slow sharply in the coming year. Declining revenues will make it harder to raise incomes to keep up with inflation. Argentina's central bank is under pressure to spend reserves to maintain the peso's value against the dollar, while also guarding against currency shocks that could threaten Argentina's all-important trade with Brazil.

Boudou, 48, could now win attention as a potential successor to Fernandez, but navigating these storms will require much skill and good fortune.

Opposition candidates blamed Fernandez for rising inflation and increasing crime and accused her of politically manipulating economic data and trying to use government power to quell media criticism.

Former President Eduardo Duhalde, who fell from front-running rival to near-last in the polls, said in a dour closing speech that "the country is dancing on the Titanic," failing to prepare Argentina for another global economic crisis.

But Weisbrot said Argentina is in far better shape than most countries in the region to face such problems.

U.S. President Barack "Obama could take a lesson from this," said Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "It's an old-fashioned message of democracy: You deliver what you promise and people vote for you. It's kind of forgotten here in the U.S."

Binner, 68, a doctor and leader of a socialist party, said, "We know how to read the numbers, and we congratulate the lady president, but we also tell her that this force is Argentina's second-leading political force."

Ricardo Alfonsin, 59, a lawyer and congressional deputy with the traditional Radical Civic Union party and son of the former president, had 12 percent; Alberto Rodriguez Saa, 52, an attorney and governor of San Luis province whose brother Adolfo was president for a week, had 8; Duhalde, who preceded Kirchner as president, had 6 and leftist former lawmaker Jorge Altamira, 69, and congresswoman Elisa Carrio 54, had 2.

When Fernandez is inaugurated Dec. 10, her Front for Victory coalition will become the first political bloc to begin a third consecutive presidential term since 1928, when President Hipolito Yrigoyen of the Radical Civic Union took office, only to be toppled by a military coup two years later, said Leandro Morganfield, a historian at the University of Buenos Aires.

Fernandez appealed to Argentines not to allow the country "to be forced off course as has happened to us so often in our history."

"We have to think of a different country, where whomever comes builds on top of what's already been done. That's the Argentina I dream of, where we have continuity of national political projects for the country."

Nearly 78 percent of the nearly 29 million registered voters cast ballots in the country of 40 million.

___

Source: theindependentbd.com

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217 dead in Turkey quake

An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude on Sunday killed 217 people and injured 1,090 in eastern Turkey, the interior minister said.

A hundred people died in Van city and 117 in the Ercis district of Van province, said Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin, adding 1,090 were injured.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made an immediate visit to the quake region to see for himself the devastation.

He was being accompanied by six ministers.

The situation in Ercis is more grave, said Erdogan, adding that around 55 apartment buildings collapsed, raising fears that the toll could increase as many people were trapped under rubble.

"Search and rescue efforts will continue overnight," said Erdogan.

Television footage showed search and rescue teams recovering bodies from the collapsed buildings in Van and Ercis.

The teams were using electrical generator lights to help the search for trapped victims as night fell.

"An eight-storey apartment building collapsed," a local from Ercis told AFP.

"There are efforts to rescue people but the loss is big. I myself saw three to four dead," he added.

Most people are expected to spend the night outdoors, with the temperature expected to dip to three degrees Celsius (37 Fahrenheit).

The quake has mobilised Turkey to rush to the help of the victims.

Some 1,275 search and rescue teams from 38 Turkish cities as well as 145 ambulances were sent to the quake region, according to media reports.

The military said six battalions were also involved in search and rescue efforts, in a statement posted online.

Six helicopters, including four helicopter ambulances, as well as C-130 military cargo planes were sent to the area carrying tents, food and medicine.

Some 200 inmates fled the prison in Van province, when the building was damaged in the quake, media reports said. But 50 of the inmates returned to prison later after seeing their families, they added.

US President Barack Obama offered his condolences to the victims of the massive quake and said the United States stood ready to assist the country's authorities.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities," he said in a statement.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 1041 GMT, was at Tabanli in Van province, Turkey's Kandilli institute said. Two aftershocks had hit the villages of Ilikaynak and Gedikbulak in particular, it added.

Although the quake damaged Van's airport it did not disrupt the air traffic, the Anatolia news agency reported, citing civil aviation authorities. The Turkish airlines launched additional flights to Van.

The quake was also felt across the border in northwestern Iran, causing some panic in major cities, Iranian media reported. They did not report any deaths or serious damage.

The US Geological Survey initially measured the quake at 7.3 magnitude but later downgraded it to 7.2. It registered many aftershocks, the latest of which was of 6.0 magnitude.

The quake that struck Van, a large eastern city populated mainly by Kurds, was Turkey's strongest in years.

Earthquake-prone Turkey lies atop several fault lines.

In 1999, two strong quakes in the heavily populated and industrialised regions of northwest Turkey left some 20,000 dead. A powerful earthquake in the town of Caldiran in Van province killed 3,840 people in 1976.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Gaddafi family requirements body; NATO ends Libya

MISRATA: NATO an end to the air war in Libya and the clan of Muammar al-Gaddafi demanded a chance to bury the body that set on the display in a locker after a death as brutal and chaotic, as his 42-year rule meat.

In a statement to a television for Syria-based pro-Gaddafi family for the bodies asked the deposed dictator Gaddafi, his son mo'tassim, and others who were killed on Thursday by fighters, who overran his hometown of Sirte.

"We call on the UN, Council forcing the Organization of the Islamic Conference and Amnesty International to the transitional arrangements of the martyrs are our tribe in Sirte pass and allow them to run their burial ceremony in Islamic customs and rules,", the statement said.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, an understatement and sparsely attended press conference on Friday said that the Western Alliance a preliminary decision for unified protector operation on 31 October brake.

Like other Western officials, Rasmussen expressed no regret in public about the cruel death of the deposed Libyan dictator, who was captured alive by the forces of the transition, but was brought dead to a hospital.

"We mounted a complex task with unprecedented speed and carried out with the utmost care," said Rasmussen. "I am very proud of what we have achieved."

The NATO operation, which officially ended for the protection of civilians, effectively with French fighter jets on Thursday to escape rays Gaddafi convoy as he and other attempted a final State in Sirte.

Gaddafi was captured, but wounded alive hidden in a drain under a road. The world has since seen grainy film of him up by his captors removal of dust, while he with them, his rights to respect calls.

NTC officials have said Gaddafi later died of wounds in the ambulance, but the ambulance driver, Ali Jaghdoun, told of Reuters that Gaddafi was already dead, when he picked up the body.

"I'm not trying to revive him, because he was already dead," said Jaghdoun, testimony that adds more weight to the widespread assumption that Gaddafi was lynched.

Arm said the UN human rights, an investigation was too in whether he was summarily executed. The provisional leaders have still to decide, what to do with the corpse.

BURIAL DISPUTE

Misurata a local commander, Addul-Salam Eleiwa, showed the body, upper body, naked, on a mattress in a metal-lined cold storage by a market on Friday. It was a bullet hole in his head.

"He will receive his rights, as any Muslim." His body is washed and with would be treated. I expect that he will be buried 24 hours in a Muslim cemetery, "he said."

Dozens of people, many of which stored with cell phone cameras, in to see that he was dead.

"Because in our hearts, is something we want that out," said Abdullah al-Suweisi, 30, as he waited. "It is the injustice of the 40 years." It is hatred in. "We want to see him."

In Tripoli asked Gaddafi death a carnival-like, with Fireworks, bouncy castle, and cotton candy for the children. "Muammar, bad," a little girl said to foreign journalists in English. "Boom Boom".

"For some people from the outside Libya it could be wrong, that we celebrate a death with our children", said a man with a child on his shoulders. "But it was 42 years with the devil."

RISKS OF DIVISION

Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son and heir to the throne remains in General, probably by NTC officials besieged Sirte escaped and headed for a southern boundary.

Without to unite the glue hatred of Gaddafi and his tribe of the groups, some fear a descent into the sort of dispute, the Iraq be charged after Saddam Hussein. Optimists say, so far Libya's new rulers fought but not fought.

"Can a comprehensive and effective national Government be formed?" Yes, if the groups can avoid, fight, tagged Jon, said Consulting Chairman of British cross border information."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark toner said the NTC had promised to explain how Gaddafi was killed.

He said "they the death itself and the consequences as transparently so as I believe they can". "they have bravely fought to liberate their country from this dictator." "And you know, yesterday, he met an inglorious end."

Source: theindependentbd.com

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PM leaves for Berlin today

Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaves for Berlin Saturday morning at the World Health Summit 2011.

The Prime Minister will deliver at the Summit on 23 October (Sunday).

Run a high-power delegation, the health and well-being family Minister, Foreign Minister, Ambassador at large welfare Secretary and five prestigious personalities is contained in the Office of the Prime Minister, Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister, health and family.

The Prime Minister is accompanied by a delegation from the apex trade body, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and industry (FBCCI).

While the visit Hasina have official talks with the German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel on 25 October (Tuesday), followed by a lunch and a joint press conference.

The Prime Minister is given to the Federal Republic of military honor.

A Foreign Office version, said that this is a bilateral visit. Whole range of bilateral relations will be examined during the Summit.

The Prime Minister will take part in a reception today by students of Bangla Pathsala in Bangladesh House in Berlin are hosted.

On 23 October (Sunday) they are hosted an another recording by foreign Bengali (NRAs) will participate in Germany for the Hotel Adlon, Kempiniski in Berlin.

After attending the World Health Summit, Hasina reception are the presidential elections.

On 24 October (Monday), they will be a seminar entitled "emerging market Bangladesh ' Hotel Adlon in Berlin, organised by the German Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and adopted by leading German entrepreneurs and investors will take."

Later, the Prime Minister will call on the President of the German Parliament (Bundestag).

Hasina is likely be at a dinner of the German South Asian Group in the Regent Hotel in Berlin hosted.

The German Environment Minister Rottami genetic, economic cooperation and development Dirk niebel and Foreign Minister Dr. Guido Westerwelle has meeting the Prime Minister on 25.

Hasina is expected to return home on 26 October.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Pakistan, three other UN Security Council elected

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan, Morocco, Togo and Guatemala were on Friday at 15-nation UN Security Council for 2012 and 2013 chosen, and Islamabad Envoy said that he saw us to work with fellow Council Member India.

The race for a fifth Council seat for Eastern Europe, was postponed to Monday after none of the two candidates, Azerbaijan and Slovenia, was able, a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly after nine votes to win.

In the most competitive local Council elections for years ran only Guatemala without resistance in the region. Pakistan scraped through in the first round of voting, Kyrgyzstan one defeat Asian seat with the minimum tally.

Morocco scored an easy victory in the first round, during the west African State of Togo in the third round with a double over Mauritania counter out won. Sub-Saharan Africa the fix of the end with only one of three saved the continent seats against two for Arab North Africa.

Fought for Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan and Slovenia moved to a third candidate, Hungary, the day after trailing in the first round. The race swung both ways, but Azerbaijan led Slovenia a victory by the end of the day with 113 votes to 77, 14 votes for clinching.

Pakistani Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon welcomed his country's choice of the United Nations elite body and said that he expected that work also with the Ambassador of Pakistan's archrival India, Hardeep Singh Puri, next year.

"You have seen that the usual trends not between us and that is one good factor broke," Haroon said. "Maybe both of us in dialogue between the two countries benefit have been."

India joined the Council in this year and remains until 2012. India and three, especially over Kashmir, wars since independence from Britain in 1947 have Pakistan.

The last time two nuclear weapons to States which together was the Council was in 1977. UN diplomats, said that they did not expect that all regional tensions from Pakistan to join again. Pakistan served six previous conditions of the Council,

RESISTANCE AGAINST SANCTIONS

The Security Council is the powerhouse of the United Nations, with the ability to sanctions and the dispatch of peacekeepers.

Veto-holding, nuclear weapons, there are five permanent members of the Rates--the United States, UK, France, Russia and China - and 10 temporary elected members without the veto. With India and Pakistan the Council next year are nuclear powers seven of the 15 members.

Lebanon, Nigeria, Gabon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, come from the Council in January. The four temporary members who stay until 2012 in addition to India, are Colombia, Germany, Portugal and South Africa.

Western diplomats said that it is likely that Pakistan from Brazil will take over the entry of Russia and China, in opposition to new American and European pressure to punish Nations such as Syria and Iran India and South Africa.

In Africa, supports the African Union only Togo and Mauritania. Morocco is not part of the AU, that taken by his predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, in 1984, after democratic Arab Republic proclaimed a Sahrawi independence-the Polisario Front in the disputed Western Sahara by the OAU was admitted.

Morocco's crushing of the Council of victory, with 151 members of 193 Assembly support, saw is expected to strengthen Rabat in the ongoing discussion with POLISARIO. Morocco annexed Western Sahara after colonial power, which pulled out in 1975 Spain.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri told reporters that his country, "despite the attempts which had prevailed, but in vain, this competition Morocco have been made excluded", because it belonged not to the AU.

"Today a large majority of African States decided to show solidarity with Morocco, trust in Morocco, Morocco, support", he said. "Our candidacy was legitimate by the principle of rotation."

Morocco was the 1992 and 1993, most recently in the Security Council twice above.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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2. Days play abandoned

Author / source: Independent online report

Chittagong: play the first test of the series test Walton on the second day, between Bangladesh and West Indies Stadium in Chittagong on Saturday due to one has caused in the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury damp outfield by night and rain was cancelled early in the morning.

Officials decided, after a check on 11: 15 the day play to give up.

Game to begin day three at 09: 00 hour early of half.

Bangladesh has half centuries from opener Tamim Iqbal and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim to a dominant 255 for four at the end of the day of the first test on Friday

Bangladesh squad

Mushfiqur Rahim (c/wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shakib al Hasan, Raqibul Hasan, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain and Elias sunny.

West Indies squad

Darren Sammy (c), Carlton Baugh (week), Darren Bravo, Devendra Bishoo Kraigg Brathwaite, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Ten Colombian soldiers die in FARC attacks

Ten Colombian soldiers were killed in an ambush on the left rebel group, the FARC, the army blamed.

The army said it was the deadliest attack this year.

A military spokesman said the rebels ignited explosives as two vehicles in the southern province of Nariño, in the vicinity of Colombian border Ecuador were travelling.

The local Governor said that the soldiers had used to improve security before regional elections next week.

Gen Alejandro Navas, the head of the Colombian armed forces, told reporters: "Reinforcements come." "We have started to chase these bandits who flee."

Left rebels of the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) are often carry out attacks before elections.

On October 30 Colombians elect Governors, mayors and city councils across the country in elections already marred by violence.

Left guerrillas, criminal gangs and former right-wing paramilitaries are all active in the Nariño region and engage in a battle for control of the lucrative Pacific Coast drug trafficking routes.

The Marxist-inspired FARC has been working since the early 1960s.

It was severely weakened by a military offensive in 2002, but stays on the attacks, partly due to the means, that its involvement in the trafficking of illegal drugs.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Saudi Crown Prince dies

DUBAI: Saudi of Arabia's Crown Prince bin Sultan Abdulaziz al-Saud died at dawn on Saturday from abroad, the country's Royal Court said in a statement from the State-run media.

Sultan, who thought to be over the age of 86, were in the United States for medical treatment since June.

As well as the heir to the world of top oil exporter was he Secretary of Defense and Minister of aviation for four decades been.

"With deep sorrow and sadness the guardian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Sultan mourns his brother and Crown Prince..., who died at dawn Saturday outside the Kingdom this morning after a", the statement said the State News Agency SPA, and State television,.

Saudi TV broke its schedules early on Saturday accompanied by pictures of the Kaaba in Mecca, Qur'anic verses, to transfer the holiest place of Islam.

Funeral service in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Tuesday takes SPA said.

Widely as next in the series after Sultan, Interior Minister Prince Naif, is second Deputy Prime Minister who was called in 2009.

King Abdullah is in his late 80s and back surgery this month but has since then in seemingly good health has been mapped.

The King was absent for three months late in 2010, while he collect caused treatment for herniated, who underwent blood to his spine.

Prince Naif, in his late 70s, has a reputation as conservative as Crown Prince or King.

In contrast to European monarchies has father to son, but after a series of brothers, founder of the Kingdom moved the British line of succession not directly Ibn Saud died in 1953.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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HC questions legality of mobile courts

Dhaka: The High Court on Wednesday issued a rule asking the government to explain within four weeks why mobile courts conducted by the executive magistrate should not be declared illegal.

Mobile court, which is conducted mainly at the instance of the executive magistrates has been regularised through the Mobile Court Act, 2009.

It also issued a rule upon the government to explain why the sections---5, 6 (1, 2, 4), 7, 8 (1), 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15 of the Mobile Court Act, 2009 should not be declared illegal.

The HC bench, comprising Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice Anwarul Haque passed the order.

Kamruzzaman Khan, chairman of the Aesthetic Property Development Ltd, filed the writ petition on October 11 challenging the legality of the sections of the act- 5, 6 (1, 2, 4), 7, 8 (1), 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15. The Act contains 17 sections.

Section 5 of the Act empowers district magistrate and executive magistrates to hold mobile court. According to section 6(1) of the Act, the magistrate can only try a person if the culpability falls under the offences specified in the schedule of the Act and if the magistrate catches him/her red-handed and if he/she confesses to his/her crime. Section 6 (3), (4) and (5) provides that if the offence is not incorporated in the laws in the schedule or if it is more grievous in nature, then the matter would be referred to the formal court and the mobile court will cease the authority to try the offence.

In accordance with section 7(1), after taking cognisance, the magistrate will frame written charge against the offender and ask if he pleads guilty and, if the accused person refuses to confess, the magistrate asks for explanation. If such explanation seems to be satisfactory the magistrate may discharge him, otherwise the magistrate shall send the accused for formal trial in regular court.

The magistrate can punish by imprisonment or fine or both if the accused person confesses. Otherwise, he cannot punish any individual under this Act.

Section 8(1) of the Act puts a limitation that the mobile court cannot impose more than two years of imprisonment.

As per the provision of section 13, an aggrieved person can prefer an appeal to the district magistrate against the decision of an executive magistrate and to the sessions judge against the decision of district magistrate-a system of double check should there be any apprehension of arbitrary use of power.

It is the plenary legislative (Article 65 of the constitution of Bangladesh) power of the parliament of Bangladesh by dint of which it enacted the law, and, this law is to be obeyed so long as it remains valid. This law can be invalidated either by the Parliament or by the High Court Division of the Supreme Court on the ground of unconstitutionality.

The petitioner stated in the writ that the authority of executive magistrates to conduct the court is unconstitutional and conflicts directly with the milestone verdict of the Masdar Hossain case (Secretary, Ministry of Finance Vs Md Masdar Hossain, 20 (2002) BLD, AD) which restored the judiciary’s supremacy over executive authority of the state in judicial procedure.   

The petitioner sought HC directive to issue a rule upon the government why the sections should not be declared illegal.

A mobile court earlier on September 14 convicted the petitioner for 30 days under the section 8 (1) of the building construction act 1952.

The HC bench also stayed the sentence and conviction of the petitioner for four months.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Enclave people now free from captive life: Hasina

Dahagram: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said people of Dahagram and Angorpota enclaves have now got freedom from captive life with the 24-hour access to the Tin Bigha Corridor connecting the two enclaves with the mainland Bangladesh.

“You are now free. You won’t need to lead a captive life any longer,” she told the local people at a function at Dahagram Bilateral High School ground after inaugurating the electric transmission line connecting the two enclaves.

Mentioning her talks with the Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi in 2009, Hasina said she had then pressed for opening the Tin Bigha Corridor for 24 hours to enable free movement of the enclave people.

“During his visit to Dhaka on September 6, the Indian Prime Minister approved it,” she said.

Hasina, who earlier inaugurated a 10-bed hospital at Dahagram Union Health Complex, said the enclave people will get medical treatment from the hospital.

She went round different wards of the hospital and talked to patients.

The Prime Minister also promised to establish a college in Dahagram enclave.

Earlier, Hasina arrived here this (Wednesday) morning amid huge enthusiasm and festivity among the enclave people.

A special Air Force plane, carrying the Prime Minister, landed at Syedpur airport in Nilphamari at 10:20 am.

From Syedpur, Hasina traveled to Dahagram union health complex by an army helicopter. She was received by local MPs and Awami League leaders.

Later, Sheikh Hasina attended an opinion-exchange meeting with the local people.

Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque and PM’s advisor Dr Gowher Rizvi were present.

This was the Prime Minister’s first visit to the enclaves after the signing of a deal with India for round-the-clock access to Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves through the Tin Bigha Corridor.

The deal was signed during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka on September 6.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit the Tin Bigha Corridor and address a public rally at the Patgram Government College in the afternoon.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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6 killed in Tangail road crash

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

SIRTE, LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA: A Bangladeshi couple get emotional as they flee Sirte during heavy fighting between loyalist troops and National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters on Tuesday.    -AFP Photo See details

Source: theindependentbd.com

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4 add’l judges appointed in HC

Dhaka: Four new additional judges were appointed to the High Court Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, according to a gazette notification.

The judges are-- AKM Shahidul Haque and Abu Taher Md SAifur Rahman, Shahidul Karim, and Mohammad Jahangir Hossain.

AKM Shahidul Haque and Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman are Supreme Court lawyers, Shahidul Karim is the incumbent secretary to the law and justice division of law ministry, and Mohammad Jahangir Hossain is a Dhaka district judge.

President M Zillur Rahman made the appointment as per article 98 of the Constitution.

Six other additional judges were appointed to the High Court earlier on October 4.

Their appointment will take effect from the day of their taking oath.

Additional judges were generally appointed contractually for two years.

Sources said all 10 newly appointed additional judges will be administered oaths by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain in a day or two.

Wednesday’s appointment of the judges bring the total the number of HC judges to 98.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Paoli Dham Scandal | download Paoli Dham scandal

Paoli Dham is very well known for her film "Moner Manush". She got
very good response after acting in this film. Now, she gave a nude
shot in front of camera in a Sri Lankan English Film named "Mushroom".
She acted in a bed scene without having any dress. She has shown some
logics to act in this sort of scene.

This shot has made a very bad response in the Taligonj film industry.
Her male counterpart in that scene is Anubrata. Paoli is scene to have
4 minutes long sex with Anubrata. Paoli said, there is no dummy in
this scene. I really acted in this scene.

For Details: http://www.celebritynews24.com/paoli-dham-in-nude-scene.html

Download Porshi Scandal

Celebrity scandal video is being continued in a good speed. One more
scandal video has been published in different websites. A lot of
discussion has been raised, when the celebrity scandal disclosed in
the freely through online. In this tradition the first scandal involve
Bangaldeshi TV actress and interpreter Prova, Nadira Nasim Chaity and
some others.

We have found a video where a girl is seen in nude body who looks like
Bangladeshi Teen age singer Porshi. All the celebrity are adult but
now Bangladeshi media see the scandal of teenager singer Porshi. In
the previous scandal tape the video quality was rough and in some case
their face was not clearly visible but in case of Porshi this type of
problem is almost absent. In the video she is free and willingly
expose her body. Not only that she is also free with her male mate in
the video. Such type of tape really provide a bad signal in the
Bangladeshi media.
See Details in:
http://www.lifestylenews24.com/celebrity-talk/porshi-scandal-download-porshi-scandal.html

Diego Maradona in Bangladesh

Diego Maradona is the name of a mega star in Bangladesh. Though once upon a time, Diego Maradona said, "What is Bangladesh?" But Bangladesh have millions of Maradona fan. It was quite impossible to imagine that Great Maradona will come in Bangladesh. Lionel Messi, De Maria, Aguero and Higuain along with Argentina team has just played international match in Bangladesh.Read more in Celebrity News 24

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Ind vs Eng

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