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Sri Lankan rebels forcing Tamils to join war effort

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Simon GardnerIn Tamil Tiger territory, youths like Rajathurai Ponnambalam are living in hiding to avoid being forcibly recruited by the rebels and sent to fight in a Sri Lankan civil war they don't believe in.Many residents Reuters spoke to during...

Taliban claim abduction of 18 South Koreans, 2 German nationals

2007-07-21 00:00:00

KABUL, July 20 (AFP): The Taliban claimed responsibility Friday for the kidnap of 18 South Korean Christians and two German nationals, and said they would only free the Germans if Berlin withdraws troops from Afghanistan. "The Taliban have kidnapped the...

Israel frees 250 Palestinian prisoners

2007-07-21 00:00:00

BEITUNYA, (West Bank), July 20 (AFP) - Over 250 Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel were arriving in the occupied West Bank Friday in the biggest such releases in two years intended to bolster president Mahmud Abbas. The first two buses...

Suicide blast kills four in Pakistan

2007-07-21 00:00:00

MIRANSHAH, (Pakistan), July 20 (AFP): A suicide bomber killed three civilians and a soldier at a check post in a Pakistani tribal area Friday, the latest in a wave of attacks across the country, security officials said. Meanwhile: China said...

Russia expels British diplomats in tit-for-tat row

2007-07-21 00:00:00

MOSCOW, July 20 (AFP): Russia expelled four British diplomats Thursday in a row over a high-profile murder inquiry as President Vladimir Putin played down the spat with London as a "mini-crisis" that would be overcome. Russia also announced a ban...

Three killed, dozens detained in US raids in Iraq

2007-07-21 00:00:00

BAGHDAD, July 20 (AFP) : US-led forces killed three suspected militants and detained 44 in a series of raids across Iraq on Friday, the military saidTroops killed two armed men and detained 16 in a raid to capture an alleged...

news digest

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Airbus in fatal Brazil crash had fault in slowing device SAO PAULO, July 20: The Airbus 320 airplane that crashed and burned on landing in Brazil killing some 200 people was flying with a fault in the equipment meant to...

Britons take it easy in the new age of terrorism

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Gideon RachmanThe threat level in Britain is "critical". This means that a new terrorist attack could be imminent. Would-be car-bombers are said to be still at large. Iraq-style terror tactics have arrived.But the British public seems to be more worried...

Europe learns to stop fearing the Germans

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Gideon RachmanAre we still scared of the Germans? Even asking that question in the corridors of the European Union is likely to provoke sorrow and incredulity. The conventional answer is: of course not! Fear of Germany is primitive and backward-looking....

Branson bows to US 'open skies' sensitivity

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Doug Cameron in Chicago and Kevin Done in LondonSir Richard Branson will be absent from next month's launch of Virgin America, an almost unheard of occurrence for the media-savvy entrepreneur, which highlights the sensitivity of overseas involvement in the US...

US mortgage problem fears spark sell-off

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Michael Mackenzie and Saskia Scholtes in New YorkFears of further problems in the US mortgage industry and the broader economy flared on Tuesday, triggering a sell-off in credit markets as investors sought safe havens.Markets were rattled when Standard & Poor's,...

US urged to act on energy

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Ed Crooks in LondonThe US should adopt the toughest possible fuel economy standards for motor vehicles and join a global framework for managing carbon dioxide emissions, according to a Bush administration-commissioned study of the energy industry, led by the former...

Wild: An Elemental Journey

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Review by Harry Eyres If you imagine a cross between Thoreau's Walden and the later travel writings and novels of D.H. Lawrence, you might come close to the prophetic and personal intensity of Jay Griffiths' ecological odyssey. But then you...

Thai junta going the Burma way?

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Marwaan Macan-MarkarThailand's junta leader, Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, is in danger of inviting comparisons with military strongmen in neighbouring Burma, where successive generals have refused to transfer power to a civilian administration for decades.Suspicions have been triggered by the vague language...

Getting tough with second-hand smoke

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Marwaan Macan-MarkarThe global anti-tobacco movement has just armed itself with tough new language capable of clearing the air at workplaces, restaurants and bars of tobacco smoke.The breakthrough, secured at a week-long conference here, was endorsed by 146 developed and developing...

Singapore growth booms despite weak electronics

2007-07-21 00:00:00

John JannaroneSingapore's unexpectedly fast economic expansion in the second quarter shows that this small Southeast Asian nation can flourish even when growth in a traditional mainstay, electronics manufacturing, is weak.On a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis, Singapore's gross domestic product...

Time for Asian chief at IMF

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Bipartisanship has come to Paris. Fantastic! No more storming of theBastille. No more May 1968. No more internecine political conflict between the Left and the Right. We are referring of course to the announcement that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a...

Decade after meltdown IMF less relevant

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Marwaan Macan-MarkarAs the Asian financial crisis struck 10 years ago, beginning in Thailand and then spreading rapidly to eight other economies in the region, the desperate call for help was answered from the West.In rode the International Monetary Fund (IMF)...

Illegal foreign nationals drain off huge forex from country

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Considerable amounts of foreign exchange drained off from Bangladesh as a large number of foreign nationals are working in various sectors of the country illegally, reports UNB quoting competent sources.According to the Board of Investment, the number of illegal foreigners...

CID asked to probe Foreign Exchange Act violation

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Naim-Ul-KarimThe Bangladesh Bank (BB) has identified more than 1200 individuals and companies siphoning off millions of dollars by violating foreign exchange act, sources said.The government has already asked the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe such cases on a priority...

Deal with selected bidders soon

2007-07-21 00:00:00

SM JahangirThe government will soon sign agreements with the selected bidders to pave the way for installing 10 small power units in the private sector.The state-run power distributing agencies have already issued letter of intent (LoI) in this connection to...

10pc tax deduction not applicable to interest income before July 01

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Doulot Akter MalaThe government's recent decision on deduction of 10 per cent tax at source from savings instruments, interest earning has created confusion among small investors.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been receiving a large number of queries from...

National heroes should be kept 'in right places: Army chief

2007-07-21 00:00:00

NOAKHALI, July 20 (UNB/bdnews24.com): Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed Friday called for a national unity to build Bangladesh as a completely independent and prosperous nation as the opportunity is now on hand."Now our responsibility is to build a sovereign...

BJMA wants level playing field for private, public jute mills

2007-07-21 00:00:00

FE Report The Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA) in its meeting Thursday urged the government to create a level playing field for both private and public jute mills as discriminatory policies will adversely affect the private jute goods manufacturers. The...

Hasina fears she may not get justice: lawyer

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Detained Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina believes the country is heading towards a crisis situation, said former law minister Abdul Matin Khasru after meeting her Friday, reports bdnews24.com. "Hasina feared she might not get justice; she said a camera trial...

RMG buyers' dominance leaves exporters at bay

2007-07-21 00:00:00

Jasim Uddin HaroonBangladesh's export market is increasingly becoming buyer-dominant while the country is subjected to sellers' market terms and conditions. This was revealed in a research study conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM).As result, local exporters are...

SC orders reinstatement of Pak chief justice

2007-07-21 00:00:00

ISLAMABAD, July 20 (Agencies) : Pakistan's Supreme Court rejected President Pervez Musharraf's suspension of the court's chief justice (CJ), a case that prompted the biggest constitutional crisis of the military leader's eight-year rule. A 13-member panel assembled from the 18...

None with graft links to be spared, vows Lt Gen Masud Uddin

2007-07-21 00:00:00

CHITTAGONG, July 20 (bdnews24.com): Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury Friday said no-one with corruption ties would be able to escape punishment, with or without their support for reforms. The coordinator of the national coordination committee on serious crimes made the...

BRTA, NSI officials slain

2007-07-21 00:00:00

A vehicle inspector of Chittagong office of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) was killed allegedly by doping in the port city Thursday night. The BRTA inspector Preety Kumar Chakma (54) was found in an unconscious state in the city's Serson...

Six drown, 3 missing in Sirajganj boat capsize

2007-07-21 00:00:00

SIRAJGANJ, July 20: Six people, including four children of a family, drowned and three others went missing as a boat sank in the rain-fed Dabilar Beel in Ullapara Upazila Friday. Locals said the boat, heading towards Chandalgati from Bahuliaghat, sank...