MNA International Desk: Law enforcers of Pakistan have arrested Asif Ali Zardari, a former president of the country and co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), from his residence in Islamabad on Monday. A 15-member team of Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB), accompanied by police personnel, arrested Zardari after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected an application seeking extension in the pre-arrest bails of him and his sister Faryal Talpur in the fake accounts case. A number of party workers and Zardari’s children Bilawal and Aseefa saw him off as the former president was driven away in a black Landcruiser. ...

MNA Career & Education Desk: The government on Monday published the first list of about 1.32 million students qualified for college admission in the academic session of 2019-2020. Prof Ziaul Haque, Chairman of Dhaka Education Board, said the merit list is now available on the website (www.xiclassadmission.gov.bd), report bdnews24.com and UNB. A total of 1,318,866 applicants have been named in the first list, said Dhaka Board College Inspector Prof Md Harun-Ar-Rashid. The qualified students will have to confirm their acceptance through texts to the selected colleges by June 18. They were instructed to be admitted to the colleges between Jun ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said the government has a plan to dedicate some tourist spots in Cox’s Bazar exclusively to foreign tourists. “We’ve a plan to dedicate some tourist spots in Cox’s Bazar exclusively to foreign tourists. If we can do this, the tourism sector will flourish,” she said. Sheikh Hasina came up with the statement while speaking at a press conference at her official residence Ganabhaban about the outcome of her recent tri-nation visit to Japan, Saudi Arabia and Finland, report UNB and bdnews24.com. Turning to Cox’s Bazar Airport, she said, “We’ve taken steps ...

MNA Business Desk: Bangladesh appears to have made little progress in exploiting its “huge” blue economy potentials, according to a recent report. The contribution of the ocean economy to the total economy was 3.66 per cent in fiscal year 2009-10, which fell to 3.33 per cent in fiscal 2015, said the report. And in recent years, the contribution is hovering at around 3.0 per cent, economists and senior government officials told the FE. Through the international court verdict in 2014, Bangladesh get sovereign rights over 118,000 square kilometres of maritime territory, 200 nautical miles (NM) of exclusive economic zone, and ...

MNA National Desk: Eid holidaymakers have started returning to the city after celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr in their village homes as the government and private offices resumed on Sunday after a long vacation on the occasion of the Eid. Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals of Muslims, was celebrated in the country amid much enthusiasm and religious fervour on Wednesday. Crowds of holidaymakers, who came back to the city, were witnessed at different bus stations, Sadarghat launch terminal, and Kamalapur and Airport railway stations, says a BSS report. This year’s Eid journey was relatively comfortable than the previous ones as the ...

MNA International Desk: Iran said on Sunday that Europe was not in a position to criticize Tehran for its military capabilities, and called on European leaders to normalize economic ties with the Islamic Republic despite US sanctions or face consequences. President Donald Trump last year withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions. Trump has condemned a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, signed by his predecessor Barack Obama, as flawed for not being permanent and for not covering Iran’s ballistic missile programme or its role in conflicts around the Middle East, reports Reuters. The ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said their mission to seal the semifinal spot is still on the track as they have six matches at hand. The captain urged his side not to be panicked in the wake to successive defeats, stating that the Tigers are capable enough to turn the things around, BSS reports. ”Still six matches to go and hopefully others step up in those games because we have very important matches coming up,” Mashrafe said in the post-match presentation after their 106-run defeat to tournament favourties England. After their impressive 21-run win over mighty South ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address a press conference on Sunday to brief the media about the outcome of her tri-nation official visit to Japan, Saudi Arabia and Finland. The press conference will be held at her official Ganabhaban residence at 5.00 pm tomorrow. The Prime Minister returned home on Saturday morning from Finland. On May 28, the Prime Minister left Dhaka for Tokyo, the first destination of her tri-nation visit. UNB adds: During her four-day stay in Japan, the two countries signed the 40th ODA deal involving $ 2.5 billion after a bilateral meeting between Sheikh Hasina ...

MNA Business Desk: Russian leader Vladimir Putin renewed calls to revisit the role of the US dollar in global trade. Speaking at an economic forum on Friday alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Russian president called for deep reform, claiming that trust in the dollar had been on the decline, AFP reports. Changes in the global economy “call for the adaptation of international financial organisations (and) rethinking the role of the dollar which… has turned into an instrument of pressure by the country of issue on the rest of the world,” Putin said. The Kremlin chief — whose country has chafed ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned home on Saturday morning wrapping up her tri-nation visit to Japan, Saudi Arabia and Finland. A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:55 am. Sheikh Hasina left Helsinki for home on Friday afternoon (Finland time) concluding her five-day official visit to Finland, the third and final destination of her tri-nation tour. A Qatar Airlines flight carrying the prime minister and her entourage members departed Helsinki International Airport in Finland for Doha around 7.05 pm (Finland time). BSS adds: Bangladesh ...

MNA International Desk: British Prime Minister Theresa May resigned as leader of her Conservative Party on Friday, formally triggering the race for a successor. May will remain prime minister until a new leader is chosen, likely in late July, but has relinquished control over the direction of Britain’s tortuous departure from the European Union, AFP reports. Brexit is still scheduled for October 31 but while her rivals thrash it out, the project remains stuck, with the only divorce plan agreed with Brussels stuck in parliament. May took office after the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU and has spent the ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The United Kingdom (UK) said that it will continue working for a sustainable resolution to the situation in Rakhine to end the Rohingya crisis, with a countrywide focus on freedom of expression and preventing sexual violence in conflict. The Rohingya minority continued to fear for their safety, lacking protection against vigilante attacks and theft of property and fled to Bangladesh at an average rate of 1,733 per month, according to theFCO 2018 Annual Human Rights and Democracy Report (AHRR). The UNHCR estimated that the Rohingya population in Bangladesh increased by a further 14,649 during the period between January ...

MNA National Desk: A Biman Bangladesh Airlines pilot has flown a jet to bring back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from Finland but been caught without passport in Qatar. Biman sent the passport of the pilot, Captain Fazal Mahmud, in another flight to Qatar later, Civil Aviation Secretary Mohibul Haque told bdnews24.com on Thursday. “It will be investigated with importance how the pilot got on the plane at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport without passport,” he said. bdnews24.com contacted the secretary after social media users claimed in posts that the pilot was halted at immigration of Doha International Airport for having no passport ...

MNA Sports Desk: New Zealand held their nerve under the floodlights to beat Bangladesh by two wickets at The Oval on Wednesday. Chasing a modest target of 245, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson shared a third-wicket partnership of 105 to put the Black Caps on course for a comfortable victory, but they lost six more wickets before notching up their second win of the tournament with 17 balls to spare. Set 245 to win, New Zealand was cruising at 218-5 in the 43rd over, but the loss in consecutive overs of allrounders Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Neesham left tailenders Mitchell ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Awami League (AL) on Wednesday called upon all to make united efforts to turn the country into a ‘Sonar Bangla’ under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we will represent a better future before the nation,” AL general secretary Obaidul Quader told a ceremony of exchanging Eid greetings at the party’s central office at Bangabandhu Avenue, BSS reports. Quader, also road transport and bridges minister, said the country is now on the highway of development and the trend would be continued. “We will build a ‘Sonar Bangla’ with ...

MNA National Desk: The holy Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of Muslims, was celebrated across the country on Wednesday amid religious flavor and enthusiasm. Following the end of the holy Ramadan, the month of fasting and abstinence, the very auspicious occasion began with the sighting of the Shawwal moon last night. The celebration of Eid was dampened by incessant rainfall since the morning. On this day, people usually go out in a festive mood but the downpour forced many to stay indoors. Many areas in the capital went under water. In Dhaka alone, 36.6mm rainfall was recorded between 6am and 9am. ...

MNA National Desk:  Holy Eid-ul-Fitr, the largest religious festival of Muslims, will be celebrated in the country on Wednesday as the Shawal moon is sighted in Bangladesh sky on Tuesday. State Minister for Religious Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah disclosed the matter around 11:00pm. Earlier around 9:00pm, the state minister after a meeting with the National Moon Sighting Committee announced that moon was not sighted anywhere in the country, that is why Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Thursday. UNB adds : Meanwhile, thousands of people have already left the capital to celebrate the Eid with their near and dear ones at ...

MNA Culture & Entertainment Desk: Godzilla: King of the Monsters knocked Disney’s Aladdin off the top of the US box office chart at the weekend, taking an estimated $49m (£38.7m). Despite claiming the top spot, analysts described the debut of the monster remake disappointing. Costing $200m (£158m) to make, reviews have been lukewarm for the film, which stars Vera Farmiga and Kyle Chandler. Its total for the three-day weekend was far off its predecessor’s debut of $93m (£73.6m) back in 2014. The film’s plot centres around a group of eco-terrorists who steal a sonar device developed by scientist Emma (Farmiga) to ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Saudi Arabia for Finland, the third and final destination of her tri-nation visit, early Monday. A flight of Lufthansa Air carrying the Prime Minister and her entourage departed from King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah at 1.30am (local time). The flight is scheduled to land at Helsinki International Airport, Finland at 1pm (local time) after nearly a four-hour stopover (5:55am to 9:40am) in Frankfurt International Airport in Germany. During her stay in Finland, Sheikh Hasina will have a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on June 4. The Prime Minister will return ...

MNA International Desk: US President Donald Trump renewed his verbal attacks on London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday, calling him a “stone-cold loser” after the mayor criticized the British government’s decision to offer a state visit to Trump, reports Reuters. “@SadiqKhan, who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly ‘nasty’ to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom,” Trump said on Twitter shortly before Air Force One landed at Stansted Airport near London. “He is a stone cold loser who should focus ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The Japanese version of the historic 7th March speech delivered by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the then Race-Course Ground in 1971 has been published by the Embassy of Bangladesh, Tokyo. The speech was translated into Japanese as the first foreign language after English, reports UNB. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, while visiting Japan on May 29, launched and unwrapped the booklet of Japanese edition of 7th March speech. The booklet will be distributed to the educational institutions and other important institutions in Japan, said the Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo on Monday. Bangabandhu’s ...

MNA Feature Desk: After fasting and performing religious customs for a month, the end of holy Ramadan is going to bring us the most cherished festival of the Muslims –Eid-ul-Fitr. We, the Bangladeshi citizens, along with the Muslim Ummah around the globe will celebrate this festival with our friends and family. Not only the Muslims but also people from all religions celebrate this festival. Millions of people are all set to leave the busy city Dhaka for their roots to enjoy the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr. Not only from Dhaka but also from other districts people will rush to their homes to ...

MNA Sports Desk: Bangladesh got off to a flying start in the ICC Cricket World Cup crushing South Africa by 21 runs in their first match at the Kennington Oval, London on Sunday. Chasing a target of 331 runs, the Proteas were restricted to 309 runs for eight in stipulated 50 overs. Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets conceding 67 runs in 10 overs while Mohammad Saifuddin scalped two for 57 runs in eight overs. Earlier, two brilliant half century by world number one all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and former captain Mushfiqur Rahim helped Bangladesh post their highest-ever ODI total of ...

MNA National Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday sought support from the OIC member states to launch the Rohingya case at International Court of Justice with voluntary funding and technical help to ensure the legal rights of Rohingyas and address the question of accountability and justice. Mentioning that the Abu Dhabi Conference of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held in March last created a pathway to move the International Court of Justice she said, “We thank the Gambia for steering the process this far. We make an appeal to the member states to support 6launching of the case with voluntary funding ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The factories have innocuous names, but analysts say several ostensibly civilian facilities visited by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently are also used to build ballistic missile launchers and other weapons. Today North Korean state news agency KCNA released reports of Kim providing “field guidance” at a number of factories and cities, without saying when the visits happened. The reports only mentioned economic elements, but the sites help form the core of North Korea’s arms industry, and have played a major role in developing its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology, say analysts at the James Martin ...

MNA International Desk: A longtime city employee opened fire at a municipal building in Virginia Beach on Friday, killing 12 people and sending terrified co-workers scrambling for cover before police shot and killed him, authorities said. Four other people were wounded in the shooting, including a police officer whose bulletproof vest saved his life, said Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera. The city’s visibly shaken mayor, Bobby Dyer, called it “the most devastating day in the history of Virginia Beach.” The shooting happened shortly after 4 p.m. when the veteran employee of the Public Utilities Department entered a building in ...

MNA National Desk: Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said Eid journey in roadway is, so far, being comfortable as no report of sufferings was found anywhere in the country. Obaidul Quader, also general secretary of Awami League, said, “So far, there is no sufferings in roadway anywhere in the country. We hope the comfortable journey will continue till Eid.” The minister said this while inspecting Mohakhali Inter-district Bus Terminal in capital Dhaka. Mentioning that there is no allegation of extortion in roads, Quader said stern action would be taken against those who are found involved in ...