Author: Asian Bangla

Asianbangla Desk : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government is working on strengthening democracy in the country and accelerating the country’s development. Unb, Dhaka. She made the comment when visiting Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland met her at the Prime Minister’s Office. PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting. The country’s GDP growth is now 7.78 percent, while the inflation rate is 5.5 percent, she said, adding that her government is working for women empowerment at the grassroots level and now a good number of women is participating in the socioeconomic development. “We’re encouraging young entrepreneurs…

Asianbangla Desk : Thousands of firefighters, backed by US troops and crews from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, were on Wednesday making progress battling the biggest wildfire on record in California — but the weather forecast for the rest of the week is not promising, officials said. Nearly 20 major fires have ravaged the sprawling western state over the past two weeks, fanned by strong winds and sweltering temperatures. The wildfires have left at least nine people dead, including four firefighters, and forced tens of thousands of residents to abandon their homes. “It’s scary, it’s nerve-wracking,” said…

Asianbangla Desk : A group of Egyptian students has designed a vehicle they say will battle rising energy prices and promote clean energy by running on nothing but air. The undergraduate students, who built the vehicle as part of their graduation project from Helwan University just outside Cairo, are rolling out a prototype one-person vehicle that runs on compressed oxygen. The go-kart-like vehicle comes as Egypt pushes ahead with painful economic reforms that include deep cuts to energy subsidies, measures tied to a three-year $12 billion IMF loan program it began in late 2016. The students say their vehicle can hit…

Asianbangla Desk : A strike on a bus in rebel-held northern Yemen killed at least 29 children yesterday, the Red Cross said, as the Saudi-led coalition faced a growing outcry over the attack. The coalition said it had carried out what it called “legitimate military action” in the area targeting Huthi rebels responsible for a deadly missile attack on the Saudi city of Jizan on Wednesday. But the International Committee of the Red Cross said the strike hit a bus filled with children in the Huthi stronghold of Saada, causing dozens of casualties. “A hospital supported by our team in…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : In the wake of the student agitation for safe roads, some efforts have been made to correct the ills in the otherwise disorderly public transport system though the situation remains mostly as usual in the capital. Yesterday, a number of public buses continued to ply the city streets without legal documents, and pick and drop off passengers on roads randomly. People were still risking their lives to cross busy thoroughfares. Bikers rode motorbikes on footpaths to avoid traffic jam — all too common pictures on the city streets. However, some different scenes were also there. In many parts…

Asianbangla Desk : People who have their tongues split deliberately are putting their health at serious risk, surgeons have warned. The procedure involves cutting the tongue in half to create a lizard-like forked effect. But experts said it came with the risk of significant blood loss, infection, nerve damage and problems with breathing and swallowing. They also warned that tongue and lip piercings carry serious dangers, such as tooth fractures and gum damage. Tongue splitting is popular among body modification enthusiasts – people who make deliberate changes to their anatomy or appearance, often with the use of plastic surgery. In March,…

Asianbangla Desk : A North Carolina man who declared support for Islamic State online will spend two years in prison and be deported. unb A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Houcine Ghoul to 24 months in prison for immigration fraud and false statements on his tax returns. After his sentence, the Tunisian national will be deported. Ghoul entered the country on a visa in 2001 and married a U.S. citizen to obtain permanent legal resident status. He later was divorced. Prosecutors said Ghoul first attracted attention from federal authorities in 2014 after posting a photo online expressing support for the…

Asianbagla Desk : Three boys from a soccer team who were rescued from a flooded cave in northern Thailand last month were granted Thai citizenship on Wednesday, authorities said. Their 25-year-old coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, also gained citizenship. Ekapol and 12 boys had gone to explore the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai province on June 23, when a rainy-season downpour flooded the cave system and trapped them underground. They survived for nine days on water dripping from rocks before they were discovered. An international effort to rescue them ended on July 10 when they all were brought out safely. Three of…

Asianbangla Desk : Nine confirmed Ebola victims have died since the virus resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo this month, the country’s health ministry said Tuesday. The previous official toll was seven dead, with the two latest victims — like all the others — registered in the Beni region in North Kivu province, an eastern region with deep security problems which shares borders with Uganda and Rwanda. The health ministry on August 1 announced that the country was facing its 10th outbreak of Ebola since 1976.

Asianbangla Desk : The death toll from a shallow 6.9-magnitude earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok has risen above 130, officials said yesterday, with some 156,000 forced from their homes. AFP The shallow 6.9-magnitude quake triggered panic among locals and tourists on Lombok on Sunday, just a week after another tremor surged through the holiday island and killed 17. Around 1,477 people have been severely injured in the latest quake, with tens of thousands of homes damaged, and authorities have appealed for more medical personnel and basic supplies. Workers with heavy machinery resumed searching through the rubble of homes,…