Author: Asian Bangla

Asianbangla Desk :Twin Northern California blazes fueled by dry vegetation and hot, windy weather grew Monday to become the largest wildfire in state history, becoming the norm as climate change makes the fire season longer and more severe. The two fires burning a few miles apart and known as the Mendocino Complex are being treated as one incident. It has scorched 283,800 acres (443.4 square miles or 1,148.4 square kilometers), fire officials said Monday. The fires, north of San Francisco, have burned 75 homes and is only 30 percent contained. The size of the fires surpasses a blaze last December…

Asianbangla Desk : Iran said yesterday the United States was “isolated” in its hostility to the Islamic republic, as it braced for the return of sanctions against a backdrop of political turmoil inside the country. “Of course, American bullying and political pressures may cause some disruption, but the fact is that in the current world, America is isolated,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. Washington is set to reimpose sanctions on Iran today following President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal in May — a move opposed by all…

Asianbangla Desk : The earthquake that rattled Indonesia on Sunday is one of many deadly quakes to strike the vast archipelago nation since 2004. Here is a recap. Indonesian rescue personnel work on a collapsed mosque in North Lombok yesterday, the day after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the area. Photo: AFP Source: AFP – 2004 – On December 26 a massive earthquake measuring 9.1 on the open-ended Richter scale strikes off the coast of Sumatra and triggers a tsunami that kills 220,000 throughout the region, 168,000 in Indonesia alone. It is the world’s third biggest quake since 1900, and…

Asianbangla, Dinajpur: The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) seized necessary documents of the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) yesterday. During a visit to the site, a two-member team, which arrived here on Sunday afternoon, seized the documents. Kazi Shafiqul Alam, a director of ACC and supervisor of another three-member probe body investigating the coal scam, led the team. Shamsul Alam, deputy director, was the other visiting member. They talked with all the officials of different tiers of BCMCL who have been working at the mine, Kazi Shafiqul Alam told reporters at the mine site. They also visited the 17-acre coal yard,…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : It is heartening to see police checking documents of vehicles on the streets as part of their announced Traffic Week that began across the country on Sunday.” It is inspiring that they are doing the job with sincerity. And it is more so because of the slogan that the police have used this time: “Traffic discipline is a symbol of a civilised nation [ ট্রাফিক শৃঙ্খলা একটি জাতির সভ্যতার প্রতীক]”. All these are what the country needs today to check thousands of unnecessary and avoidable deaths on roads and numerous mutilations and injuries. But may we ask a…

Asianbangla, Dhaka: An armoured personnel carrier slowly rolled down the street. Behind it came about a hundred policemen — some wielding sticks and many shotguns and teargas guns. Moments later all hell broke loose with shell after shell fired at the other end of the road where hundreds of students carrying sticks and brick chips were chanting slogans. Thick smoke engulfed the area, leaving people with burning eyes and choking while the students were running into alleys only to regroup again. Tyres were burning right in the middle of the streets. A black microbus came out of the North South…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday told her cabinet colleagues that false information on Facebook is misleading many people over the student agitation for road safety. Facebook has become a problem as many are spreading rumours and propaganda through it, cabinet sources quoted the PM as saying. According to the sources, the cabinet members also talked about the Road Transport Act, 2018, before it was approved. The draft law was not included in yesterday’s agenda. Nazrul Islam, secretary of the ministry of road, transport and bridges, placed it before the meeting following the student demonstration, the sources said. Road,…

Asianbangla, Dhaka : The European Union has expressed concern over protest and violent clashes in Dhaka that triggered since deaths of two college students in road crashes. In a statement released today, the European Union heads of mission to Bangladesh called for remaining calm and have respect towards the right to peaceful protest. “We expect all sides to remain calm and to respect the right to peaceful protest. Incidents of unlawful or disproportionate violence or action against protestors, journalists or others need to stop; those that happened must be investigated and perpetrators held to account,” said the statement of nine envoys…

Asianbangla Desk : Two car bombs hit Somalia on Sunday, killing six people. Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels claimed responsibility for the first suicide car bomb blast that that killed four people when it exploded near the gate of a military base in Afgoye town, 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of Mogadishu. Al-Shabab has claimed the responsibility for the attack, according to the group’s radio arm, Andalus. Two of the dead were soldiers and fatalities could increase from the 10 injured in the blast which was close to the former national water agency’s offices, said Somali police officer Col. Ahmed Ali.…

Asianbangla Desk : Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran will be rigorously enforced and remain in place until the Iranian government radically changes course. Speaking to reporters aboard his plane on his way home from a three-nation trip to Southeast Asia, Pompeo said Monday’s re-imposition of sanctions is an important pillar in U.S. policy toward Iran. He said the Trump administration is open to looking beyond sanctions but that would “require enormous change” from Tehran. “We’re hopeful that we can find a way to move forward but it’s going to require enormous change on the…