National - NsNewsWire

Reuters Boy Scouts lift blanket ban on gay adult leaders, employees

The Boy Scouts of America lifted its outright ban on openly gay adult leaders and employees on Monday, rolling back a policy that has deeply divided the membership of the 105-year-old Texas-based organization, reports Reuters. The new policy, which takes effect immediately, comes three years after the organization removed its prohibition on gay youth, but […]

Bangladesh discovers only 100 tigers in famed Sundarbans

DHAKA, July 27 (NsNewswire) — Bangladesh has only about 100 tigers living in the world’s largest mangrove forest, far fewer of the endangered animals than previously thought, following a recent survey, a top forestry official said Monday, reports AFP. Some 440 tigers were recorded during the previous census conducted in 2004 in the World Heritage-listed […]

Bangladesh expresses concern about India’s river-linking plan

DHAKA, July 26 (NsNewsWire) — A recent announcement in Delhi to go ahead with a scheme to link 30 rivers across the country, including the Brahmaputra and the Ganga in the Himalayas, set off a new round of grave concerns from its next door neighbor Bangladesh. New Delhi’s renewed thrust on the project has left […]

Bangladesh’s ex-PM Khaleda Zia appears in anti-graft court

DHAKA, July 23 (NsNewsWire) — Bangladeshi ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia appeared on Thursday before a court for hearing in two graft cases. The court has fixed August 3 for the hearing in the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases, reports Xinhua. The proceedings in the graft cases started at the special court […]

China raises representation with Myanmar over sentences on its nationals

BEIJING, July 23 (NsNewsWire) — China is highly concerned with a verdict by Myanmar that has sentenced Chinese nationals to more than 10 years in prison for illegal logging, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday. The loggers were sentenced under a 1963 law calling for jail terms of 10 years to life for anyone […]

India’s river-linking project will affect our rivers, says Bangladesh opposition party

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)on late Wednesday expressed concerns over India’s fresh move to implement the controversial river-linking project and urged the government to take strong action against it. Some Indian newspapers, quoting Indian Water Resources Minister Sanwar Lal Jat, reported on July 13 that India is going to start the river linking project by setting […]

Eid-ul-Fitr celebration in Bangladesh marred by deadly car mishaps

By Naim-Ul-Karim DHAKA, July 23 (Xinhua) — What would have been a happy celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr, the Muslim world’s most joyous event, turned out to be gruesome with scores of Bangladesh citizens killed in car crashes while others were victims of road rage. At least three people, including Doctor Abdul Aziz and his daughter, were […]

CPC to hold key plenum in October, discuss 13th five-year development plan

BEIJING, July 21 (NsNewsWire) — The 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee will hold its fifth plenary session in Beijing in October. The announcement was made after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held Monday. High on the agenda is the discussion of the 13th five-year plan of […]

Suspected asylum seeker boat sighted off West Australia

A small wooden boat suspected to be carrying asylum seekers has been sighted off the north-west coast of Australia, reports BBC. Crew working for oil and gas producer Modec spotted the boat within 500m of their floating oil tanker, about 150km (93 miles) from the Dampier coast. A Modec spokesman said “a large number of […]