NsNewsWire | Bangladesh's First Press News Agency

Bharti Airtel acquiring Congo operations from Warid

Bharti Airtel has confirmed that it has reached an agreement with the Warid Group to acquire Warid Congo SA. The deal will bolster Airtel’s position in Africa by making it the largest operator in Congo Brazzaville, with roughly 2.6 million subscribers. Currently, Airtel is the second largest operator in the country with 1.6 million customers; […]

CPC Central Committee unveils key reform agenda

BEIJING, Nov. 13 (Xinhuanet) — China’s top decision makers have unveiled reform guidelines for the next decade. Four days of discussion by the Party’s 204-member Central Committee has yielded a statement. It sets the tone for how the world’s second largest economy will deepen reforms in the new stage, after the transformation began more than […]

China elected to UN Human Rights Council

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) — China on Tuesday was elected to the UN Human Rights Council for a three-year term. China was one of the 14 elected members to the 47-member UN human rights body at the 68th session of the UN General Assembly ( UNGA). It got 176 favorable votes from the 192 […]

Commentary: China on new starting point of reform after key meeting

The just finished key meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) ended with an array of new reform ideas, which puts the country at a new starting point of development for the next few years. According to a communique issued after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, which took place […]

Saudi Arabia officially rejects 2-year term on UN Security Council

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) — Saudi Arabia, in an unprecedented moved, formally rejected on Tuesday its two-year term on the UN Security Council, clearing the way for Jordan to take the seat as a replacement. The Middle East power had previously decried the 15-member council’s ineffectiveness in dealing with world affairs, notably the Syrian crisis and Israeli-Palestinian […]

Death toll in Philippines from typhoon Haiyan climbs to 1,833

MANILA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) — Death toll in the Philippines from typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) jumped to 1,833 with initial cost of damage increasing to 761.4 million pesos (17.4 million U.S. dollars), a senior government official said on Wednesday morning. The additional fatalities coming from Western Visayas reached 103, while the number of those […]

Hundreds of Bangladesh factories closed after labor unrest over wage hike

By Sheuli Akter DHAKA, Nov. 13 (NsNewsWire) — All the garment factories at a mega industrial belt Ashulia on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka remained closed Wednesday following workers’ unrest over wage hike.. Citing security concerns, the apex body of Bangladesh’s woven garment manufacturers Tuesday night decided to shut down all the Ashulia garment factories. […]

Mauritian PM to join SL C’wealth summit boycott

Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam has become the third leader to announce a boycott of this week’s Commonwealth summit in Colombo over Sri Lanka’s human rights record. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper are also staying away. Sri Lanka is accused of committing widespread abuses in the final months of […]

Bangladesh: Third gender hijra to be recognised in official documents

In a landmark decision, the government in Bangladesh has approved a proposal of the social welfare ministry to identify “Hijra” as a third possible gender identity. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the decision at a cabinet meeting on Monday. Hijra, often subsumed under the trans umbrella in the West, is a South Asian feminine gender identity. […]