Arabian food festival on at the Westin

 Food lovers are in for a treat as they will get to taste the popular middle-eastern rice dish Kabasa Photo- Dhaka Tribune Man’s love for exquisite food can be observed in all cultures, especially in the Arabian regions, where luxury and indulgence in all that is good, is the norm in every aspect of life. Arabia’s cultural heredity lie deep in antiquity. Although isolated from the centers of ancient civilizations, its people had...

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Parthenium: A new threat to food security

   The plant protection wing of the government is deeply concerned about rapid spread of highly invasive parthenium in north-western and south-western regions as this new alien weed will be the cause of 40% loss of agricultural produce. Rice, wheat, maize, potato, tomato, groundnut, pea, sugarcane, cotton and other crops are the major victims of Parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorous) detected in the bordering areas of the greater...

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Argentine journalist dies in Brazil

Jorge Lopez, an Argentine journalist and a friend of Lionel Messi, was killed in a fatal road accident in Sao Paulo on Wednesday. Also known as “Topo”, Lopez was working for La Red Radio at the World Cup in Brazil and died after the taxi he was travelling in was hit by a stolen vehicle that was being pursued by the Military Police.The 38-year old reporter was heading back to his hotel around 1:30am when the taxi was struck by a fleeing vehicle at Tiradentes and Barao de Mauá crossing in Sao Paulo. Lopez, who was sitting at the back seat, flew...

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6 killed in US home shooting

A gunman has shot six people to death, four of them children, in a Houston suburb in Texas of US on Wednesday. Harris County Constable Ron Hickman told reporters after the suspect’s arrest, reports Reuters. The victims ranged from 4 to 40 years of age, and preliminary information indicated two of the dead were children adopted by the gunman and his estranged wife. Hickman added that the violence stemmed from "obviously a domestic situation that went south, probably a divorce or separation." A 15-year-old girl who also was shot but survived...

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Nepali girl commits suicide after Brazil's defeat

A die-hard 15-year-old fan of Brazil in Nepal has committed suicide after the humiliating defeat of the south Amarican football team at the hands of Germany in the World Cup semifinal. Quoting Sharad Thapa, a Nepal police inspector, India Today reports: “Pragya Thapa, 15, from Sunsari district in east Nepal, hanged herself on Wednesday morning after some of her friends teased her that her team had suffered a humiliating loss to Germany.” Pragya, a 10th grader in a local school, hung herself when her mother and sister also joined her friends...

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Actress Emma Watson named UN Goodwill

British Actress Emma Watson, best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movie series, has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. (AlsoThe UN Women is dedicated to issues of gender equality and empowerment of women.Emma, a humanitarian and recent graduate of the Ivy League Brown University, will dedicate her efforts as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador towards the empowerment of young women and will serve as an advocate...

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Harry Potter returns in new JK Rowling short story

Harry Potter has returned, in a short story posted online by J.K. Rowling that features her best-selling hero at a school reunion, approaching the age of 34 and showing a few grey hairs.Written as an article in the fictional Daily Prophet newspaper under the headline “Dumbledore’s Army Reunites at Quidditch World Cup Final”, the 1,500-word story also features the two other main characters in the Harry Potter trio, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley...

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In Bolivia, silver mountain at risk of collapse

POTOSo, Bolivia – Cerro Rico, the fabled peak towering over the Bolivian city of Potosi that supplied silver to fund Spain’s colonial empire, is at risk of collapse from overmining, putting thousands of workers in jeopardy, reports AP.Potosi, which earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 1987, was seen as the world’s largest industrial complex in the 16th century thanks to its massive deposits of silver and tin.But last month, the UN cultural body placed the colonial city, perched high in the Andes, and the increasingly unstable Cerro Rico on its...

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Syria conflict National Coalition elects new leader

Syria’s main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, has elected a new president, reports AFP.Hadi al-Bahra, the coalition’s chief negotiator at the failed Geneva II peace talks with the Syrian government, was chosen at a meeting in Turkey.He has close ties to Saudi Arabia like Ahmed al-Jarba, whom he replaces.Though it is backed by the US and Gulf Arab states, the National Coalition has little influence over the rebels trying to topple President...

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50 bodies found south of Baghdad

Baghdad – Iraqi officials say 50 bodies have been discovered outside a city south of Baghdad, many of them blindfolded and with their hands bound, reports UNB.Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan Ibrahim says the bodies were discovered Wednesday in an agricultural area outside the city of Hillah.Hillah is a predominantly Shiite city about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad.Ibrahim says an investigation is underway to determine the identities...

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Israel air strikes kill 20 on third day of Gaza campaign

 International Desk: Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed 20 people on Thursday including four women and four children, medics said, on the third day of a widening military operation. The deaths bring to 70 the number of Palestinians killed since Israel on Tuesday launched Operation Protective Edge to halt rocket fire from the besieged territory. Israel’s army said it carried out raids during the night against more than...

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Snowden to extend Russia stay: lawyer

Fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has formally requested to stay in Russia past July 31, when his one-year asylum status expires, his lawyer said yesterday."We have already filed documents to extend his stay in Russia," Anatoly Kucherena told AFP.Snowden has been in Russia since flying in from Hong Kong in June last year after shaking up America's intelligence establishment with a series of leaks on mass surveillance in the United States and around the world.He could not travel on from Sheremetyevo however after his passport was...

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Kiev tightens grip on rebels

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was to face renewed European pressure yesterday to talk to pro-Russian rebels on a truce as Kiev tightened its grip around jittery rebel stronghold Donetsk.French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were expected to push the Western-backed leader on a ceasefire in three-way telephone talks but Kiev has until now shrugged off calls to halt an offensive that has reclaimed a string of key rebel towns.Ukraine's military says it controls all routes in and out of the cities and a spokesman...

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Germany probing new US spy case

German authorities said yesterday they were investigating an alleged foreign spy as reports said the suspect was the second within days believed to be working for US intelligence.The latest case comes hot on the heels of an arrest last week of an unidentified employee of Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND.If confirmed, it would further strain transatlantic relations, which have taken a bruising since last year with the NSA surveillance scandal revealed by Edward Snowden.Die Welt daily said that the suspect was a German army officer....

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Kurdistan HQ of militants

Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki Wednesday accused the country's autonomous Kurdish region of harbouring jihadists, further ratcheting up tension despite calls for Iraq's leaders to unite against a Sunni militant offensive.The crisis triggered by a jihadist-led offensive that started exactly a month ago and soon overran swathes of five provinces north and west of Baghdad, has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and heaped pressure on Maliki as he bids for a third term.The incumbent yesterday appeared to damage his efforts to retain his post...

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Both sides claim victory in tight race

Both sides claimed victory yesterday in Indonesia's tightest and most divisive presidential election since the end of authoritarian rule, as unofficial tallies showed Jakarta governor Joko Widodo leading over ex-general Prabowo Subianto.The standoff in the hotly contested race to lead the world's third-biggest democracy prompted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to call for restraint from both sides until official results are announced in two weeks' time.The popularity of Widodo -- known as "Jokowi" and the first serious presidential contender...

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Love that hurts so much Asylum-seeker mothers 'attempt suicide' to get kids to Australia

A dozen mothers in an asylum-seeker camp have reportedly attempted suicide so their children can be settled in Australia, piling pressure on Prime Minister Tony Abbott who said yesterday he would not be morally blackmailed.The Sydney Morning Herald said the women tried to kill themselves this week after being told they would be taken from a detention centre on Christmas Island to Papua New Guinea or Nauru.Any boatpeople who arrived in Australia...

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New UN envoy to Syria named

Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura, who has served previously in Afghanistan and Iraq, is to become the new UN envoy to Syria, diplomats said Wednesday.He is to replace Lakhdar Brahimi who resigned at the end of May after two rounds of peace talks yielded no concrete results and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was re-elected in June.His nomination was been confirmed to members of the UN Security Council but has not yet been announced officially by the United Nations.One diplomat said de Mistura would represent the United Nations and...

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Modi Tightens grip on BJP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's closest confidant Amit Shah was appointed the new President of ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday.The appointment of 49-year-old Shah, one of the youngest presidents of the party who succeeds Rajnath Singh, gives Modi, who singlehandedly steered BJP to an emphatic victory in parliamentary elections less than two months ago, complete control over both the party and the government.Rajnath Singh, who is currently India's Home Minister, is stepping down as BJP chief as the party's constitution...

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China, US vow to end old rivalries

China and the United States met for high-level talks yesterday, with Chinese President Xi Jinping urging the world's two biggest economies to break old patterns of confrontation.Given their different histories and cultures "it is natural that China and the US may have different views and even frictions on certain issues", Xi told the opening of the two-day annual talks in Beijing."This is what makes communication and cooperation even more necessary," he urged. This year marks 35 years since the establishment of formal US-China ties.The sixth Strategic...

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Romero the shootout hero as Argentina reach Final

                                                           Arena de Sao PauloSao Paulo (BRA)                                                          ...

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Syria conflict National Coalition elects new leader

Syria’s main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, has elected a new president, reports AFP.Hadi al-Bahra, the coalition’s chief negotiator at the failed Geneva II peace talks with the Syrian government, was chosen at a meeting in Turkey.He has close ties to Saudi Arabia like Ahmed al-Jarba, whom he replaces.Though it is backed by the US and Gulf Arab states, the National Coalition has little influence over the rebels trying to topple President...

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Bagerhat rivers run dry: Agriculture, ecology imperiled 11 lose navigability due to silt accumulation

Bagerhat : With drastic fall in the levels of their waters, the rivers and canals flowing through the district are being filled with silt and running dry putting agriculture and ecology here in jeopardy, reports UNB.The rivers and canals are also losing navigability for emergence of char (shoals emerged from their beds) due to accumulation of silt hampering smooth movement of vessels on different routes in dry season.Talking to UNB, M Mainuddin,...

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11 die in Polish plane crash

TBT International Desk: Eleven people were feared dead during a parachute club outing in southern Poland on Saturday. A local resident said the light aircraft was making “strange sounds” before crashing close to houses. The plane, a Piper Navajo, was taking off from an airfield at Rudniki, near the city of Czestochowa, 210 kilometers (130 miles) southwest of Warsaw. Emergency services spokeswoman Justyna Sochacka said 12 people were on board...

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World Bank cancelled Padma Bridge funding at US behest

TBT Live Update: Construction work for the $ 2.97 billion Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project is underway with government funding as five firms have been shortlisted for appointment of Construction Supervision Consultant (CSC) for the main bridge and river training, the Prime Minister told Parliament on Wednesday. “The work on implementation of the Padma Bridge Project with an estimated cost of Tk 20,507.20 crore ($ 2.97 billion) with...

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10 Best Movies of 2014 till June

The movies on most critics’ annual 10 Best lists tend to be released late in the calendar year, when studios release their prestige Oscar bait. The first half of 2014, though, has brought a rich harvest of distinguished, challenging and just plain fun films in the indie, animation, documentary and blockbuster categories. My greedy wish: that the second half is even more bountiful. 1.The Grand Budapest Hotel Gustav H. (Ralph Fiennes) is the...

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