Violence in Syria as Arab League warns of disaster

BEIRUT: Violence has erupted in the restive Syrian city of Homs, killing at least five people as tank shells slammed into an area that has turned into one of the main centers of both protest and reprisal during the seven-month uprising, activists said.

Bloodshed linked to the military crackdown on dissent and what appear to be sectarian revenge killings has engulfed Homs in recent weeks, killing scores of people in the country's third-largest city. The new violence on Saturday is adding to fears that a peace plan brokered by the Arab League was unraveling only days after Damascus agreed to halt its crackdown.

The head of the Arab League warned Saturday that the failure of the plan would have disastrous consequences.

The 22-nation bloc's secretary-general, Nabil Elaraby, expressed "deep worries and regret for the continuation of violence all around Syria" despite the deal announced Wednesday at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo.

The deal called for the Syria to halt violence against protesters, but skeptical regime opponents who held large protests Friday to test the government's word were met with gunfire that killed more than 15 people, activists said.

"The failure of the Arab solution will have disastrous consequences in Syria and the region," Elaraby said. He urged the Syrian government to take "immediate measures ... to protect civilians and assure everyone."

On Saturday, activists reported more violence, including tank shelling, in Homs. At least five people were killed, according to two main activist groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordinating Committees.

Under the Arab plan, Syria's government also agreed to pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, release political prisoners and allow journalists and rights groups into the country.

On Saturday, President Bashar Assad marked Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, by releasing 553 detainees, according to SANA, the state-run news agency. The detainees were involved in the unrest in the country, but had "no blood on their hands," SANA said.

Assad traditionally releases detainees to mark religious or national holidays, but many more are believed to remain in jail as political prisoners.

The continuous shelling three days after the Arab League deal was reached suggests Damascus is unwilling — or unable — to put a swift end to a crackdown that has already killed 3,000 people, according to U.N. estimates.

The crisis in Syria has burned since mid-March despite widespread condemnation and international sanctions aimed at chipping away at the ailing economy and isolating Assad and his tight circle of relatives and advisers. The protesters have grown increasingly frustrated with the limits of their peaceful movement, and there are signs of a growing armed rebellion in some areas.

Some protesters are even calling for the kind of foreign military action that helped topple Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Syria blames the bloodshed on "armed gangs" and extremists acting out a foreign agenda to destabilize the regime. Assad has played on some of the country's worst fears to rally support behind him, painting himself as the lone force who can ward off the kind of radicalism and sectarianism that have bedeviled neighbors in Iraq and Lebanon.

Tremors from the unrest in Syria could shake the region. Damascus' web of allegiances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy. And although Syria sees Israel as the enemy, the countries have held up a fragile truce for years.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Greece PM wins confidence vote

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Author / Source : Independent online/bbc

Athens: Greece Prime Minister George Papandreou has won a crucial confidence vote on Friday after promising to hold power-sharing talks.

In an address to parliament before the vote he ruled out snap elections, saying they would be "catastrophic".

He said he did not care about his post and the leadership of any government of national unity would be negotiable.

Papandreou previously shocked EU partners and sent markets into turmoil after calling for a referendum on an EU deal to bail out debt-ridden Greece.

Papandreou said the bail-out deal currently on offer by the EU had to be accepted, and it would be "historically irresponsible" to lose it.

He said immediate elections would be "catastrophic" for the deal, so proposed a new coalition to take charge until it had been agreed.

"I have been in contact with the president and I will visit him tomorrow (Saturday) to inform him of my intentions and that I am moving forward with all the parties for a broader coalition government, and to agree on common goals, a timeframe and people, to agree on its composition and even the head of this coalition," he said.

"I therefore ask for a vote of confidence in order to ensure the security of this nation."

The vote took place after several hours' debate. Papandreou addressed parliament for more than half an hour.

Thousands of protesters have gathered in Athens' Syntagma Square. Security has been tightened around the nearby parliament building.

Eurozone leaders fear that failure to solve the Greek debt crisis could risk it spreading to other vulnerable economies, particularly Italy.

The figures in the Greek parliament revealed Papandreou's vulnerability. His governing Socialist party (Pasok) held a tiny majority - 152 out of 300 seats. In the end 153 MPs voted for the government.

The vote was timed to take place when the markets in Europe and the US are closed, such is the sensitivity of the issue.

Although Papandreou survived the confidence vote, the political situation in Greece still seemed far from certain.

Leader of the main opposition New Democracy party Antonis Samaras rejected the prime minister's idea of a coalition government and repeated his demands for immediate elections.

"Papandreou rejected our proposal. The only solution is elections," a party spokesman quoted Samaras as saying.

On Thursday Samaras led his MPs in a dramatic walkout of parliament.

The proposed referendum had caused serious divisions in Pasok, with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos insisting it should not be held.

He told European partners on Friday that Greece had officially scrapped the referendum.

Venizelos said he had informed EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and eurozone chairman Jean-Claude Juncker of the decision.

Papandreou had earlier said the referendum was never an end in itself, and there were two other choices - an election, which he said would bankrupt the country, or a consensus in parliament.

Earlier on Friday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the BBC he expected a government of national unity to be formed in Greece and that the economic problems "will be solved".

In another development on Friday, international ratings agency Moody's cut Cyprus's credit grade by two notches - to the brink of junk status - over its banking sector's exposure to Greek bonds.

The Greek crisis overshadowed the G20 summit in Cannes which ended on Friday.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy said leaders had agreed to increase the firepower of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but gave no specifics on the funding.

Papandreou had been summoned for urgent talks at the G20 on Wednesday, where he was told that any referendum would turn on the question of whether Greece wanted to stay in the eurozone.

The next tranche of Greece's existing bailout was also put on hold.

Without the bailout funds, Greece may go bankrupt before the end of the year.

The EU bailout deal, agreed last month, would give the heavily indebted Greek government 130 billion euros and it imposes a 50 percent write-off on private holders of Greek debts, in return for deeply unpopular austerity measures.

Although the Greek public has strongly resisted the austerity measures, a recent opinion poll in a newspaper showed 70 percent wanted to remain within the eurozone.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Yesterday’s greenery gone today

Dhaka, Nov 1: It was a picture-postcard park in the midst of a concrete jungle. Not anymore. The lone park at Tantibazar on English Road seems to have lost much of its greenery, with a perfunctory beautification in the east, a 10 feet high dumping zone in the middle and an unofficial stand for trucks in the west. “Is it a park? I thought it to be another plot of land to aggravate traffic snarls in the capital," wondered Nahid, a first-year student of Jagannath University (JU), albeit everyday he takes a shortcut through the park to reach his university.
“It once was a pretty little spot amid the concrete walls. There were some rides for children in it," mused Ajaml Hossain, an old resident of the area.
Ajaml told The Independent that the park was surrounded by long trees. “On weekends, food-sellers used to flock here, as people visited the park with their children," he added.
Although he could not remember when the children's rides were uprooted from the park, Ajaml said the number of children visiting the place got less and less as construction of some large buildings started on the southern side.
Large trucks carrying bricks used to be parked at the spot and it had become an open-air garage for trucks and pushcarts, he mentioned. “Later, it was turned into a convenient place for dumping construction wastes," he said.
Refatullah, a shop-owner at the south side of the park, alleged that the park becomes a junk-hub at night. “We close our shops at around 9 p.m., and by then some groups, consisting of young people, gather here and the place becomes a drug den. It has become a safe haven for addicts," he added.
This correspondent found bottles of Phensidyl at the dumping ground for construction wastes.
A temporary tea-stall owner at the park, preferring anonymity, admitted that the place has gone to the junkies. “Who cares? Police are paid by drug-traders to look the other way," he rued.
When this correspondent told Ataur, a traffic sergeant on duty by the park's side, about the bottles of phensidyl, he smiled knowingly and simply said: “This happens”.
"The Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has chosen this site as a dumping ground for construction wastes. It has only worsened the situation," said Sharif Jamil, member secretary of the Parks and Grounds Committee of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA).
The green activist said the Tantibazar park had been constructed during the British rule and then it was much larger than its present size. “During the East Pakistan period, the park had lost some of its land, but it was still a beautiful place to pass a lazy afternoon," he remarked.

During HM Ershad's regime, some children’s rides were set up at the park and it became a children's playground. About this time, it was also brought under the jurisdiction of the DCC. “Rather than looking after the spot of green, from 2008, the corporation itself started to dump construction wastes in the middle of the park,” Jamil rued.
Munshi Mohammad Abdul Hashem, executive engineer of circle-2 of the DCC, told The Independent that the civic body dumps rubbish in the centre of the park. The DCC started dumping wastes here to stop truck drivers from parking their vehicles, he said.
In 2007, the DCC assigned Heritage, a private company, with the task of beautifying the park. When contacted, Heritage officials said they had beautified the east side of the park. They also said that the DCC had stopped providing financial assistance to the company, and added that they were threatened by some local goons to stop the beautification.
They, however, said that the firm is eager to re-start beautification. “But we need financial and administrative support from the DCC. Otherwise, it will not be possible,” they added.
The chief waste management officer of the DCC, Capt. Bipan Kumar Saha, said the civic body will soon clean up the mess. “Unfortunately, if we clean the dumping ground, it’ll again become a temporary stand for trucks,” he added.
He observed that the west side of the park has already been in use as a truck stand.
“Our estate and engineering sections should work together to clean the park. This will prevent truck drivers from encroaching the place,” he said.
“We’ll soon launch a programme to give back the children’s park its old look ,” said the DCC’s chief estate officer, Golam Rahman Mia.
“Prime minister Sheikh Hasina gave directives to protect children’s playgrounds. We’ll take the initiative to protect the DCC-listed 47 parks in Dhaka city”, he added.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Asian markets down on Greek referendum fears

 Asian markets fell Wednesday, taking a lead from Wall Street amid fears that a Greek referendum on its latest bailout deal could derail Europe's grand plan to fix its crushing debt crisis.

Tokyo was down 1.73 percent, Sydney lost 0.74 percent, Seoul shed 1.26 percent while Hong Kong was off 0.92 by lunch and Shanghai lost 1.00 percent.

The Greek prime minister's call for a referendum and the possibility that the country's voters would reject the EU bailout plan sent US and European shares sharply downward Tuesday, while also taking a toll on oil prices.

Bond markets were affected by fears that Italy could be the next eurozone nation to face a debt crisis, with the yield on the country's 10-year bonds hitting 6.2 percent, close to the record reached in August.

In Asian trade Wednesday, Italy's benchmark 10-year bonds were yielding 6.08 percent.

Embattled Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won the unanimous backing of his cabinet for a referendum on the sweeping bailout plan agreed just last Thursday, the government's spokesman said early Wednesday.

His surprise call for a vote raised the possibility that the deal would unravel, leaving Greece on the path to a default.

"Greece's referendum and various doubts about the agreement itself mean that the situation has gone back to square one," said Mitul Kotecha, strategist at Credit Agricole.

"Markets are seriously pondering a disorderly default in Greece."

Japan's finance minister said Wednesday that the referendum move had "confused people", ahead of a Group of 20 meeting in France Thursday where the issue was expected to top the agenda.

"Greece's abrupt announcement on holding a referendum, which was not included in (the earlier agreed deal), has confused people," Jun Azumi told reporters.

Taiwan's central bank governor Perng Fai-nan was more blunt, saying the move was "like throwing a bomb to financial markets," Dow Jones Newswires reported.

A Greek vote against the plan would scupper the EU deal, which is designed to cut Athens' debt load of more than 350 billion euros ($495 billion) by around 100 billion euros.

Last week's plan also agreed to recapitalise banks to withstand the impact of a 50 percent loss on their Greek bonds, as well as boost the European Financial Stability Facility rescue fund.

Wall Street plunged on Tuesday, with bank shares pulling down the broad-based S&P 500-stock index by 2.8 percent.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.5 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 2.9 percent.

The declines came even as US auto sales, a key economic driver, continued to grow in October, with Chrysler enjoying a 27 percent increase, while traders awaited a US Federal Reserve rate-setting meeting Wednesday and any sign of fresh stimulus measures for the US economy.

Investors were also jittery after Beijing said Tuesday that China's official purchasing managers' index dropped to 50.4 in October from 51.2 in September, suggesting the global economy's main growth driver was losing steam.

Anything above 50 is seen as growth while a reading below indicates contraction.

On currency markets, the euro fetched $1.3716 and 107.18 yen in Tokyo trade compared with $1.3697 and 107.29 yen late Tuesday in New York.

The single currency tumbled as low as $1.3609 in New York, its lowest level since October 12 and well below the $1.42 level it reached last week after the eurozone plan was announced.

The dollar edged down to 78.14 yen from 78.34 yen, off rates above 79.00 yen in Tokyo on Monday after Japan's first yen-selling intervention since August.

The Australian dollar was also lower, trading at 103.52 US cents from 104.36 late Tuesday.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, was down 72 cents to $91.47 in morning Asian trade.

Brent North Sea crude for December settlement tumbled 54 cents to $109.00.

At 0430 GMT gold, considered a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty, was higher at $1,723.01 an ounce against $1,718.65 late Monday.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Narsingdi Mayor gunned down

PERTH: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (2nd L) is joined by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (2nd R) and Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (R) for the official female heads of state photo at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth on Friday. AFP See details

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Greek cabinet backs George Papandreou's referendum plan

Greece's cabinet has given unanimous backing to a controversial plan by PM George Papandreou to hold a referendum on a EU debt rescue package.

He told an emergency cabinet meeting that a referendum would offer "a clear mandate" for austerity measures demanded by other eurozone members.

Stock markets recorded big drops amid shocked reactions in eurozone capitals to the referendum announcement.

Mr Papandreou is due to meet European leaders in France on Wednesday.

In a cabinet meeting lasting late into Tuesday night, Mr Papandreou told ministers the government needed the consent of the Greek people.

In a statement released by his office, he said: "The referendum will be a clear mandate and a clear message in and outside Greece on our European course and participation in the euro."

Mr Papandreou also said a possible alternative of snap elections would risk Greece defaulting on its debt.

The Greek government faces a crucial confidence vote in parliament on Friday.

Following the seven-hour meeting, government spokesman Elias Mossialos said: "The cabinet expressed its support."

"The referendum will take place as soon as possible, right after the basics of the bailout deal are formulated," he added.

Monday's referendum announcement led to sharp falls on world markets on Tuesday. Asian markets also continued their slide on Wednesday.

The planned referendum threatened to unravel a deal reached at a EU summit last week aimed at resolving the euro debt crisis.

Leaders agreed on a 100bn-euro loan (£86bn; $140bn) to Athens and a 50% debt write-off.

But in return, Greece must make deep cuts in public spending, slashing pensions and wages and making thousands of civil servants redundant.

There have widespread protests in Greece against the measures.

Bailout stands

On Tuesday President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said Mr Papandreou's decision "surprised all of Europe".

The French and German governments said they wanted "full implementation" of the agreement "in the quickest time frame".

Mr Papandreou is to hold hastily arranged talks on Wednesday with Mr Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the sidelines of a G20 summit in France.

In a joint statement, President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel said the decisions taken by last week's EU summit were "more necessary than ever".

"France and Germany are convinced that this agreement will allow Greece to return to sustainable growth," they said.

Last week's marathon EU summit was intended to rescue Greece and bringing the 17-nation eurozone back from the brink of disaster.

Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said if a referendum rejected the bailout, it could mean bankruptcy for Greece.

"It will depend on the manner in which the question will be exactly formulated and on what the Greeks exactly vote on," he said.

Confidence vote

Some Greek government ministers had been unaware of the referendum plan until it was announced.

The announcement even took Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos by surprise, Greek media reported.

One MP from the governing Pasok party has resigned, cutting Mr Papandreou's parliament majority to two ahead of Friday's confidence vote.

Six other leading party members have called on him to resign.

The Greek opposition has called for early elections, saying the referendum jeopardises Greece's EU membership.

Antonis Samaras, leader of the main opposition New Democrats, said: "In order to save himself, Mr Papandreou has posed a dilemma of blackmail that puts our future and our position in Europe in danger."

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Bangladesh before batting collapse

Author / source: Independent online report

Dhaka: Bangladesh lost the first five wickets for only 73 runs in the first innings of the second and final test against West Indies in the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur are completed on Sunday.

Fidel Edwards grabbed five wickets of the Tamim, Shahriar, Raqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan.

Previously, all were from the West Indies for 355 in the first innings. Again, their second day play the visiting team at 253 / 5.

On Saturday won the draw to West Indies and chosen, first beat.

Bangladesh squad: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain), Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain and Suhrawadi Shuvo.

West Indies Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh, 8 Darren Sammy (Captain), Fidel Edwards, Devendra Bishoo and Kemar Roach.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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WB to provide $29m for poor and vulnerable women

Dhaka: The World Bank (WB) on Friday approved $29 million concessional IDA credit to Bangladesh to support the employment of poor and vulnerable women, coming from monga-prone areas, in the garment sector located in Export Processing Zones (EPZs).

The Northern Areas Reduction of Poverty Initiative (NARI) project will facilitate their employment by providing life-skills training, transitional housing, counseling and job placement services in the garment sector in three EPZs, WB said.

The beneficiaries of the project will include about 10,800 women from five Northern districts, namely Gailbandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, and Rangpur, areas that suffer from seasonal deprivation and famine-like conditions, a phenomenon known as monga, the bank statement added.

Migration of poor women from the impoverished monga-prone northwestern districts to formal employment in the garment sector is substantially lower than that of poor women from other parts of the country, WB Country Director Ellen Goldstein said.

The project aims to link the growth poles of Bangladesh’s rapidly expanding garment sector to one of the poorest and vulnerable groups in the country.

It will undertake awareness raising activities in the five pilot districts, where a screening and orientation program will be used to select appropriate candidates. The selected candidates will be helped to find employment in the Dhaka, Karnaphuli, and Ishwardi EPZs where dormitories and training centers will be constructed.

The credit from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessionary arm, has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period; it carries a service charge of 0.75 percent.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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ICC warns Saif al-Islam Gaddafi against fleeing

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Author / Source : Independent Online/reuters

THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court said on Saturday Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was in contact through intermediaries about surrendering for trial, but it also had information mercenaries were trying to spirit him to a friendly African nation.

The ICC has warned the 39-year-old, apparently anxious not to be captured by Libyan interim government forces in whose hands his father Muammar Gaddafi was killed last week, that it could order a mid-air interception if he tried to flee by plane from his Sahara desert hideout for a safe haven.

The ICC's comments offered some corroboration of reports from Tripoli's new National Transitional Council (NTC) leaders and African neighbours that he has taken refuge with Tuareg nomads in the borderlands between Libya and Niger.

"There are some people connected with him that are in touch with people connected with us ... it's through intermediaries," ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Beijing.

"We have some information that there is a mercenary group trying to help him to move to a different country, so we are trying to prevent this activity," said Moreno-Ocampo.

"We are also working with some states to see if we can disrupt this attempt. Some of them are South Africans allegedly."

Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC was not making any deal with Saif al-Islam but was explaining through the contacts that he had to face trial because he had been indicted for war crimes. "He says he is innocent," said the prosecutor.

NTC officials told Reuters earlier this week that monitoring of satellite calls and other intelligence indicated Saif al-Islam was considering turning himself in to the ICC, and trying to arrange an aircraft to get him there and out of reach of NTC fighters.

DESERT FRIENDS

However, surrender is only one option. The Gaddafis made friends with desert tribes in Niger, Mali and other poor former French colonies in West Africa, as well as farther afield in countries like Zimbabwe and Sudan, some of them also recipients of largesse during the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi, a self-styled African "king of kings."

France, a key backer of February's revolt, reminded Africans of obligations to hand over the surviving ICC indictees - former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi and Saif al-Islam.

"We don't care whether he goes on foot, by plane, by boat, by car or on a camel, the only thing that matters is that he belongs in the ICC," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.

Niger, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso, a swathe of arid states to the south of Libya, are all signatories to the treaty that set up the ICC, established to give a permanent international tribunal for crimes against humanity after ad hoc bodies set up for Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone.

"If we reach agreement, logistical measures for his transfer will be taken," ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said. "There are different scenarios, depending on what country he is in."

Without its own police force, the ICC depends on cooperation from member states, which do not include world powers the United States, Russia and China.

Algeria, which took in Saif al-Islam's mother, sister, brother Hannibal and half-brother Mohammed, is not a signatory. Nor are Sudan or Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe.

AFRICAN MERCENARIES

As well as enjoying protection from Tuareg allies who traditionally provided close security for the Gaddafis, Saif al-Islam may still be in the company of mercenaries from elsewhere in Africa, including possibly South Africa, NTC officials say.

A South African newspaper, in an unconfirmed report, said South African mercenaries were working to fly him out.

A bodyguard who saw Saif al-Islam as he fled last week from one of the Gaddafi clan's last bastions near the capital told Reuters that he seemed "nervous" and "confused." He escaped even though his motorcade was hit by a NATO air strike as it left Bani Walid on October 19, the day before his father died in Sirte.

Three of Saif al-Islam's brothers were killed in the war. Another, Saadi, has found refuge in Niger.

The arrest or surrender of Saif al-Islam would bring a new prominence for the nine-year-old ICC, whose highest profile suspect to date is Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who remains defiantly in office, defended by many fellow Africans.

Following the killing of Muammar Gaddafi, most probably at the hands of fighters who filmed themselves battering and abusing him, Western allies of Libya's new leaders urged them to impose respect for human rights.

NTC leaders would like to run their own trials, but acknowledge that their writ barely runs in the deep south.

Their NATO allies, now winding up a mission that backed the revolt, have expressed little enthusiasm for hunting a few individuals across a vast tract of empty continent -- though French troops based in West Africa might be best placed to step in with transport if Saif al-Islam did choose to surrender.

Saif al-Islam was once seen as a liberal reformer, architect of a rapprochement with Western states on whom his father waged proxy guerrilla wars for decades. But he responded with belligerent rhetoric after the revolt erupted in Libya.

The ICC accuses him of hiring mercenaries to carry out a plan, worked out with his father and Senussi, to kill unarmed protesters inspired by "Arab Spring" uprisings elsewhere.

WARM WELCOME

Niger's government in the capital Niamey has vowed to meet its ICC commitments. But 750 km (400 miles) north in a region where cross-border allegiances among Tuareg nomads often outweigh national ties, the picture looks different.

For now, some of the tens of thousands of people who eke out a living in the deepest Sahara, an expanse roamed by smugglers and nomadic herders, say there would be a welcome for the younger Gaddafi.

"We are ready to hide him wherever needed," said Mouddour Barka, a resident of Agadez in northern Niger. "We are telling the international community to stay out of this business and our own authorities not to hand him over -- otherwise we are ready to go out on to the streets and they will have us to deal with."

Mohamed Anako, president of Agadez region, the size of France, said: "I am ready to welcome him in. For me his case is quite simply a humanitarian one.

"Libya and Niger are brother countries and cousins ... so we will welcome him in."

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Syria unrest: Arab League denounces civilian killings

The Arab League has sent an "urgent message" to the Syrian government, denouncing "the continued killings of civilians" taking part in protests.

The League's ministerial committee on the Syrian crisis also urged Damascus to "take the necessary measures" to protect civilians.

The call came as at least 37 protesters were killed in Syria, activists said.

The deaths took place mostly in Homs and Hama as protesters called for a no-fly-zone to be imposed, activists said.

More than 3,000 people have died in the unrest since protests broke out in March.

The government of President Bashar al-Assad says the unrest is being stoked by armed gangs and foreign extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife.

Foreign journalists have been largely prevented from reporting from the country, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground.

'Frank talks'

The Arab League's committee on Syria issued its statement on Friday.

It said that the committee would meet Syrian officials on Sunday in Qatar to try to reach "serious results" on a way to end the crisis.

The ministers also said that they had held "frank and friendly" talks with President Assad on Wednesday.

Earlier on Friday, protesters in Syria called for international protection from Nato whose war planes played a vital role in the overthrow of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

"God, Syria, we want a no-fly zone over it," protesters shouted in the Bab Tadmur neighbourhood of Homs, while others carried banners demanding international protection, Reuters reports.

In the restive Balaa neighbourhood, around 20,000 people marched calling for the fall of President Assad's regime, Agence France-Presse reports, quoting the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

An armed insurgency has emerged over the past few weeks around the city, home to one million people and some 140km (85 miles) north of Damascus, the news agency reports.

Dozens of young protesters marched in Damascus' Barzeh neighbourhood, the Observatory said, adding that 40 were arrested.

Internet and communications services were reportedly disrupted in parts of the capital, as well as in Homs.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Only democracy can lead to sustainable dev: PM

Berlin: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that only democracy can lead to sustainable development of people and nations, and she is trying hard to establish democracy firmly by strengthening parliamentary practices and the media.

“We have indeed been trying hard to establish democracy firmly through strengthening our parliamentary practices and our media, empowering our women, as well as through establishing other democratic institutions such as the Commissions on Election, Human Rights, Anti-Corruption and Information,” she said at a dinner hosted by German-South Asian Parliamentary Group at Hotel Regent Monday evening.

Hasina said that since women empowerment is vital for real and sustainable democracy, the present government is encouraging women to participate in all spheres of national life, particularly in politics.

She said that in the local government elections 45,000 women contested and nearly 13,000 were elected to seats reserved for women. In the parliament, the number of reserved seats for women has also been increased to 50 from earlier 45.

The Prime Minister said that during her first tenure, the Prime Minister’s Question Hour has been introduced in parliament to ensure transparency and accountability.

She said her government has also introduced live television coverage of the parliamentary proceedings for the benefit of the people.

Besides, Hasina said, one of the first steps she took to consolidate democracy was to establish 48 parliamentary standing committees in the first session of the present parliament, something that was never done before.

“I have also revived the `Prime Minister’s Question-Answer Time’ and allowed 22 private TV channels and 352 daily newspapers to strengthen democratic practice in the country,” she said.

The Prime Minister said that for empowering women, she has laid the ground for 64 women to become MPs of whom, 19 are directly elected, a Whip and two women chairperson of parliamentary standing committees that include other women as members.

She said there is also a woman deputy leader of the house, leader of the opposition and the prime minister.

Moreover, Hasina said, she has appointed five ministers who hold the important portfolios of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Labour, and Women and Children’s Affairs.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Asian shares mixed ahead of Europe plan

TOKYO: Asian shares were mixed Tuesday as investors waited for European leaders to unveil a plan to tackle the continent's ongoing debt crisis.

Markets turned cautious after solid gains in Asia the previous day, unable to extend a Wall Street rally overnight.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average slipped 0.3 percent to 8,820.29 as exporters struggled in the face of a strong yen. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.6 percent to 1,887.76, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 percent to 4,234.90.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.4 percent to 18,838.06. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also advanced modestly.

European leaders have said they made progress at a weekend summit and plan to unveil concrete plans for containing the crisis by Wednesday.

The 17-nation eurozone is set to shore up its bailout fund to contain the debt turmoil that threatens to engulf more countries, and German lawmakers said the plan could boost the fund's lending capacity to more than euro1 trillion ($1.39 trillion).

Overnight in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average finished with a gain of 104.83 points, or 0.9 percent, at 11,913.62.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose to 1,254.19, marking the highest close for the S&P 500 since Aug. 3, just as Washington was resolving a showdown over raising the country's borrowing limit.

In currencies, the dollar rose slightly to 76.14 yen from 76.05 yen late Monday in New York. The euro stood at $1.3905 from $1.3951.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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N.Korea's Kim calls for nuclear talks, doubts on uranium

BEIJING: North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il told Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang that a moribund 2005 deal should be the basis for fresh talks about Pyongyang's nuclear program, Chinese state media reported, leaving unanswered a key question on uranium enrichment.

The United States and South Korea insist that the North must immediately halt its uranium enrichment program, which it unveiled last year, as a precursor to restart regional talks that offer economic aid in return for denuclearization.

Kim's latest offer of fresh nuclear negotiations came as Washington said it had narrowed differences with North Korea on issues standing in the way of a new round of multilateral nuclear talks.

In his meeting with Li, Kim repeated that North Korea is willing to return to six-party talks -- also involving Russia and Japan -- that it walked out of more than two years ago.

But his published comments did not address Pyongyang's uranium enrichment activities, a key obstacle to talks.

"Kim said the DPRK hopes the six-party talks should be restarted as soon as possible," said the Xinhua news agency report on Tuesday of the meeting between Kim and Li in North Korea on Monday night.

The DPRK is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- the North's official name.

"All the six parties should fully implement the September 19 joint statement, signed by them in 2005 in Beijing, on the principle of simultaneous action," Kim said, according to the report.

The North's uranium enrichment program, which opens a second route to make an atomic bomb along with its plutonium program, is not specifically referred to in the 2005 agreement.

However, Seoul and Washington argue uranium enrichment falls under the broader term "existing nuclear programs," which the 2005 deal says must be stopped.

Pyongyang states it is willing to discuss the issue once six-party talks resume, but Seoul and Washington say there will be no talks until uranium enrichment is stopped. They say any halt must be verified by international nuclear inspectors.

The United States, South Korea and their allies have been skeptical of North Korea's recent assertions that it stands ready to return to the six-party talks, saying Pyongyang has reneged on past disarmament pledges.

The talks and the embryonic agreement were a diplomatic trophy for Beijing. But North Korea walked out of the negotiations more than two years ago after the United Nations imposed fresh sanctions for a long-range missile test. The following month Pyongyang conducted a second nuclear test.

The North says its uranium enrichment program is designed to produce power, and argues that the 2005 agreement respects its right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

In Geneva, Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, said the two sides "narrowed some differences but we still have differences that we have to resolve."

Throughout the regional turbulence, Beijing has stood by its ally, North Korea, which it sees as a buffer against the influence of the United States and its allies. But China has also tried to preserve ties with South Korea, and to revive the stalled talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament.

Li, 56, is the favorite to become premier from early 2013, when Wen Jiabao will step down. He will visit South Korea after his trip to the North.

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Nusrat Bhutto, former first lady of Pakistan, dies

Pakistan's former first lady Begum Nusrat Bhutto has died in Dubai after a long illness. She was 82.

She was the widow of the former Pakistani Prime Minister and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and the mother of Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated four years ago.

Nusrat Bhutto was herself elected twice to the Pakistani parliament.

She led the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) until her daughter took over in the mid-1980s.

Her husband, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the PPP, which controls the government in Pakistan today.

He was prime minister and president in the 1970s.

Nusrat Bhutto led the PPP for several years after her husband was hanged in 1979, during the military rule of Gen Zia-ul-Haq.

Her daughter, Benazir, later took over as head of the PPP and served twice as prime minister.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007, shortly after returning to the country to participate in elections following years of exile. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is now Pakistan's president.

Nusrat Bhutto will be buried in the family's mausoleum in southern Sindh province, a PPP spokesman said.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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217 dead in Turkey quake

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Author / Source : independent online/afp

An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude on Sunday killed 217 people and injured 1,090 in eastern Turkey, the interior minister said.

A hundred people died in Van city and 117 in the Ercis district of Van province, said Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin, adding 1,090 were injured.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made an immediate visit to the quake region to see for himself the devastation.

He was being accompanied by six ministers.

The situation in Ercis is more grave, said Erdogan, adding that around 55 apartment buildings collapsed, raising fears that the toll could increase as many people were trapped under rubble.

"Search and rescue efforts will continue overnight," said Erdogan.

Television footage showed search and rescue teams recovering bodies from the collapsed buildings in Van and Ercis.

The teams were using electrical generator lights to help the search for trapped victims as night fell.

"An eight-storey apartment building collapsed," a local from Ercis told AFP.

"There are efforts to rescue people but the loss is big. I myself saw three to four dead," he added.

Most people are expected to spend the night outdoors, with the temperature expected to dip to three degrees Celsius (37 Fahrenheit).

The quake has mobilised Turkey to rush to the help of the victims.

Some 1,275 search and rescue teams from 38 Turkish cities as well as 145 ambulances were sent to the quake region, according to media reports.

The military said six battalions were also involved in search and rescue efforts, in a statement posted online.

Six helicopters, including four helicopter ambulances, as well as C-130 military cargo planes were sent to the area carrying tents, food and medicine.

Some 200 inmates fled the prison in Van province, when the building was damaged in the quake, media reports said. But 50 of the inmates returned to prison later after seeing their families, they added.

US President Barack Obama offered his condolences to the victims of the massive quake and said the United States stood ready to assist the country's authorities.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities," he said in a statement.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 1041 GMT, was at Tabanli in Van province, Turkey's Kandilli institute said. Two aftershocks had hit the villages of Ilikaynak and Gedikbulak in particular, it added.

Although the quake damaged Van's airport it did not disrupt the air traffic, the Anatolia news agency reported, citing civil aviation authorities. The Turkish airlines launched additional flights to Van.

The quake was also felt across the border in northwestern Iran, causing some panic in major cities, Iranian media reported. They did not report any deaths or serious damage.

The US Geological Survey initially measured the quake at 7.3 magnitude but later downgraded it to 7.2. It registered many aftershocks, the latest of which was of 6.0 magnitude.

The quake that struck Van, a large eastern city populated mainly by Kurds, was Turkey's strongest in years.

Earthquake-prone Turkey lies atop several fault lines.

In 1999, two strong quakes in the heavily populated and industrialised regions of northwest Turkey left some 20,000 dead. A powerful earthquake in the town of Caldiran in Van province killed 3,840 people in 1976.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Obama seeks reconciliation as Libya declared free

WASHINGTON, Oct 23: US President Barack Obama hailed Sunday the liberation of Libya as a "new era of promise" and urged a "national reconciliation process" as it develops into a secure, democratic country. "We look forward to working with the TNC and an empowered transitional government as they prepare for the country's first free and fair elections," Obama said in a written statement, pledging to "help advance a stable, democratic transition."
A Benghazi report adds: Libya's new leaders on Sunday declared the country "liberated", three days after ousted despot Moamer Kadhafi was captured and killed, paving the way for the formation of an interim government.
The long-awaited declaration came amid raging controversy over the circumstances of Kadhafi's death after he was taken alive during the fall of his hometown Sirte. Britain said the incident had "stained" the National Transitional Council (NTC).

"Declaration of Liberation. Raise your head high. You are a free Libyan," NTC vice chairman Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told a massive rally in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the uprising against Kadhafi was launched eight months ago.
Tens of thousands of voices echoed him chanting, "You are a free Libyan."
In reaction to the announcement in Benghazi, US President Barrack Obama swiftly hailed Libya's "era of promise" and urged national reconciliation.
Benghazi's Kish Square was awash with the green, red and black flags of the revolution that toppled Kadhafi, while the formal declaration raised a deafening roar that reverberated across the Mediterranean city.
Interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in his address, urged Libyans to abide by the law and respect property, reiterating that Islamic sharia law would be the main source of the north African nation's legislation.
Abdel Jalil also gave thanks to NATO and regional allies for their roles in toppling Kadhafi, and paid special tribute to all those who lost their lives in the battle for Libya's freedom.
"I call on everyone to remove hatred from their hearts... it is essential to build Libya," he added.
Abdel Rahman al-Kabisi, minister of martyrs and the wounded, told the gathering that the event marked "a great historic moment in beloved Libya's history."
"Oh pharaoh of the century (Kadhafi), you are now in the bin of history... in a stroke of fate ... you have been thrown into the bin of history. Go to hell," he thundered.
"The issue of the martyrs, the wounded and the missing is a priority for Libya's government," he said.
Interim prime minister Mahmud Jibril said the formation of a new government is expected to take "from a week to a month." AFP

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Argentine president wins landslide re-election

BUENOS AIRES: President Cristina Fernandez was re-elected in a landslide Sunday, winning with the widest victory margin in Argentina's history after her government spread the wealth of a booming economy.

Fernandez had 53 percent of the vote after 58 percent of the polling stations reported nationwide. Her nearest challenger got just 17 percent. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo predicted the president's share would rise as polls reported from her party's stronghold of densely populated Buenos Aires province.

"Count on me to continue pursuing the project," Fernandez vowed in her victory speech. "All I want is to keep collaborating ... to keep Argentina growing. I want to keep changing history."

Fernandez is Latin America's first woman to be re-elected as president, but the victory was personally bittersweet — the first without her husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, who died of a heart attack last Oct. 27.

"This is a strange night for me," she said, describing her mix of emotions. "This man who transformed Argentina led us all and gave everything he had and more ... Without him, without his valor and courage, it would have been impossible to get to this point."

Thousands of jubilant, flag-waving people crowded into the capital's historic Plaza de Mayo to watch on a huge TV screen as she spoke from a downtown hotel, where her supporters interrupted so frequently with their chants that she lectured them as a mother would her children: "The worst that people can be is small. In history, you always must be bigger still — more generous, more thoughtful, more thankful."

Then, she showed her teeth, vowing to protect Argentina from outside threats or special interests.

"This woman isn't moved by any interest. The only thing that moves her is profound love for the country. Of that I'm responsible," Fernandez said.

Later, she appeared in the plaza as well, giving a rousing, second victory speech, her amplified voice echoing through the capital as she called on Argentina's youth to dedicate themselves to social projects nationwide.

Fernandez was on track to win a larger share of votes than any president since Argentina's democracy was restored in 1983, when Raul Alfonsin was elected with 52 percent. Her margin over Gov. Hermes Binner and five other candidates was wider even than the 1973 victory margin of her strongman hero, Juan Domingo Peron.

Her political coalition also hoped to regain enough seats in Congress to form new alliances and regain the control it lost in 2009. At play were 130 seats in the lower house and 24 in the Senate.

Fernandez suffered high negative ratings early in her presidency, but soared in popularity as a widow by softening her usually combative tone and proving her ability to command loyalty or respect from an unruly political elite.

Most voters polled beforehand said they wanted government stability to keep their financial situations improving in what has been one of Argentina's longest spells of economic growth in history.

Fernandez, 58, chose her youthful, guitar-playing, long-haired economy minister, Amado Boudou, as her running mate. Together, the pair championed Argentina's approach to the global financial crisis: nationalize private pensions and use central bank reserves to increase government spending rather than impose austerity measures, and force investors in foreign debt to suffer before ordinary citizens.

Argentina's world-record debt default in 2001 closed off most international lending, but it has kept the country booming ever since, with its economy expanding at twice the rate of Brazil's, economist Mark Weisbrot said.

The country faces tough challenges in 2012: Its commodities exports are vulnerable to a global recession, and economic growth is forecast to slow sharply in the coming year. Declining revenues will make it harder to raise incomes to keep up with inflation. Argentina's central bank is under pressure to spend reserves to maintain the peso's value against the dollar, while also guarding against currency shocks that could threaten Argentina's all-important trade with Brazil.

Boudou, 48, could now win attention as a potential successor to Fernandez, but navigating these storms will require much skill and good fortune.

Opposition candidates blamed Fernandez for rising inflation and increasing crime and accused her of politically manipulating economic data and trying to use government power to quell media criticism.

Former President Eduardo Duhalde, who fell from front-running rival to near-last in the polls, said in a dour closing speech that "the country is dancing on the Titanic," failing to prepare Argentina for another global economic crisis.

But Weisbrot said Argentina is in far better shape than most countries in the region to face such problems.

U.S. President Barack "Obama could take a lesson from this," said Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "It's an old-fashioned message of democracy: You deliver what you promise and people vote for you. It's kind of forgotten here in the U.S."

Binner, 68, a doctor and leader of a socialist party, said, "We know how to read the numbers, and we congratulate the lady president, but we also tell her that this force is Argentina's second-leading political force."

Ricardo Alfonsin, 59, a lawyer and congressional deputy with the traditional Radical Civic Union party and son of the former president, had 12 percent; Alberto Rodriguez Saa, 52, an attorney and governor of San Luis province whose brother Adolfo was president for a week, had 8; Duhalde, who preceded Kirchner as president, had 6 and leftist former lawmaker Jorge Altamira, 69, and congresswoman Elisa Carrio 54, had 2.

When Fernandez is inaugurated Dec. 10, her Front for Victory coalition will become the first political bloc to begin a third consecutive presidential term since 1928, when President Hipolito Yrigoyen of the Radical Civic Union took office, only to be toppled by a military coup two years later, said Leandro Morganfield, a historian at the University of Buenos Aires.

Fernandez appealed to Argentines not to allow the country "to be forced off course as has happened to us so often in our history."

"We have to think of a different country, where whomever comes builds on top of what's already been done. That's the Argentina I dream of, where we have continuity of national political projects for the country."

Nearly 78 percent of the nearly 29 million registered voters cast ballots in the country of 40 million.

___

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PM leaves for Berlin today

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Nationwide

Author / Source : Independent Online/unb

Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaves for Berlin Saturday morning to attend the World Health Summit-2011.

The Prime Minister will deliver a keynote speech at the Summit on October 23 (Sunday).

She will lead a high-powered delegation that will include the Health and Family Welfare Minister, Foreign Minister, Ambassador at Large at the Prime Minister’s Office, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Health and Family Welfare Secretary, and five distinguished personalities.

The Prime Minister will also be accompanied by a business delegation from the apex trade body, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

During the visit, Hasina will have official talks with German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel on October 25 (Tuesday), followed by a luncheon and a joint press briefing.

The Prime Minister will be given the federal military honor.

A Foreign Ministry release said this will be a bilateral visit. Entire gamut of bilateral relations will be reviewed during the summit meeting.

The Prime Minister will attend a reception to be hosted by students of Bangla Pathsala at Bangladesh House in Berlin today.

On October 23 (Sunday), she will attend another reception to be hosted by Non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) in Germany at Hotel Adlon Kempiniski in Berlin.

After attending the World Health Summit, Hasina will join the presidential reception.

On October 24 (Monday), she will attend a seminar titled `Emerging Market-Bangladesh’ at Hotel Adlon in Berlin, to be organized by German Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and participated by leading German business leaders and potential investors.

Later, the Prime Minister will call on the President of German parliament (Bundestag).

Hasina is likely to attend a dinner to be hosted by the German-South Asian Parliamentary Group at Regent Hotel in Berlin.

German Environment Minister Rottgen, Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Dirk Niebel and Foreign Minister Dr Guido Westerwelle will meet the Prime Minister on October 25.

Hasina is expected to return home on October 26.

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Gaddafi family demands body; NATO ends Libya war

MISRATA: NATO called an end to its air war in Libya, and the clan of Muammar Gaddafi demanded a chance to bury the body that lay on display in a meat locker after a death as brutal and chaotic as his 42-year rule.

In a statement on a Syria-based pro-Gaddafi television station, the ousted dictator's family asked for the bodies of Gaddafi, his son Mo'tassim, and others who were killed on Thursday by fighters who overran his hometown Sirte.

"We call on the UN, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and Amnesty International to force the Transitional Council to hand over the martyrs' bodies to our tribe in Sirte and to allow them to perform their burial ceremony in accordance with Islamic customs and rules," the statement said.

At an understated and sparsely-attended news conference late on Friday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Western alliance had taken a preliminary decision to call a halt to Operation Unified Protector on October 31.

Like other Western officials, Rasmussen expressed no regrets in public about the gruesome death of the deposed Libyan dictator, who was captured alive by the forces of the National Transitional Council but was brought dead to a hospital.

"We mounted a complex operation with unprecedented speed and conducted it with the greatest of care," Rasmussen said. "I'm very proud of what we have achieved."

The NATO operation, officially intended to protect civilians, effectively ended on Thursday with French warplanes blasting Gaddafi's convoy as he and others tried to escape a final stand in Sirte.

Gaddafi was captured wounded but alive hiding in a drain under a road. The world has since seen grainy film of him being roughed up by his captors while he pleads with them to respect his rights.

NTC officials have said Gaddafi later died of wounds in the ambulance, but the ambulance driver, Ali Jaghdoun, told Reuters that Gaddafi was already dead when he picked up the body.

"I didn't try to revive him because he was already dead," Jaghdoun said, in testimony that adds greater weight to the widespread assumption that Gaddafi was lynched.

The U.N. human rights arm said an investigation was needed to into whether he was summarily executed. The interim leaders have yet to decide what to do with the corpse.

BURIAL DISPUTE

In Misrata, a local commander, Addul-Salam Eleiwa, showed off the body, torso bare, on a mattress inside a metal-lined cold-store by a market on Friday. There was a bullet hole in his head.

"He will get his rights, like any Muslim. His body will be washed and treated with dignity. I expect he will be buried in a Muslim cemetery within 24 hours," he said.

Dozens of people, many with cellphone cameras, filed in to see that he was dead.

"There's something in our hearts we want to get out," said Abdullah al-Suweisi, 30, as he waited. "It is the injustice of 40 years. There is hatred inside. We want to see him."

In Tripoli, Gaddafi's death prompted a carnival-like celebration, with fireworks, a bouncy castle and candy floss for the children. "Muammar, bad," one small girl said to foreign journalists in English. "Boom boom."

"For some people from outside Libya it could look wrong that we are celebrating a death with our children," said one man with a child on his shoulders. "But it was 42 years with the devil."

RISKS OF DIVISION

Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son and heir-apparent remains at large, believed by NTC officials to have escaped from besieged Sirte and headed for a southern border.

Without the glue of hatred for Gaddafi and his tribe to unite the factions, some fear a descent into the kind of strife that bedevils Iraq after Saddam Hussein. Optimists say that so far Libya's new rulers have quarreled but not fought.

"Can an inclusive, effective national government be formed? Yes, if factions can avoid fighting," Jon Marks, chairman of Britain's Cross Border Information consultancy said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the NTC had promised to explain how Gaddafi was killed.

"They're dealing with the death itself as well as the aftermath in as transparent a way as I think they can," he said. "They've fought bravely to liberate their country from this dictator. And, you know, he met an ignominious end yesterday."

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Pakistan, three others elected to UN council

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Asia

Author / Source : Independent Online/reuters

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan, Morocco, Togo and Guatemala were elected on Friday to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council for 2012 and 2013, and Islamabad's envoy said he looked forward to working with fellow council member India.

The race for a fifth council seat, representing Eastern Europe, was adjourned until Monday after neither of the two candidates, Azerbaijan and Slovenia, was able to win a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly after nine votes.

In the most competitive council elections for years, only Guatemala ran unopposed within its region. Pakistan scraped through in the first round of voting, defeating Kyrgyzstan for an Asian seat with the minimum required tally.

Morocco scored an easy first-round victory, while the small West African state of Togo won out in the third round with a tally more than double Mauritania's. That saved sub-Saharan Africa the embarrassment of ending up with only one of the continent's three seats against two for Arab North Africa.

For Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan and Slovenia battled it out all day after a third candidate, Hungary, pulled out after trailing in the first ballot. The race swung both ways, but Azerbaijan led Slovenia by the end of the day with 113 votes to 77, still 14 votes short of clinching a win.

Pakistani Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon welcomed his country's election to the United Nations' elite body and said he expected to work well with the ambassador of Pakistan's archrival India, Hardeep Singh Puri, next year.

"You have seen that the usual tendencies have not erupted between us and that is a good factor," Haroon said. "Perhaps both of us have been beneficial in starting dialogue between both the countries."

India joined the council this year and will stay through 2012. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, mainly over Kashmir, since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

The last time the two nuclear-armed states served together on the council was in 1977. U.N. diplomats said they do not expect any regional tension as a result of Pakistan joining again. Pakistan has served six previous council terms,

RESISTING SANCTIONS

The Security Council is the powerhouse of the United Nations, with the ability to impose sanctions and dispatch peacekeeping forces.

There are five veto-holding, nuclear-armed permanent members of the council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- and 10 temporary elected members without vetoes. With India and Pakistan on the council next year, seven of the 15 members will be nuclear powers.

Lebanon, Nigeria, Gabon, Bosnia and Brazil come off the council in January. The four temporary members that will remain through 2012 besides India are Colombia, Germany, Portugal and South Africa.

Western diplomats said it is likely that Pakistan will take over from Brazil by joining Russia and China, India and South Africa in resisting renewed U.S. and European pressure to sanction nations like Syria and Iran.

In Africa, the African Union endorsed only Togo and Mauritania. Morocco does not belong to the AU, having pulled out of its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, in 1984 after a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic proclaimed by the independence-seeking Polisario Front in the disputed Western Sahara was admitted to the OAU.

Morocco's crushing council victory, with 151 of the 193 assembly members supporting it, looked likely to bolster Rabat in its continuing dispute with Polisario. Morocco annexed Western Sahara after colonial power Spain pulled out in 1975.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri told reporters that his country had prevailed "despite the attempts which have been made, but in vain, to exclude Morocco from this competition" because it did not belong to the AU.

"Today a broad majority of African states decided to show solidarity with Morocco, to show confidence in Morocco, to support Morocco," he said. "Our candidature was legitimate because of the principle of rotation."

Morocco has been on the Security Council twice before, most recently in 1992-1993.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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2nd days play abandoned

Chittagong: The second day’s play of the first Test of the Walton Test Series between Bangladesh and West Indies has been called off at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Saturday due to a damp outfield caused by overnight and early morning rain.

Officials decided to abandon the day's play after an inspection at 11:15am.

Play is scheduled to start half-an-hour early on day three, at 9:00am.

Half-centuries from opener Tamim Iqbal and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim took Bangladesh to a commanding 255 for four at the close of day one of the first Test on Friday

Bangladesh squad

Mushfiqur Rahim (c/wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Raqibul Hasan, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Rubel Hossain , Shahadat Hossain, and Elias Sunny.

West Indies squad

Darren Sammy (c), Carlton Baugh (wk), Darren Bravo, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons.

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Saudi Crown Prince dies

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud died at dawn on Saturday abroad, the country's royal court said in a statement carried by state media.

Sultan, who was thought to be aged about 86, had been in the United States for medical treatment since June.

As well as heir to the throne of the world's top oil exporter, he had been defense minister and minister of aviation for about four decades.

"With deep sorrow and sadness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz mourns the death of his brother and his Crown Prince Sultan... who died at dawn this morning Saturday outside the kingdom following an illness," said the statement carried on state news agency SPA and state television.

Saudi television broke its schedules early on Saturday to broadcast Koranic verses accompanied by footage of the Kaaba in Mecca, Islam's holiest site.

Funeral services will be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, SPA said.

Widely thought to be next in line after Sultan is Interior Minister Prince Nayef, who was named second-deputy prime minister in 2009.

King Abdullah is in his late 80s and underwent back surgery earlier this month but has been pictured since then in apparently good health.

The king was absent for three months late in 2010 while he underwent treatment for a herniated disc that caused blood to accumulate around his spine.

Prince Nayef, who is in his late 70s, has a reputation as being more conservative than either the crown prince or king.

Unlike in European monarchies, the line of succession does not move directly from father to eldest son, but has moved down a line of brothers born to the kingdom's founder Ibn Saud, who died in 1953.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Kurdish rebels 'kill 24 Turkish soldiers'

At least 24 Turkish soldiers have been killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels at several police and army posts in south-east Turkey, reports say.

Governor Muammer Turker confirmed the attacks in the mainly Kurdish province of Hakkari, the Associated Press said.

The attacks come a day after a blast in the southeast Bitlis province killed five police officers and three others.

The area, where ethnic Kurds make up a majority, has recently seen a spike in violence by Kurdish rebels.

Turkey has responded with a police crackdown on suspected rebel sympathisers and air strikes on Kurdish sites in northern Iraq.

Rebels are seeking greater autonomy in the country's Kurdish-dominated south-east, and have killed dozens of members of the country's security forces, and at least 17 civilians, since mid-July.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since 1984.

'Pressure on government'

The latest violence - thought to be simultaneous overnight attacks - is said to have also taken place in several locations in Cukurca and the district of Yuksekova.

Correspondents say such attacks will add to pressure on the government to devise a more effective strategy for combating the PKK.

The government has already said it will ask the police to play a bigger role in counter-insurgency, but this idea has been challenged by critics who argue that the police are no better equipped to tackle the PKK than the army is.

The BBC's Jonathan Head, in Istanbul, says there is little talk now of renewing the so-called "democratic opening", an initiative from two years ago, which aimed to end the conflict in the south-east by expanding the rights of the Kurdish minority.

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HC questions legality of the mobile courts

Dhaka: The Court on Wednesday issued a rule, the questions of the Government four weeks to explain why mobile courts under the direction of executive judge should be declared not illegal.

Mobile court which has is to judge by the Executive was governed by the mobile Court Act 2009.

There was also a rule to the Government explaining why in the Abschnitten--5, 6 (1, 2, 4), 7, 8 (1), 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15 of the law court mobile 2009 not illegally should be explained.

The HC bench, comprising justice Mirza Hossain Haider and justice Anwarul Haque passed the order.

Kamruzzaman Khan, Chairman of the Board of the aesthetic property development Ltd, saved the writ petition on 11 October the validity of the sections of the law-5, 6 (1, 2, 4), 7, 8 (1), 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15. The Act contains 17 sections.

Section 5 of the law authorized the district to keep mobile court executive judge and magistrate. In accordance with section 6 of the law, the judge can try only one person if blame the offences according to the schedule of the Act, and if the magistrate begins on him and he confesses his crimes. Section 6 (3), (4) and (5) if the offence are not included in the laws in the schedule, or if it is more serious in nature, then would be the matter to the formal court and the mobile court extinguished the power to try the offence.

In accordance with section 7 number 1, to knowledge will take the judge part of the accused confess written accusation against the perpetrators and questions whether he pleads guilty and rejects, the magistrate calls for explanation. If this statement appears to be satisfactory the magistrate discharge him, otherwise the magistrate send the accused for formal study in ordinary courts.

The judge can punish by imprisonment or fine, or both, if the suspect confesses. Otherwise, not he can any natural person who punish according to this law.

Section 8 paragraph 1 of the Act provides a constraint that the mobile court may impose imprisonment not exceeding two years.

According to the provision of section 13 a disadvantaged person can tell rather appeals magistrate against the decision an executive magistrate and meetings at the district against the decision of the district judge a system should check it makes detecting arbitrary use.

It is the plenary (article 65 of the Constitution of Bangladesh) legislative power of the Parliament of Bangladesh, the force of the law enacted it, and this law is be followed, as long as it remains valid. This right can invalidate either by Parliament or by the High Court Division of the Supreme Court on the ground of unconstitutionality.

The applicant explains in the script, that executive judge is empowered to conduct, the Court is unconstitutional and directly with the milestone ruling of the case of Masdar Hossain conflicts (State Secretary, Ministry of finance vs MD Masdar Hossain, 20 (2002) BLD, AD) the restoration of Justice hegemony over the Executive branch of the State in legal proceedings.

The claimant requested HC directive issue in General to the Government, why the sections should be declared not illegal.

A mobile court sentenced earlier September 14 of the applicant for 30 days under section 8 (1) the 1952 Act building construction.

The HC-Bank remained also the sentence and conviction of the applicant for four months.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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4 Add ' l judges appointed HC

Nationwide author / source: independent online report

Dhaka: Four new additional judges were appointed to the area of "High Court" of the Supreme Court a Gazette notification on Tuesday.

The judges are - AKM Shahidul Haque and Abu Taher MD SAifur Rahman and Shahidul Karim Jahangir Hossain Mohammad.

AKM Shahidul Haque and Abu Taher MD. Saifur Rahman are Supreme Court lawyers, Shahidul Karim is the incumbent Secretary of the law and Justice Department of law is a Dhaka district judge Ministry and Jahangir Hossain Mohammad.

President M Zillur Rahman made the date referred to in article 98 of the Constitution.

Six more additional judges were appointed on 4 October on the High Court.

Your order will take effect from the date of their recording oath.

Additional judges were appointed usually by contract for two years.

Sources said all 10 newly appointed additional judge administrierten EIDE of Chief Justice be MD Muzammel Hossain in a day or two.

Judges bring Wednesday the appointment of the judges of a total of 98 HC.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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JS session resumes tomorrow

DHAKA: The 11th session of the ninth Jatiya Sangsad is going to start on Thursday without the participation of main opposition BNP.

The proceedings of the session are scheduled to kick off at 4:00pm.

The 10th session of the parliament ended on August 25. Eleven bills were submitted for this session, of which nine bills are under the consideration of the different parliamentary committees.

As per the parliament secretariat, the members of the main opposition BNP and its alliances remained absent for 187 days in the present parliament, out of a total of 241 working days in the last 10 sessions. BNP was present only on 54 working days of the present parliament.

Out of the last 10 sessions, BNP was absent in the second, third, sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th session. It attended the fifth session for only one day.

After a long absence of 74 days in a row, the members of BNP-led four-party alliance joined the eights session on March 15, on the 29th working day of that session.

BNP chairperson and leader of the oppositions Khaleda Zia, out 241 working days in total, attended the parliament only for six days.

BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, detained on allegations of crimes against humanity during the liberation war, remained absent in the sessions for 117 days in a stretch. 

According to the sources, it is almost certain that BNP is going to boycott this parliament session also like the other two previous sessions.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Enclave people live now for free from captivity: Hasina

Dahagram: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that people of Dahagram and Angorpota now live freedom from captivity enclaves have 24-hour access to the Tin bigha corridor connecting the two enclaves with mainland Bangladesh.

"You are now free." They need to live a captivity more lead, ", she said after opening the electrical transmission line connecting of the two enclaves of the local population to a function Dahagram bilateral high school ground."

Hasina, mention their talks with the Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi in 2009, said that she had then pressed to activate range for 24 hours enclave to open the Tin bigha movement.

"During his visit to Dhaka on June 6, approved the Indian Prime Minister," she said.

Hasina, who already have a dedicated 10-bed hospital in Dahagram Union health complex, said that people the enclave received medical treatment from the hospital.

They were different stations of the hospital and talked to patients.

The Prime Minister promised to establish enclave also a College in Dahagram.

Formerly Hasina came here this (Wednesday) morning in the midst of great enthusiasm and treat the enclave population.

A special air force plane, with the Prime Minister, landed at the Syedpur airport, Nilphamari, 10: 20.

From Syedpur, Hasina Dahagram union traveled health complex on an army helicopter. She was recorded by the local members and Awami League leaders.

Sheikh Hasina later attended an opinion Exchange meeting with the local population.

Jatiyo party of Chairman HM Ershad, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Dr. AFM Ruhal Haque Minister of health and PM consultant Dr. Gowher Rizvi were present.

This was the Prime Minister first visit to the enclaves after the signing of an agreement with India for round the clock access to Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves in the Tin bigha corridor.

The offer was the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Dhaka signed during visit on 6.

The Prime Minister is planned, visit the Tin bigha corridor and a public rally at the Government College Patgram in the afternoon.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Syrian armoured troops kill 25 in opposition hotbed of Homs

Asia author / source: independent online/Reuters

AMMAN: Hotbed of Homs to curb which crackdown on a seven month-old insurrection armed growing resistance against President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian armoured troops killed at least 25 people in a boost in the opposition said inhabitants.

It was one of the highest daily death toll in the central city, which has seen some of the largest protests in a spate of riots, where demonstrators a end the repressive Assad family rule 41 years demand.The clashes on Monday, districts, the provision of Loyalist militia in Sunni Muslims stir up tension between the Sunni majority and members of Assad's minority of sect Nusairier, followed the conflict in the Middle East spans residents of told of Reuters by Telefon.Eingedenk of the threat of civil war in Syria, the major fault lines, host offered talks in Cairo between the opposition, which have formed a National Council of the Arab League on Sunday, and the leadership of Damascus.

But Syria's representative of the League said that Syria said serious reservations about the offer during the opposition, which Syrian National Council, that it could engage in discussions during Assad's military storm troubled towns and villages.

Set in Homs, 140 km (90 miles) North of Damascus, tanks shoot heavy machine guns, swept in Sunni districts of Bab Sbaa, Bab Dreib and Bab AMRO where the abolition of the Assad regularly require large protests, residents and activists said.

You said, Loyalists came rudimentary resistance forces, although army deserters helped to defend some residents of the neighborhood and managed multiple tanks with bazookas (RPGs) hit.

"Most of the residents of Bab Sbaa escaped." The troops are heavily on tanks and raise the obstacles in the area. The fire from the direction of other small and intermittent ", said a local residents by phone.

"Roadblocks have cut from each other each neighborhood, and randomly throwing troops occupation is often,", said another resident, gave her name as Manal.

Homs, the home town of Assad's wife Asma, is located in the heart of the fertile farmland on the highway to Aleppo, Syria of second-largest city.

Homs is close to the border with the Lebanon, which has begun, serve as a supply line at insurgents in the city and its surroundings, including army defector, that have increased in numbers since the crackdown intensified two months ago.

Inspired by the "Arab spring" popular uprisings that have plunged deeply rooted autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have fall protests across much of the Assad family and Syria widespread calls for more political freedom.

Syrian authorities blame the unrest on "armed terrorist group" which they say have killed 1,100 police and army and work in Homs, killing of civilians and personalities.

SYRIA SAYS "TERRORIST" ARRESTED GRUPPENLEITER

The official news agency said that troops "the head of one of the leading terrorist groups" in raids in the districts of Bab Sbaa and Mreijeh and seized weapons, had arrested including RPGs and gunpowder.

Foreign journalists from Syria, independent confirmation of the reported events hampered largely prohibited.

The United Nations says that Assad's crackdown has killed 3,000 people in Syria since March, including at least 187 children.

The army defectors were mostly Sunni Muslims, who make most of the army row and link while the officer corps mainly consists of members of the Alawite community, under the command of Assad's younger brother, Maher.

The Alawites, an offshoot of Shi Shi'ite extended Islam, their influence on the Syrian State, military and Geheimpolizei--a block now for the power structure-after Assad's father, the late Hafez al-Assad, in a 1970 coup took office.

In Cairo, Foreign Ministers of the Arab League called for Syria's rulers and opposition negotiate and decided to work a Committee to halt the bloodshed. You no longer behind the adoption of Syria from the Pan-Arab Group to suspend.

Youssef Ahmad, Syria's representative who Arab said League, his decision "not transparent" and not the Damascus, participation in all discussions outside Syria could accept.

The Arab States were for months still, while Assad's troops stamp out unrest with tanks and machine guns tried, but began to criticize Assad after the United States and European powers said he must go and slapped economic sanctions on Damascus.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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3Rd ODI: WI achieved 48 / 7 after 16 adopted

Author / source: Independent online report

Chittagong: West Indies scored 48 seven wickets after sixteen acquisitions in the third match of the ODI series against Bangladesh in the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong Port City on Tuesday to lose.

Earlier, Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim won the draw and first, decided half frame.

The State Bangladesh television (BTV) is transmitted the game at 13: 30.

Bangladesh squad:
Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain), Abdur Razzak, Alok Kapali, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Ashraful, Naeem Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib al Hasan, Shuvagata Hom, Suhrawadi Shuvo and Tamim Iqbal

West Indies Squad:
DJG Sammy (Captain), AB use, D Bishoo, CR Brathwaite, DM Bravo, DP Hyatt, Martin, KA Pollard, KOA Powell, D Ramdin, R Rampaul, KAJ Roach, AD Russell, MN Samuels and LMP Simmons.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Gilad Shalit, exchanged for Palestinian prisoners

Asia author / source: independent online/bbc

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit should be released on Tuesday for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners of five years imprisonment.

SGT Shalit was arrested in 2006 by Hamas activists, who tunneled in Israel.

On Monday, Court rejected an appeal for a 48-hour delay from the families of the victims of attacks by Palestinian militant Israeli Colonel.

The first 477 Palestinian prisoners to be released on Tuesday due to have now started to leave their prisons.

You were all female and accompanied by Egyptian security personnel, said the news agency Reuters.

The remaining 550 are expected to be published next month.

"I understand the difficulty of accepting that the vile people who are the most heinous crime against your dependents who, committed, not the full price, you earn the numbers," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a letter from his Office to members of the Israeli published.

Meanwhile prepared in Gaza Hamas a hero's welcome sent 295 prisoners due to the area.

The Hamas Interior Minister for Gaza called for residents "to refrain from using weapons and ammunition, expressing their pleasure".

Step by step

The day events will unfold in a choreographed sequence.

Early Tuesday morning is local time, be taken due to the crossing of Rafah between Gaza and Egypt Gilad Shalit, 25,.

Cross between Israel and Egypt, a 10-minute drive from Rafah reach the Kerem Shalom 477 Palestinian prisoners.

SGT Shalit will be given to the Egyptians, in the presence of Israeli representatives.

After his release was confirmed Israel is 27 women release prisoners. SGT Shalit will then be transferred to Kerem Shalom.

After he made a call his parents and subjected to a short medical examination, he will be flown by helicopter at the air base Tel NOF in Israel.

While this goes on, cross of Kerem Shalom of Palestinian prisoners for Gaza or exile abroad are intended, in Egypt.

Egypt ensures that the deportees in countries like Turkey, Syria and Qatar are served.

The Palestinian Authority has prepared new passports for the deportation to third countries, which the Egyptian Ambassador to the Palestinian territories has occurred.

Prisoners arrived in the West Bank will be taken the Bituniya checkpoint, where she passed the PA

In the meantime Sgt Shalit will undergo further medical Tel NOF, where he will meet members of his family as also Mr Netanyahu.

If it is suitable, Sgt Shalit be flown with his family to North Israel and accompanied by a convoy to his home city of Mitzpe Hila in the Western Galilee.

SGT Shalit family lived in a tent protest in Jerusalem used 16 months, while for his release.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Poonam Pandey scandal | Poonam Pandey nudity | Nude picture of Poonam Pandey

Model Poonam Pandey has declared that she would be nude in front of Indian Cricketer if India become champion. Now India is the world cup champion. They beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final match of ICC world cup 2011. They have got the thorn of world cricket. Now see her some of nude pictures:

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