DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Islamist-backed main opposition on Sunday swept mayoral elections in four cities in a major setback for the ruling party ahead of general polls. The centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won by big margins in the major cities of Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Barisal, Election Commission spokesman S.M. Asaduzzaman told DNA.
N. Korea proposes high-level talks with US: state media
SEOUL: North Korea has proposed high-level talks with the US aimed at discussing nuclear weapons programmes and easing of tension on the peninsula, state media said Sunday. “We propose high-level talks between the North and the US to secure peace and stability in the region and ease tension on the Korean peninsula,” the North’s powerful National Defence Commission said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
You don’t turn into a bad team overnight: Whatmore
BIRMINGHAM: India put already-eliminated Pakistan out of its misery in the Champions Trophy by thrashing its fierce rival by eight wickets in a rain-hit match on Saturday, clinching a third straight win for the tournament favorite. In-form opener Shikhar Dhawan caressed a fluent 48 at Edgbaston to help guide the Indians to their target, revised three times because of persistent showers in Birmingham, of 102 with 17 balls of their maximum 22 overs remaining.
Iran begins voting to elect new president: television
TEHRAN: Iran began voting on Friday to elect the successor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the state television announced.The vote pitches a divided conservative camp against a moderate candidate who enjoys the backing of the reformists.Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who votes in the earliest moments after the opening of the polls urged people to vote en masse.
PML-N takes first brush of judicial freedom
ISLAMABAD: Chairman FBR Ansar Javed on Friday told the Supreme Court that no notification to implement new taxes or sanctioning price increases had been issued by the board. He further explained that price increase had been implemented following a declaration issued by the finance ministry. Javed had appeared before a bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Lollywood actress Laila arrested in Multan
MULTAN: Police on Thursday arrested Pakistani actress Laila, DNA reported. The actress was arrested after a producer Sheikh Naeem lodged a complaint with Cantt Police Station that Laila gave him a Rs220,000 cheque, which was dishonored. The application stated that the actress had borrowed the money from Sheikh.
Survivors of childhood cancer prone to adult illness: study
WASHINGTON: Patients who successfully battled cancer during childhood face an extraordinarily high rate of chronic illness during their grown-up years, according to study published Tuesday. The research released by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) tracked 1,700 adult survivors of childhood cancer, and found that the vast majority were combating one or more chronic ailments.
Proposed tax on foreign films seen as threat to cinema revivalProposed tax on foreign films seen as threat to cinema revival
KARACHI: The government’s proposal in the new budget to impose a ‘new adjustable withholding tax’ on foreign films and teleplays on Wednesday sent gloomier signals to local exhibitors who see it as a huge blow to an industry which had just started to revive. Critics say Pakistani cinema houses have seen themselves wrecked and broken to make way for commercial plazas since the 1980s.“There were 115 cinemas in Karachi alone in 1970 and now you may find a matching number in the entire country,” said Adeel Imtiaz, who owns Bambino Cinema, one of the half-a-dozen theatres ransacked and burnt during violent protests against an anti-Islam American movie in September last year.
Bravo ramps up pressure on ‘chokers’ South Africa
CARDIFF: West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo hopes that South Africa’s habit of ‘choking’ at major tournaments will work in his side’s favour when they meet in a winner-takes-all Champions Trophy clash on Friday. Whichever team comes out on top in Cardiff will join already qualified India as one of the two semi-finalists out of Group B in a competition featuring the world’s top eight one-day nations.
Syria death toll more than 93,000: UN
GENEVA: More than 93,000 people, including over 6,500 children, have been killed in Syria’s civil war, which has grown increasingly deadly over the past year, a United Nations study said on Thursday. The skyrocketing death toll, along with documented cases of children tortured and entire families massacred, “is a terrible reminder of just how vicious this conflict has become,” UN rights chief Navi Pillay said in a statement.
