By THOMAS ERDBRINK in the NY Times, JULY 25, 2017 NEYSHABUR, Iran — When Zuao Ru Lin, a Beijing entrepreneur, first heard about business opportunities in eastern Iran, he was skeptical. But then he bought a map and began to envision the region without any borders, as one enormous market. “Many countries are close by, even Europe,” Mr. Lin, 49, said while driving his white BMW over the highway connecting Tehran to the eastern Iranian…
Posts published in July 2017
PTI report in the Times of India, | Jul 25, 2017, 10:10 AM IST WASHINGTON: China is increasingly resorting to “coercive, assertive practices” to achieve its goals in the Asia-Pacific region, as seen in the disputed South China Sea, a senior official of the US foreign intelligence service said. The remarks from Michael Collins, deputy assistant director at the Central Intelligence Agency’s East Asian Mission Centre, came as the Pentagon on Monday said that a…
by Tahseen Ali in bdnews24.com, July 24, 2017 The western media and several otherwise well-intentioned nongovernmental organizations routinely criticize Bangladesh for taking actions against leaders of the country’s main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP. They assume that accusing opposition party members with crimes is automatically undemocratic and undermines the rule of law. In fact, the opposite is the case, and a top court in Canada recently provided proof. Earlier this year, Judge…
by Tanvir Sohel and Riadul Karim in Prothom Alo, Jul 25, 2017 Field-level officials of the election commission (EC) are in favour of deploying defence personnel as regular law enforcement to create confidence among voters during the next general elections. They came up with these recommendations as their opinion was sought in order to amend 14 laws, rules and directives ahead of the 11th parliamentary polls. Reinsertion of the provision for ‘No’ option in the…
by Jun Mai in South China Morning Post, July 23, 2017 at 10:28pm As China’s once-every-five-years reshuffle at the top looms, some senior politicians have surprisingly not yet received their invitations to the gathering, attendance at which is a prerequisite for staying in the political elite The omissions, including several top cadres from the Communist Youth League, underscored the shift of power and the tightened party discipline under President Xi Jinping, analysts said. Xi is…
by Sidney Leng, Coco Liu & Kristin Huang in South China Morning Post, July 24, 2017 In the grounds of Zhongzhou Bodyguard in southern China, a circular terrace is filled with blooming sunflowers, and a 300kg tractor tyre. The flowers are there for decoration, the tyre is all about business. For new recruits to this bodyguard boot camp, taking part in intense physical workouts – sometimes involving giant rings of heavy duty rubber – is,…
By Yang Sheng in Global Times, 2017/7/24 Chinese navy’s vessels and aircrafts have the freedom of navigation and overflight in the non-sovereign international maritime regions just like any other countries, Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said on Monday. He made the remarks while responding to questions regarding Chinese navy’s recent appearance and operation in the waters near the US, the UK and Australia at a press conference about the development of the People’s Liberation…
report in Dhaka Tribune,July 24, 2017 Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (Noab) has urged the government to remove the Section 57 from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act and withdraw all cases filed under the law against journalists. The call was made in a meeting of the newspaper owners’ platform at the office of Bangla daily Prothom Alo in Karwan Bazar, Dhaka on Saturday, says a press release. Terming the Section 57 an attack…
Report in The daily Star, July 24, 2017 Dhaka: Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad yesterday said the country is heading towards danger due to a conflicting behaviour of Awami League and BNP. He said this while talking to reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. After a five-day personal visit to India, Ershad, also a special envoy to the prime minister, returned home yesterday. He claimed that the Indian political leaders would stand beside Jatiya Party…
by Kamal Hossain Talukder in bdnews24.com, July 24, 2017 After confirming the deaths of two top militants in ‘Operation Eagle Hunt’ in Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj three months ago, police are now using their resources to detain the two remaining militants they believe were directly involved in the 2016 Gulshan attack. Among the suspects identified by the counterterrorism unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police for their direct involvement, only two – Hadisur Rahman Sagar and Rashedul Islam –…
Dhaka: Health Minister Mohammed Nasim yesterday said the next parliamentary elections would be held in accordance with the roadmap announced by the Election Commission. “I hope all the political parties, including the BNP, will participate in the polls. The Election Commission already has announced its roadmap and is preparing to hold the elections in a neutral manner,” he said yesterday during a programme at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in the capital. That election will be…