Haque Specialized Group's News

United Nations officials say 1 million children urgently need humanitarian aid in eastern Ukraine, and the number has nearly doubled in a year. The UN's children's agency, UNICEF, reported the statistic Friday. More than 9,800 people have died since government forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels began fighting in April 2014. UNICEF says 1.7 million other people have been displaced. Fighting has escalated this month in the worst outbreak since a 2015 peace deal. UNICEF says thousands of children live in areas subjected to shelling, and about one in five eastern Ukrainian schools have been damaged or destroyed. The UN says 3.8 million people need aid due to the conflict. The world body has a $214 humanitarian plan for Ukraine this year. Less than $3 million has been collected so far, according to AP.....

Published at: 2017-02-18 00:00:06

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the persons affected by the World Bank's decision on cancelling finance to the Padma Bridge project and subsequent lawsuit in Canadian Court would file case against the bank. "Affected persons would certainly file case against the World Bank as tried to involve them in a direly false case," the Prime Minister said in response to the demand of the expatriate leaders and workers of European Awami League in Munich, Germany yesterday. "We are grateful to the Almighty as the persons affected by the World Bank's decision have finally got justice after a long suffering. They tried to implicate my son and daughter, sister, my cabinet members, advisors and secretaries with the fictitious allegation," she said. "However, I will say a person can face any difficult situation if he/she remains in the path of truth and honesty," the Prime Minister said adding that "the verdict of the Canadian court went in favour of us as all members of my family and I myself were in the path of truth and honesty. The prime minister arrived in Munich, Germany to attend 53th Munich Security Conference at the invitation of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, president and general secretary of European Awami League Anil Dasgupta and MA Gani Chowdhry, president of German Awami League Bashirul Alam Sabu, EU Awami League leaders Idris Farazi, Hasan Iqbal and Nurul Islam were present among others on the occasion.....

Published at: 2017-02-18 00:00:06

A young man was electrocuted at Isapur village in Sadar upazila on Thursday, reports UNB. Locals said Sabuj, 25, son of Hazrat Ali of the village, was injured as he came in touch of a live wire while working on the rooftop of a three-storey building in the afternoon. He was taken to General Hospital where doctors declared him dead.....

Published at: 2017-02-17 00:00:06

US President Donald Trump's choice for National Security Adviser has turned down the job offer. Retired Vice-Admiral Robert Harward was widely tipped for the post after Mr Trump fired Michael Flynn on Monday. A White House official said Mr Harward cited family and financial commitments, but US media said the sticking point was he wanted to bring in his own team. Mr Flynn had misled US Vice-President Mike Pence over his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the US. The latest setback emerged hours after Mr Trump robustly denied media reports of White House disarray, insisting his administration was running like a "fine-tuned machine". Mr Harward told the Associated Press the Trump administration was "very accommodating to my needs, both professionally and personally". "It's purely a personal issue," added the 60-year-old former Navy Seal who is currently based in Abu Dhabi as an executive for US defence contractor Lockheed Martin. Asked about reports that he had asked to bring in his own staff at the National Security Council, Mr Harward said: "I think that's for the president to address." Mr Flynn, a retired army lieutenant-general, was ousted amid claims that before he was even appointed as national security adviser he had discussed sanctions with a Russian envoy. This would have potentially breached a law banning private citizens from engaging in diplomacy. Mr Flynn initially denied having discussed sanctions with Sergei Kislyak, Moscow's ambassador to Washington. But on Monday, Mr Trump asked for his resignation following revelations that Mr Flynn had misled the vice-president about his conversations with the diplomat. Leading Republicans have called for an investigation into intelligence leaks that led to Mr Flynn's resignation. Two other contenders - retired General David Petraeus and acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg - have also been tipped to take on the job. Mr Kellogg, a retired three-star general, was named acting national security advisor after Mr Flynn stepped down. The 72-year-old had a long career in the US Army, serving in Vietnam and Iraq, before retiring in 2003 and becoming a security consultant for software giant Oracle Corp. Mr Petraeus, a celebrated former four-star general, retired as CIA director in 2012 after it emerged he had given top-secret material to his biographer, with whom he was also having an extramarital affair. He is still serving two years' probation after his conviction for mishandling classified information, and would need to notify his parole officer if he wished to move to Washington DC.   ....

Published at: 2017-02-17 00:00:06

A car packed with explosives blew up in the south of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 55 people and wounding dozens more, reports Al Jazeera. The car exploded near car dealerships in the Shia area of Bayaa in the south of the city. More than 50 people were injured. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed the attack, saying it targeted "a gathering of Shias," the BBC reports. At least 24 people were killed in other attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Baghdad saw a wave of deadly suicide attacks by IS in the first few days of 2017, but the number had dropped until recently. An AFP reporter at the scene of Thursday's bomb reported seeing numerous burnt-out vehicles, and blood on the ground. Security sources said the bomb was detonated in a busy street and was the deadliest attack in Baghdad for several months. A plume of smoke from the blast could be seen above the Bayaa neighbourhood for much of the day. Medics have warned the number of fatalities and injuries could rise as they struggle to cope with scores of people wounded in the attack. It is thought that car dealerships may present convenient targets for the militants because it is easy for them to leave vehicles laden with explosives alongside lots of other vehicles that are also parked in the same area. As the clear-up operation gets underway, distressed relatives are reported to be at the scene desperate to find news of their loved ones. The IS group has stepped up its attacks since the Iraqi army, aided by US-led coalition strikes, launched its campaign to dislodge the Sunni militant group from its stronghold of Mosul in the north four months ago. The militants now control the west of the city, while the eastern part is held by Iraqi forces and their allies. On Wednesday, an attack on used-car dealers in the Habibya area of Sadr City, a suburb in the north of the Iraqi capital, left 18 dead. On Tuesday, a car bomb in the south of Baghdad killed four people. On January 2, at least 35 people were killed in a bomb blast in Sadr City, in an attack claimed by IS.....

Published at: 2017-02-17 00:00:06