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Trains from Dhaka to the rest of the country have been delayed after a fire damaged a rail track in Gazipur’s Tongi. A pile of scrap cloth caught fire below a rail bridge in Tongi early on Thursday morning, said Tongi Fire Service Senior Official Md Atiqur Rahman, reports bdnews24.com. Two firefighting units managed to put out the fire within thirty minutes. “The fire has gutted some old wooden slippers under the rail line,” the official said. Traffic has suspended on one rail line on the Tongi rail bridge since 6am, said Tongi Station Master Md Halimuzzaman. This has caused a delay in train services from Dhaka to the rest of the country. The fire service’s investigation suggests a stray cigarette may have caused the fire.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-09 00:00:05

Prime Minister Theresa May won approval from parliament's lower chamber on Wednesday to trigger Britain's exit from the European Union, defeating attempts by pro-EU lawmakers to attach extra conditions to her plan to start divorce talks by March 31. Lawmakers (MPs) voted 494 to 122 in favour of legislation giving May the right to trigger Brexit, ending days of intense debate. The bill now needs the approval of the upper chamber, in which May does not have a majority, before it becomes law. The victory marks a significant step towards starting what is expected to be a complex and difficult two-year negotiation with the EU on issues such as trade, immigration and security that will redraw Britain's role in the world, reports Reuters. "We've seen a historic vote tonight," said Brexit minister David Davis. "A big majority for getting on with negotiating our exit from the EU and a strong, new partnership with its member states." After surviving a minor rebellion from within May's Conservative Party that had threatened to undermine her authority and negotiating strategy, the law was passed without amendment and on schedule. That raised expectations that the bill will enjoy an equally smooth passage in the unelected House of Lords, when its journey there begins in earnest on Feb 20. The government wants to complete the legislative process by March 7. Sources close to discussions in the upper chamber said they expected peers to keep pushing for parliament to have more say during the negotiating process. One source said that could mean a one-week delay to the law's final approval, but neither expected the process to endanger May's end of March deadline. STRAINING UNITY At times rancorous, the debate exposed two major faultlines running through Britain's post-referendum politics: ‎the disconnect between strongly pro-EU Scotland and the rest of the country, and the division over Europe in the opposition Labour Party. An opinion poll indicated on Wednesday that support for Scottish independence had risen since May came out last month in favour of Britain making a clean break when it leaves the EU. Scottish National Party lawmakers repeatedly said in parliament they were being denied a voice in the Brexit process, which was fuelling demand for another independence referendum. "The barracking by government members and the preventing of SNP MPs from speaking in this House play right into our hands and result in headlines saying that support for independence is surging," said SNP lawmaker Joanna Cherry. As the final votes were being counted, SNP lawmakers sang Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" - the EU's anthem - in the debating chamber. The law has also become a conduit for frustrations within the Labour Party, which has split over whether it should support May's vision of Brexit or try to block it to secure a different deal. Labour's support is divided between more prosperous urban constituencies that generally favoured staying in the EU and declining industrial areas that strongly backed Brexit. To complicate things further, many pro-EU Labour lawmakers represent anti-EU areas. Dozens of Labour lawmakers voted against the bill, defying their leader Jeremy Corbyn, who said they should support the law even though their attempts to amend it had failed. Several members of Corbyn's policy team resigned over the issue. "I ... cannot, in all good conscience, vote for something I believe will ultimately harm the city I have the honour to represent, love and call home," said Clive Lewis, Corbyn's business spokesman, who quit moments before the vote.....

Published at: 2017-02-09 00:00:05

India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat in the one-off test against Bangladesh at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com. Middle order batsman Ajinkya Rahane returned for the hosts, ranked number one in the world in the format, at the expense of Karun Nair who could not hold onto his place despite his triple century in India's last test against England. "Hyderabad has always been a very good batting wicket," Kohli said after the toss, refusing to be complacent against a team eight rungs lower in the test rankings. "For us the opposition is not something we focus on, we focus on our skills and focus on executing our plans and be persistent with our skills." Bangladesh face a formidable job playing their maiden test in India, currently in the middle of a brilliant home run. "Test cricket is all about keeping the momentum for five days, you can't really play three days of good cricket and give it up," said Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim. "Hopefully the boys are fired up. All the guys are keen to show some skill." Squad: India: Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (captain-wicketkeeper), Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi....

Published at: 2017-02-09 00:00:05

Deportivo Alaves reached the Copa del Rey final for the first time in their 96-year history with victory over Celta Vigo in their semi-final second leg on Wednesday. Winger Edgar Mendez scored the only goal of the two games when he lifted the ball over keeper Sergio Alvarez and into the net in the 83rd minute, reports BBC. Former Liverpool player Iago Aspas went close for Celta with a shot tipped away by goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco. Deportivo Alaves play Barcelona, who knocked out Atletico Madrid, in the final in May. Alaves beat Barca 2-1 at the Nou Camp earlier this season and will host Luis Enrique's side on Saturday in La Liga. Alaves' only other appearance in a major final came in 2001 when they were beaten 5-4 by Liverpool in the UEFA Cup. "We're going to enjoy tonight and we'll try to go for glory in May but we've already made history," Alaves captain Manu Garcia said.....

Published at: 2017-02-09 00:00:05

A worker was killed and another injured when the boundary wall of a building collapsed on them in the city's Baridhara area on Thursday, reports UNB. Mizanur Rahman, the duty officer at the Fire Service control room, said part of the boundary wall of the building, located on road No 13, collapsed on workers while they were repairing it around 11:00am, leaving one dead on the spot and another injured. Firefighters rescued the other workers and took them to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The identity of the deceased could not yet be known.....

Published at: 2017-02-09 00:00:05