Haque Specialized Group's News

Four labourers have died when a truck carrying packaging cartons fell into a roadside ditch in Narayanganj. Police said the accident has been reported from the district's Sonaragaon Upazila in wee hours of Wednesday, reports bdnews24.com. The truck rolled into the ditch around 3:00am in Asharia Char area after the driver lost control, said Sonargaon police OC Md Manjur Quader. He said ten labourers were travelling on top of the truck, which was loaded with packaging cartons for a factory. As the truck fell into the ditch at Asharia Char, two labourers died on the spot. The eight others were hospitalised at the Upazila Health Complex, where two more died, OC Quader said. The identity of the victims is yet to be known, he added.....

Published at: 2017-02-08 00:00:04

An appeals court has questioned whether President Donald Trump's travel ban discriminates against Muslims. The executive order temporarily banned entry for all refugees and visitors from seven mainly Muslim countries, until it was halted last week, reports BBC. Judge Richard Clifton asked whether it could be discriminatory if it affected only 15% of the world's Muslims. He is one of three judges on the appeals court in San Francisco, which will make its ruling later this week. There was an hour of oral arguments from both sides on Tuesday. Whatever the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals decides, the case will probably end up in the Supreme Court. The Justice Department was first to make its case, urging the appeal judges to reinstate the banning order. Lawyer August Flentje said Congress had authorised the president to control who can enter the country. When asked to point to evidence that the seven countries affected - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - present a risk to the US, he said a number of Somalis in the US had been connected to the al-Shabab group. Then a lawyer representing Washington state told the court that halting the executive order had not harmed the US government. Solicitor General Noah Purcell said the ban had affected thousands of residents of the state, with students delayed as they tried to come to Washington and others prevented from visiting family abroad. The final minutes of the hearing were spent on whether the travel ban amounted to a shut-out for Muslims, which would be unconstitutional. A 15-page brief issued by the Justice Department on Monday night argued the executive order was "neutral with respect to religion". But in court on Tuesday, Mr Purcell cited Mr Trump's campaign statements about a Muslim ban. He also pointed to statements made by one of the president's advisers, Rudy Giuliani, who said he was asked to come up with a way of making a Muslim ban work legally. Mr Clifton said the ban only covered seven countries, and they were identified by the Obama administration and Congress as deserving of visa restrictions, based on a terror threat. He asked: "Do you assert that that decision by the previous administration and congress as religiously motivated?" No, Mr Purcell answered, but President Trump had called for a complete ban and although this was not a complete ban, it was discriminatory. It came into force on 25 January and caused some confusion at US and foreign airports because people were stopped from boarding planes or prevented from entering the US, and sent home. There was strong condemnation and it was halted last Friday by a federal judge in Washington state. As a result, people from the seven countries with valid visas were able to travel to the US again. Washington state, Minnesota and other states want the appeals court in San Francisco to permit the temporary restraining order to stand as their lawsuit works its way through the courts. Polls suggest that US public opinion is sharply divided on the issue.   ....

Published at: 2017-02-08 00:00:04

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova on Tuesday denounced the killing of journalist Abdul Hakim Shimul in Shahjadpur of Sirajganj district on 3 February. “I condemn the killing of Abdul Hakim Shimul” said the Director-General.  “I trust that the authorities will succeed in bringing the journalist's killers to justice, which is particularly important to promote freedom of expression and deter violence against media workers.”  Abdul Hakim, who sustained bullet wounds during a clash between two associate bodies of Awami League in Shahjadpur on February 2, succumbed to his injuries around 1:00pm on the next day.  ....

Published at: 2017-02-08 00:00:04

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested eight members of two teenage groups from Uttara in the city on Wednesday morning in the schoolboy Adnan murder case.   The arrestees are the member of 'Disco Boys Group' and 'Big Boss Gang', said sources at the RAB headquarters, reports UNB. The details of the arrest are still awaited. Adnan, a student of Uttara's TrustSchool and College and a member of local Nine Star Group, came under attack in Uttara on January 6 allegedly by members of Disco Boys Group. Critically injured Adnan was rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead.....

Published at: 2017-02-08 00:00:04

US stocks ended higher on Tuesday while, Nasdaq managed to scratch out a new record as gains in big tech names countered energy declines. The S&P 500 ended barely higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also hit an intraday all-time high just after the market opened, and the benchmark S&P 500 came close to yet another record high. US equities have rallied sharply after President Donald Trump's election in November, spurred by hopes the Republican-led government will cut regulations and taxes and enact higher infrastructure spending. However, investors have expressed concerns those polices could be put off as Trump focuses elsewhere such as on immigration. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.87 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 20,090.29, the S&P 500 gained 0.52 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 2,293.08 and the Nasdaq Composite added 10.67 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 5,674.22. Energy was the worst-performing S&P sector, falling 1.4 per cent. Chevron's 1.4-per cent fall and Exxon's 0.6-per cent drop were among the biggest drags on the S&P. Tech stocks helped prop up the S&P. Apple rose about 1.0 per cent and Google parent Alphabet gained 0.9 per cent. Consumer staples were the best performing S&P group, rising 0.8 per cent. In corporate earnings news, Emerson Electric shares rose 4.5 per cent after the manufacturer reported a higher-than-expected profit. General Motors fell 4.7 per cent after the automaker said that fourth-quarter net income fell partly on the strength of the dollar against the British pound and forecast flat 2017 profit per share. Michael Kors dropped 10.8 per cent, after the handbag maker forecast current-quarter profit below estimates. After the market closed, Walt Disney shares fell following the company's quarterly report. About 6.6 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, slightly below the 6.7 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.21-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.40-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 32 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 108 new highs and 40 new lows, according to Reuters.....

Published at: 2017-02-08 00:00:04