Haque Specialized Group's News

British Supermarket giant Tesco has rationed customers to three iceberg lettuces per visit - blaming poor growing conditions in Europe for a shortage in UK stores, reports BBC. It said bad weather in Spain had caused "availability issues" but suppliers were working to resolve the problem. Morrisons has also limited shoppers to three heads of broccoli and three iceberg lettuces, the Daily Mail said. It follows a UK courgette shortage last month, after wet and cold weather in southern Europe devastated crops. Customers have posted photographs on social media sites of empty lettuce shelves in Tesco stores, alongside signs asking them to limit lettuce purchases. One notice read: "Due to continued weather problems in Spain there is a shortage of iceberg lettuce." "To protect the availability to all our customers, we are limiting bulk purchases to three per person. We apologise for any inconvenience caused." Difficult harvest A Tesco spokesperson said it had introduced the limit to ensure its stores did not run out of some products. A Morrisons spokesman told the Daily Mail it had introduced a cap to stop local businesses and restaurateurs buying up all of its stock. "As a result of the fact that the Spanish harvest has been very difficult this year, we have just about enough coming in to supply our customers," he said. Meanwhile, Sainsbury's told the paper it was working with suppliers "to maintain supply for our customers". Dieter Lloyd, from the British Leafy Salads Association, told the BBC that flooding in Spain before Christmas had damaged crops and grounds were then too wet to grow a fresh batch. The problem was compounded by a cold snap of weather in January. He said iceberg lettuces currently being stocked in UK supermarkets had been probably grown in California, rather than Europe. Last month fruit and vegetable wholesaler Nick Padley told BBC News that more than 90 per cent of Europe's iceberg lettuce came from Murcia, a small region in south-east Spain. 'Tough time' He said: "There's a gap of about six weeks on iceberg lettuce, nothing is coming from Spain for six to eight weeks. "Our supplier is now going to be bringing in iceberg from America which is obviously costing more. It's a tough time." The supply of other vegetables - including aubergines, tomatoes, broccoli, and peppers - grown in Europe is also down. The Spanish association of fruit and vegetable producers, FEPEX, said it expected the shortage of leafy vegetables grown outdoors, including lettuce and spinach, to continue until early April. It said EU-wide production was down by about 40 per cent and warned that increased availability would depend on the climate in southern Europe in February and March. Experts say a combination of flooding, cold weather, and poor light levels in southern Europe created a "perfect storm" for bad growing conditions. Unusable fields Spain's Murcia region supplies 80 per cent of Europe's fresh produce during the winter. However, after suffering its heaviest rainfall in 30 years, only 30 per cent of Murcia's growing fields have been useable. The effects of shortages are particularly pronounced in Britain, which imports an estimated 50 per cent of its vegetables and 90 per cent of its fruit.....

Published at: 2017-02-03 00:00:04

A collision with a Shyamoli Paribahan bus has caused the gas cylinder of a van to explode, leaving three persons dead at Chakaria in Cox's Bazar, reports bdnews24.com. Police found a woman among those killed and seven other passengers injured with burns, said Chakaria police's Inspector Kamrul Azam. The accident occurred around a half-hour past Thursday midnight on the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway, he added. All the victims were from the Cox's Bazar-bound microbus which caught fire after the explosion. Those killed could not be identified immediately, but the microbus driver was among them, police said. The bodies have been kept at the Chakaria Upazila Health Complex. Police seized both the vehicles.....

Published at: 2017-02-03 00:00:04

Ferry operations on Paturia-Daulatdia and Chandpur-Shariatpur have been suspended due to heavy fog. Poor visibility forced officials to suspend travels on the river routes from 6am Friday, reports bdnews24.com. Fog began setting in on the Padma River from Thursday midnight, said Md Saluddin, a BIWTA manager at Manikganj. “The Paturia-Daulatdia route had to be suspended because it was barely visible after fog increased around 6am.”     ....

Published at: 2017-02-03 00:00:04

A schoolboy was hacked to death by unidentified miscreants at Sholabaria village in Santhia upazila of Pabna district on Friday. The deceased was identified as Ovi, 13, a class VII student of AtaikulaHigh School and son of Imran Hossain Babu, a resident of the village, according to UNB report. Abdur Razzak, officer-in-charge of Ataikula Police Station, said local people spotted the body of Ovi lying near his house and informed police. Police recovered the body and sent it to Pabna General Hospital morgue for autopsy. A case was filed in this connection.....

Published at: 2017-02-03 00:00:04

The Trump administration said on Thursday that Israel's building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful in achieving peace with Palestinians, adopting a more measured tone than its previous pro-Israel announcements, reports Reuters. In a statement issued two weeks before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to visit US President Donald Trump, the White House said the administration "has not taken an official position on settlement activity." Trump, a Republican, has signalled he could be more accommodating toward settlement projects than his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. The latest statement reflects slightly more nuanced language on how the new administration views settlement activity. "While we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal," the White House said in a statement. The statement could disappoint Israel's far-right, which had hoped Trump would give an unqualified green light on rapid settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem - areas Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke by phone with Netanyahu on Thursday, the State Department said. It did not say whether they discussed the White House statement. Obama routinely criticised settlement construction plans and his administration often described settlement activity as lacking legitimacy and impeding peace. The White House statement came as Israel has ratcheted up settlement activity. On Wednesday, it said it would establish a new settlement in the occupied West Bank, the first since the late 1990s. It also announced plans for 3,000 more settlement homes in the West Bank, the third such declaration in less than two weeks since Trump took office. An announcement a week ago by Israel that it would build some 2,500 more dwellings in the West Bank, where Palestinians now seek statehood, drew rebukes from the Palestinians and the European Union.....

Published at: 2017-02-03 00:00:04