Author: Sports Desk
The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been suspended with immediate effect as military tensions between India and Pakistan intensify, the Indian cricket board announced on Friday. The move halts the world’s richest cricket tournament just two weeks before its scheduled finale. According to a source familiar with the decision, the suspension was driven by mounting security concerns and the perception that continuing with the high-profile sporting event during a national conflict would be inappropriate. “It is not appropriate at this time to continue IPL,” the source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. In a post on…
China on Saturday urged India and Pakistan to avoid an escalation in fighting, Beijing’s foreign ministry said, as the conflict between its two nuclear-armed neighbours spiralled toward full-blown war. “We strongly call on both India and Pakistan to give priority to peace and stability, remain calm and restrained, return to the track of political settlement through peaceful means and avoid taking actions that further escalate tensions,” a statement by a foreign ministry spokesperson said.
A rigorous heatwave has been sweeping across the country since last week, making people’s lives miserable in the city and elsewhere in the country. Amid the stifling summertime temperature, city-dwellers opted to stay indoors during the daytime. Experts recommended people avoid sunbeams and use proper protection like sunglasses, umbrellas and caps while going out in the heat of the day. The searing heat of the subtropical climate has been affecting the vast swathes of the country, resulting in heat-related sickness and prompting people to get admitted to hospitals. A mild to moderate heat wave is sweeping over…
The cross-border firing between Indian and Pakistan appeared to taper off following Thursday’s strikes, but on Friday night, Indian areas were again targeted. Pakistan earlier denied carrying out similar attacks on Thursday evening that prompted Indian authorities to defer the country’s much-vaunted cricket league by a week. On Friday, as hopes of easing tensions were dashed by the day’s delayed flare-up, residents across Pakistan and India were in a rush to stockpile foods and other essential supplies, while families living near the border sought safer areas. Witnesses have told the Reuters news agency that four blasts have…
Mustafa Zaman Abbasi, a renowned Bangladeshi musicologist and author, passed away at a hospital in the capital on Saturday. He was 87. Abbasi, who had been suffering from various old age complications, breathed his last at a hospital at Banani in the morning, according to family sources. He is survived by wife, two daughters and host of relatives and well-wishers. Abbasi, son of folk singer-composer Abbas Uddin Ahmed, was born on December 8, 1936. His eldest brother Mustafa Kamal was the Chief Justice of Bangladesh and his sister Ferdousi Rahman is a renowned singer. As of…
Protesters from the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement and the National Citizen Party (NCP) staged demonstration in Chattogram, calling for the Awami League to be banned as a “terrorist organization.” The protest began around midnight on Thursday at ‘Gulzar Mor’ in the city’s Chawkbazar area, where demonstrators gathered for a rally. By early Friday morning, they had moved to No. 2 Gate area, continuing the demonstration by blocking key roads. From there they formed a road blockade and chanted slogans demanding the ruling party’s ban. Protesters were heard shouting slogans such as, “No place for Awami League in my…
A new political platform, United People’s Bangladesh (UP Bangladesh), was officially launched on Friday afternoon at the Central Shaheed Minar of the capital. “The platform aims to function as a political pressure group rooted in the ideals of the July Uprising,” its leaders said during the launch. The platform has expressed solidarity with the ongoing NCP-led push demanding a ban on Awami League, and announced its participation in the ongoing road blockade at Shahbagh intersection to press home the demand. Ali Ahsan Zonaed, a key figure of the July Uprising and former president of the Dhaka University…
Amid ongoing protests in Dhaka calling for a ban on the ruling Awami League, senior BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan has stated that it is the people—not the BNP—who hold the authority to determine the party’s political future. Speaking at a media briefing on Friday following a meeting between BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and representatives from the US-based Carter Center, Khan emphasized that the decision to ban any political party does not lie with the BNP. “It is not for the BNP to decide whether the Awami League should be banned. That decision rests with…
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul has said the law will be no problem in banning Awami League as there are some laws, including the Anti-Terrorism Act, for banning the party. “We (advisers) have no disagreement on the issue of taking action against the Awami League. However, everyone can have their own opinion on the method. We need to remember that if we want, we can amend the ICT Act within a few days. There are other laws, including the Anti-Terrorism Act, to ban the Awami League. So, the law is not a problem,” he said in…
Protesters blocked the Shahbagh intersection around 4:40 pm on Friday, demanding a ban on the Awami League (AL), vowing to continue their sit-in until their demands are met. The announcement was made by Hasnat Abdullah, chief coordinator of the National Citizen Party (NCP) for the southern region, during a rally held in front of the InterContinental Hotel. “Our demand has not reached the ears of the interim government,” Hasnat declared at around 4:30 pm. “So we are leaving the rally venue and heading towards Shahbagh. We will not leave until our demand is fulfilled,” he asserted. Shortly…