The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved 22 development projects involving a total outlay of Tk 46,419.66 crore. The approval came at an ECNEC meeting held at the NEC Conference Room with Chief Adviser and ECNEC Chairperson Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus in the chair. Among the approved projects, 14 are new, five are revised and ...

BNP has shared four parliamentary seats with its alliance partner Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh. The decision was disclosed at a press conference held at the BNP chairperson’s office in Gulshan around 12:15PM on Tuesday. The party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the announcement in the presence of senior leaders of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh. He said the seats were given ...

Ministers will increase the threshold for taxing inherited farmland from £1m to £2.5m after months of pressure from campaigners and MPs representing rural areas. In a statement slipped out just before Christmas, the environment department announced the U-turn which will apply from April when the tax is due to kick in. Plans to tax inherited agricultural assets worth more than ...

Abel Ferrara was there at the beginning. In his new memoir, Scene, the cult director describes his experience at the American premiere of Salò, the hugely controversial final film from Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. At the beginning of the film – at which Ferrara and company arrived with wine and cheese, given its length – there were 15 people ...

If your idea of a great holiday involves golden beaches, bright blue skies, sunshine and – of course – eating and drinking to your heart’s content, then look no further. Known as the culinary capital of the Caribbean, Barbados boasts some of the most magnificent produce in the region, from the freshest, straight-from-the-ocean fish and seafood, to plump, juicy exotic ...

Six immigration officers have been charged with offences after an investigation into alleged thefts from migrants and money laundering. Five of the officers are facing charges including conspiracy to steal and misconduct in public office, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Tuesday. All six have been charged with money laundering offences. Besmir Matera, 36, Lee-Ann Evanson, 42, John Bernthal, ...

A former Tory councillor has appeared in court charged with drugging and raping his former wife over a period of 13 years. Philip Young, 49, and five other men have been accused of more than 60 rapes and sexual offences against Joanne Young, 48. She can be named as the alleged victim because she has waived her right to anonymity, ...

The secretary for local government has written to all councils to warn that adopting a four-day week for staff puts them at risk of being declared a failing authority, according to reports. Twenty-five councils have discussed a four-day week policy and one, South Cambridgeshire district council, has already moved to the pattern. While councils are free to set their own ...

Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced Monday the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved its popular GLP-1 anti-obesity drug Wegovy to be administered in pill form for weight loss. “With today’s approval of the Wegovy pill, patients will have a convenient, once-daily pill that can help them lose as much weight as the original Wegovy injection,” Mike Doustdar, ...

A coach bus slammed into a barrier on an Indonesian highway early Monday, flipping over in an accident that killed at least 16 people, a rescue worker said. The bus, which was headed from the capital Jakarta to Yogyakarta, was travelling at a “fairly high” speed when it reached a turn at a highway interchange, local search and rescue agency ...