Your evening brief – 24 December: AL national council, BNP anti-govt protest on same day

The ruling Bangladesh Awami League is scheduled to hold its 22nd national council on 24 December at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital. The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's Central Working Committee, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the chair, on 28 October. Meanwhile, BNP, as a part of their efforts to oust the government and press home their freshly announced demands, will bring out mass processions across all divisional and metropolitan cities on the same day.  Read More

Among a number of incidents taking place on Sunday (11 December), take a quick look at some of the most important news items The Business Standard has compiled for you… 

BNP MPs submit resignation to JS speaker

All seven Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) MPs submitted their resignation to the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) speaker in-person on Sunday (11 December). Five of the BNP lawmakers visited the parliament around 11am and handed in their resignation. Meanwhile, the others submitted their resignation letters via the BNP whip. Read More

By-polls at vacant parliament seats within 90-days of declaration: EC Alamgir

By-polls will be held in the parliament seats made vacant following the resignation of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) MPs within 90 of being declared so, said Election Commissioner Md Alamgir today.  "We have seen in the media that they have resigned. We haven't received any seat vacancy gazette yet. If they have indeed resigned, elections will be held within 90 days of the seat becoming vacant. If the resignation is tendered to the Speaker or in her absence by the Deputy Speaker, it will be gazette," he said while speaking to reporters on Sunday (11 December). Read More

MFS industry ready for further jump to make cashless society

Bangladesh's mobile financial service (MFS) industry is getting prepared to provide a complete digital financial solution aiming to create a cashless society, said sector insiders and experts. They also mentioned that the industry has the potential to receive another 4-5 large operators like bKash each with a $3 billion to $4 billion investment by the next decade to develop a digital financial ecosystem. Read More

UK announces additional £4.5 million funding for Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh

The United Kingdom is contributing an additional £4.5 million to sustain the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh, lifting its funding from the start of the crisis in August 2017 to a total of £345 million. This additional support to WFP (£3m) and UNICEF (£1.5m) will provide food, water, sanitation, and child protection to Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char, said a press release. Read More

BNP's Nayapaltan office reopens after 4 days of police raid

BNP's central office at Nayapaltan in Dhaka was reopened on Sunday noon, four days after closure following police raid at the office. Some BNP leaders led by party organising secretary and acting secretary Syed Emran Saleh Prince went to the BNP office around 1pm and entered the office with some lawyers and journalists around 1:15pm. Read More

Russia oil embargo, price cap disrupts tankers

The European Union embargo on Russia's oil and an international cap on the price of the country's crude is disrupting the maritime transport sector. The EU on Monday enforced an embargo on Russian crude shipments, the bloc's latest sanction in retaliation for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Read More

High-level US envoys to visit China in effort to repair ties

The US government is sending its first high-level delegation to China since a pledge made last month by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden to repair frayed relations. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will join National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Laura Rosenberger on the December 11-14 trip. Read More

'Pinch me, I'm dreaming!': Bounou revels in Morocco 'miracle'

Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou hopes the Atlas Lions' "miracle" run to the World Cup semi-finals convinces future generations of Moroccan talent to no longer have an inferiority complex. After eliminating Spain on penalties in the last 16, Morocco arguably produced an even bigger shock as Walid Regragui's men beat Portugal 1-0 at Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday. Read More

'It will be something I have to live with': Kane takes responsibility for England exit

Harry Kane took responsibility for England's World Cup exit after blazing a late penalty over the bar in the Three Lions' 2-1 defeat to France, saying he will "have to live with" the error. England more than matched France during Saturday's tense quarter-final at Al Bayt Stadium, with Kane cancelling out Aurelien Tchouameni's opener from the spot after the France midfielder fouled Bukayo Saka in the area. Read More