the world's fair of beauties are situated at SUNDARBAN in bangladesh

tiger is of the most famous and familiar animal in the world which is collossally found at SUNDARBAN IN BANGLADESH.tiger's external beauties can enchant our mental situation but it's internal attitude can damage one's life in a few second like as bolt from the blue.in the picture we see that the tiger is not only thrusty for water but also for man.from history we knew that a tiger has to hunt for minimum two men in a  year.maximam visitors/turist  whish to happy sundarban but always they feel uneasy because in their mind the fearness of tiger hunt's their mind then the real of tiger.

Ronaldo breaks scoring record

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo set a La Liga record of 40 goals in a season when he netted twice in the 8-1 rout of Almeria on Saturday.

The Portuguese former World Player of the Year bundled in at the far post after only four minutes at the Bernabeu, taking him past the previous best mark of 38 jointly held by Hugo Sanchez and Telmo Zarra.

Former Real striker Sanchez bagged his tally in the 1989/90 campaign and ex-Athletic Bilbao frontman Zarra in 1950/51.

"This record is for the team and for the fans," the 26-year-old told Spanish television after the side's last game of the season.

"I'm generous with my colleagues because they are with me. This is a team game. I thank them for the 40 goals, which was the objective for everyone.

A run of 11 goals in Real's last four league games made it 53 scored in all competitions this season, including six in the Champions League and seven in the King's Cup, where he netted the winner in the final against Barcelona.

Ronaldo's second against Almeria took him past the 52 scored in all competitions this year by Barcelona's World Player of the Year Lionel Messi.

Bangladeshi peacekeepers safe in Sudan

All the Bangladeshi peacekeepers working in the UN mission in Sudan are safe, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate yesterday, amid escalating crisis between the North and South Sudan.
Sudan's northern army has taken control of the disputed Abyei region and is clearing it of armed groups from the South. South has denounced seizure as an act of war.
The North had attacked the oil-rich area with 5,000 troops, killing civilians and southern soldiers, a southern military spokesman told the BBC.
South Sudan is due to become independent in July, but Abyei's status remains to be determined after a referendum on its future was shelved.
In a fighting, a mortar shell destroyed a car near the UN sector headquarters in Abyei, while two members of army were killed by mortar shells in the Egyptian camps of the UN.
"However, all Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Sudan are safe," said the ISPR press release signed by its Assistant Director Md Noor Islam.
The UN has called for an end to fighting between the two sides.

India, US start $50m fund for clean technology

The United States and India announced a joint $50 million fund to promote research in clean energy technologies on Wednesday, a step seen as part of efforts to whittle down their differences over how to fight climate change.
The fund will help establish the Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Centre, which will finance academia, institutions and industry from both countries to undertake the research.
"This is the first collaborative research effort of its kind, where Indian and US researchers will be jointly selected," US Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer said in a statement.
"It elevates the US-India clean energy cooperation to a new level and is a testament to the strength of our continued strategic partnership."
In the global fight against climate change, two of the world's most populous democracies sit on the opposite end of the debate, their differences a major hindrance in achieving an international agreement on curbing global warming.

Under existing rules, only rich countries have to meet binding emissions targets and report actions regularly. But developed nations led by the United States, which never ratified Kyoto, want emerging economies such as China and India to take on a greater share of climate actions.

Biman's DC-10 stuck in Jeddah

Some 223 passengers of a Biman flight suffered a lot yesterday as a DC-10-30 aircraft remained grounded at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah of Saudia Arabia due to a technical glitch.

An official of Biman Bangladesh Airlines said they had to suspend operation of the aircraft and cancel its flight scheduled for 9:30am local time on Jeddah-Chittagong-Dhaka route due to a leakage in the hydraulic line in one of its wings.

The national carrier sent spare parts and technicians from Dhaka to Jeddah in a flight today at 1:00am. It might require only a couple of hours to repair the leakage, the official told The Daily Star.

After hours of misery, the passengers were taken to local hotels. The Biman authorities will bear all the expenses, according to Biman sources.

Biman will accommodate as many as it can in the next Jeddah-Sylhet-Dhaka flight scheduled for 6:00pm today, they added.

A top Biman official said they will have to revise the schedules of other flights due to the technical glitch detected during the aircraft's flight to Jeddah.

"We've already asked the next flight to land in Dhaka first to offload passengers before flying to Sylhet," said another Biman official seeking anonymity.

The Chittagong-bound passengers will take another domestic flight from the capital to reach their destination, he added.

Biman has a fleet of 12 aircrafts including four DC-10s. It is the only airline in the world which still operates 34-year-old DC-10s, mentioned sources in Biman.

Bangladeshi firms lease African land

Two Bangladeshi companies have leased 40,000 hectares of farmland in Africa as part of a government drive to improve food security in the country, said a foreign ministry official yesterday.
The companies have leased the land in Uganda and Tanzania. Another firm will sign a deal for a further 10,000 hectares in Tanzania this week, said Farhadul Islam, a director of the foreign ministry.
“The government strongly supports companies leasing farmland in Africa. The aim is to bring most of the farms' output back to Bangladesh to ease food shortages,” he told AFP.
“African countries offer unique opportunities for farming investment,” he said, adding “Companies from China and other countries are everywhere in Africa.”
Abdul Matlub Ahmad, owner of Nitol Group, said his company signed a deal with the Ugandan government last month to lease farmland to grow rice.
“Under the deal, we can bring some 80 percent of our output back to the country after payment of some annual fees. We shall some employ 25,000 workers--some 90 percent from Uganda,” he told AFP.
Matlub said the group and other Bangladeshi businessmen are looking for further land lease deals in Tanzania, Benin and Guinea.
“These governments are interested to strike agreements with us. I think it will open up vast new opportunities for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs,” he added.
Since Bangladesh identified overseas farming as a key way of improving food security late last year, local businessmen have also scoured Africa for suitable land to lease, foreign ministry official Islam said.
Over the last few years, Bangladesh has become a major importer of rice and wheat, with grain imports up 86 percent year-on-year to $882 million for the last seven months of 2010, according to the central bank

Nato strikes Pakistan army post

Helicopters with the Nato force in Afghanistan wounded two Pakistani soldiers yesterday in a cross-border attack, local officials said, a day after the US tried to smooth a row over the killing of Osama bin Laden triggering a strong message from Pakistan.

The two choppers opened fire on an army checkpoint in a restive tribal region in Pakistan's northwest after they were shot at, a Western military official in Kabul said.

The incident took place in Wacha Bibi, 50 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, local security officials said.

The Pakistan army lodged a "strong protest" with Nato in Afghanistan over what it says was violation of Pakistani air space.

"Pakistan army has lodged a strong protest and demanded a flag meeting," with Nato officials, a military statement said.

"Two Nato helicopters violated Pakistan air space today at Admi Kot Post, North Waziristan, in the early hours of the morning.

"The troops at the post fired upon the helicopters and, as a result of exchange of fire, two of our soldiers received injuries."

Washington considers the tribal belt a hotbed of al-Qaeda, where Taliban and other militants plot attacks on US troops in Afghanistan and on Western targets.

"Two Nato helicopters committed the airspace violation and shelled an army checkpoint, injuring two soldiers," a senior local security official told AFP.

It comes after the United States launched a raid from Afghanistan on May 2 that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden near Islamabad, in an attack that embarrassed and angered the Pakistani military and leadership.

CNG cylinder blast at Ctg kalugat filling station

Two people were injured, one of them seriously, when a gas cylinder of a CNG-run bus exploded at a filling station in Kalurghat area yesterday.

The blast blew up the left hand of a driver, Nasir Uddin, 30, of Faridpur, waiting to refuel his car.

The other victim is a passerby.

Witnesses said the explosion occurred when the Kanungopara-bound local bus was being refueled at HN CNG Station around 10:00am.

There was no passenger on the bus at the time of the accident.

A flying portion of the cylinder hit Nasir's car waiting just beside the bus for refueling, smashing its front part.

Babul, the passerby, of Sadhinagar under Rangunia upazila in Chittagong was wounded when another portion of the cylinder struck him.

They were rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Mostak Ahmed Chowdhury, sub-inspector of Chandgaon Police Station, said they sealed the station following the blast.

Indian College girl kills herself .

A college girl committed suicide at her bedroom in Saltgola area under Bandar Police Station in the port city yesterday.
The deceased, Tania Akhter, 16, daughter of Md Harun of Mistri Hat area in Bandar, was a first-year student of Patenga City Corporation Girls' High School and College.
Tania, after being found hanging from the ceiling fan around 5:00pm, was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where doctors declared her dead.
Sub-inspector Abul Kashem Bhuiyan of Bandar Police Station said Tania might have been committed suicide due to family feud.

The body was sent to CMCH morgue for autopsy.

Prim minister sheik Hasina's Homecoming Day today.

Bangladesh Awami League and its associate bodies are set to celebrate the Homecoming Day of Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina today.

On this day in 1981, Hasina returned home after about six years in exile after the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on August 15 in 1975.

Bangabandhu's daughters, Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, survived the August 15 carnage as they were in Germany.

Awami League and its associate organisations have chalked out an elaborate programme marking the day.

The programme includes placing of wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi in the city, arrangement of doa seeking good health and long life of Sheikh Hasina, meeting with injured freedom fighters and distribution of foods at orphanages.

Japan Government has agreed to give bangladesh $600m

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the Japanese government has agreed to give Bangladesh $600 million loans for the Padma bridge project, a safe drinking water supply project in Khulna, and for the development of the SME sector.

Of the total amount, $400 million will be given for Padma bridge, $160 million for the water supply programme and the rest for the SME (small and medium enterprise) sector, Muhith said.

"The finance ministry and the Japanese embassy will enter into an agreement in this regard on Wednesday (tomorrow)," the minister said at a seminar titled "Middle East and Japan Crises: Possible Impact on Bangladesh Economy" at the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) in Dhaka.

The minister said the agreement signing for the loans committed by the Japan government was delayed because of the natural disasters that hit Japan in March.

The Japan government has already assured Bangladesh that it will continue to process and disburse all the loans despite the recent disasters in the country.

The minister said Bangladesh's imports may be affected for higher prices of petroleum products and food grains worldwide, though its exports are doing well till now.

He stressed the need for bringing discipline in manpower export as there are some irregularities in this business. "We have to focus on manpower export because this is one of the major foreign currency earning sectors of the country," he said.

Pakistan out of mire

Misbahul Haq and Asad Shafiq rescued Pakistan from a perilous 2-3 to be 80-3 at stumps on the third day of the first Test against the West Indies Saturday as the tourists chased down a 219-run winning target.

Shafiq led the way with 40 not out and Misbah scored an unbeaten 34 before bad light stopped play early.
This followed a dramatic top-order batting collapse that left the visitors wobbling in the third over.
Misbah and Shafiq added 78 for the fourth wicket to deflate the Windies and put the visitors' victory bi
The unnerving start to Pakistan's chase overshadowed career-best bowling from Saeed Ajmal that undermined the hosts, and led to their dismissal for a modest 152 in their second innings just before tea.
Ajmal finished with six for 42 from 23.5 overs for match figures of 11 for 111.
The Pakistani off-spinner exploited a tricky Guyana National Stadium pitch, getting deliveries to bounce awkwardly and turn sharply to shatter the home team's batting after they resumed from their overnight total of 34 for two.
Ajmal struck with the fifth ball of the day, removing night-watchman Kemar Roach, and added the scalps of Ramnaresh Sarwan, Carlton Baugh, Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo.
The visitors, however, were held up by a defiant, record last-wicket stand of 48 between Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whose 36 not out was the Windies' top score, and Bishoo, with 24.
Pakistan were then rocked early when Ravi Rampaul trapped Taufeeq Umar lbw and had Azhar Ali caught behind -- both for ducks -- in the space of three balls in his first over, the second of the innings.

Prim minister sheik Hasina in Geneva

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Geneva yesterday on a four-day visit to Switzerland to attend two UN conferences.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Switzerland Mohammad Hannan received the PM at Geneva International Airport in the evening.

The PM will attend the 16th World Meteorological Congress (WMC) and the 64th World Health Assembly in Geneva.

She will address the high-level segment of the 16th WMC today at theGeneva International Conference Centre.

The PM will also deliver a keynote address at the 64th World Health Assembly tomorrow.

The World Meteorological Organization is set to meet from today for the WMC.

The PM will fly for Canada on May 18 through Paris. She will return to Paris on May 25.

Hasina is scheduled to attend the launching programme of 'A global initiative on Girl's and Women Education' on May 26 in Paris, France.

She will return home on May 28.

Hossain Mohammad Ershad 's military rule illegal.

The Supreme Court yesterday declared the military rule of HM Ershad illegal in a verdict that also said the actions taken by his regime will remain effective until their fate is decided by parliament.

A six-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque, upheld a High Court judgment knocking off the 7th amendment to the constitution that validated Ershad's illegal military regime.

Ershad, an army chief-turned-president, seized power in a military coup on March 24, 1982 ousting the elected government of President Justice Abdus Sattar.

His martial law regime continued until November 10, 1986 when a parliament loyal to him legitimised his takeover of power. He became president in a controversial election and continued to be so until 1990 when a mass upsurge ousted him.

“All proclamations, Martial Law Regulations, Martial Law Orders, made/promulgated during the period between 24th March, 1982 and the date of commencement of the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1986 (Act 1 of 1986) are hereby declared illegal and void….,” the SC said in its brief verdict.

The apex court, however, provisionally condoned all acts, things, deeds and transactions and proceedings during the military rule of Ershad between March 24, 1982, and November 10, 1986.

Legal experts said this means the acts, deeds, actions, transactions and proceedings during the period will remain in force until parliament takes decisions on these.

The SC condoned forever the international treaties, which were made during that period.

The controversial 7th amendment was first challenged by Siddique Ahmed, a 64-year-old ordinary man from Chittagong , who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a martial law court in 1986 in a murder case.

The SC voided the trial and conviction of Siddique and ordered his release on bail from jail in Chittagong.

Bangladesh won't be an LDC after 10yrs

Bangladesh and Nepal are expected to graduate from the status of least developed countries (LDCs) within the next 10 years.

Cheick Sidi Diarra, the secretary general of the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs, said this during a press conference on the closing day of the gathering yesterday.

“Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, three Pacific small islands are already in line for graduation in coming three to five years,” the UN official said.

“We have five or six countries that are lining up already for graduation,” Diarra said, adding three oil-producing countries to the list: Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Timor-Leste.

“They are still weak in terms of human capital development,” he said, although their per capital income exceeded the threshold set by the UN.

But the secretary general said they believe they would reach the level of graduation during a decade long course of the new action plan that is adopted in the conference.

However, Diarra said they “expect in near future” a new country to have the status of LDC, meaning South Sudan after it is recognised as a country and become a UN member state.

The conference in its new Istanbul Action Plan aims half the number of LDCs to meet the criteria for graduation by 2020. Only three countries managed to graduate so far.

LDCs countries--33 from Africa, 14 from Asia plus Haiti--are defined as those with a per capita income of less than $745 a year.

The UN-backed conference takes place every ten years. France hosted the first two in 1981 and 1990. The third was held in Brussels in 2001.

Suicide blasts in Pak cop training centre kills 80

Pakistan's Taliban yesterday claimed their first major attack to avenge Osama bin Laden's death as 80 people were killed in a double suicide bombing on a paramilitary police training centre.
Around 140 people were wounded, 40 of them fighting for their lives, in the deadliest attack this year in the nuclear-armed country, where the government is deep in crisis over the killing of the Al-Qaeda chief by US forces on May 2.
In the fallout over the unilateral raid and in another sign of damaged ties with wary ally Washington, an official said Pakistan's senior military officer General Khalid Shameem Wynne had cancelled a visit to the United States.
Pakistan has vowed to review intelligence cooperation and one local security official denied a CNN report that US intelligence agents had interrogated three of bin Laden's widows, who were apprehended in the raid and taken into custody.
CNN said the women were interviewed as a group despite Washington's desire to question them separately, and were openly "hostile" to the US officials.
Pakistan's intelligence agency, which CNN said also attended the meeting, was not immediately available to comment on the report.
Friday's explosions detonated in northwest Pakistan as newly-trained paramilitary cadets, dressed in civilian clothes, were getting into buses for a 10-day leave, police said.
"This was the first revenge for Osama's martyrdom. Wait for bigger attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan," Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Under Hakimullah Mehsud, who replaced Baitullah Mehsud as leader of the group after he was killed by a US missile in 2009, the Pakistani Taliban has been seen as increasingly inspired by Al-Qaeda in waging mass-casualty attacks.
The bombers blew themselves up in Shabqadar, outside the biggest Frontier Constabulary (FC) training centre in the northwest, where Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants repeatedly attack security forces.
The town is close to Mohmand, which is in the lawless tribal belt that Washington has branded the headquarters of Al-Qaeda and where CIA drones carry out missile strikes on Taliban and other Islamist militant commanders.
The Pakistani government condemned the attack, as did Britain, pledging support for Islamabad in the fight against violent extremism.
Gul Momin, his leg in plaster, recalled the horror when the explosions turned a festive Friday morning into a bloodbath.
"We had been very happy," he added. "I was loading my bag into the bus when the blast took place. I was seriously injured but wasn't knocked out. I crawled towards a safe place, then I heard another huge blast.
"Everybody was lying on the ground and crying. I saw people lying in blood and dying. There were dead bodies and body parts. I can't put it into words."
Bashir Ahmed Bilour, senior minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said 80 people had been killed, including 69 FC men, making it the deadliest attack in Pakistan since July 9, 2010, when bombers killed 105 people in Mohmand.
Doctors in Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital said they were struggling to save the lives of more than 40 critically wounded paramilitary policemen and had declared a state of emergency to cope with the scale of the casualties.
"Both attacks were suicide attacks. The first suicide bomber came on a motorcycle and detonated his vest among the Frontier Constabulary men," said the police chief of the Charsadda district, Nisar Khan Marwat.
"When other FC people came to the rescue to help their colleagues, the second bomber came on another motorcycle and blew himself up."
Later Friday, a US drone fired two missiles into a vehicle in Pakistan's tribal district of North Waziristan, killing at least three militants in a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold, officials said.
The Taliban last week threatened to attack security forces to avenge bin Laden's killing in a US helicopter raid north of the capital Islamabad.
There has been little public protest in support of bin Laden in a country where more people have been killed in bomb attacks in the past four years than the nearly 3,000 who died in Al-Qaeda's September 11, 2001 strikes on the US.

But under growing domestic pressure to punish Washington for the bin Laden raid, Pakistan's civilian government said Thursday it would review counter-terrorism cooperation with the United States.

Sri Lanka's challenge in England is its conditions

Sri Lanka will have to adjust quickly to the Test format as well as different wickets if they are to challenge England in their backyard, batting coach Marvan Atapattu said Tuesday.

"The biggest challenge is to adjust to English conditions," Atapattu said as the bulk of Sri Lankan touring party left for England for a two-month tour.

Senior players Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, as well as a few others, will join the squad later after completing their commitments in the Indian Premier League, a lucrative franchise-owned Twenty20 competition.

The IPL players will hardly get time to acclimatise as they will arrive just ahead of the second and last practice game against England Lions from May 19.

With a new skipper in Tillakaratne Dilshan and an overhauled team management, the task will be cut out for the Sri Lankans against a side whose last Test outing saw them thrash Australia in the Ashes.

Sri Lanka last held a test series at home against the West Indies in November-December 2010 but all the three games were ruined by rain.

"We are playing a Test series after after a gap of a few months. Winning the Test series in England is our aim," Atapattu added.

The Sri Lankans are set to play three Tests, a Twenty20 international and five one-dayers during the England tour, which begins with a three-day practice match against Middlesex at Uxbridge from May 14.

The first Test in Cardiff begins on May 26.

"A [Test] win will make it easier for our preparation work for the one-day and T20 games," said Atapattu, a former Sri Lankan skipper.

The away side are also without retired spin great Muttiah Muralidaran who shaped the team's win in a one-off Test at the Oval in 1998 with a rich haul of 16 wickets.

Sri Lanka are yet to win a Test series in England with their best result so far being a 1-1 draw in 2006.

It was Muralidaran again who starred for Sri Lanka in that series, taking eight wickets in the second innings of the second Test at Trent Bridge to shape a 134-run win for his team.

Atapattu however played down the absence of the spin legend, saying the tour offered a fine opportunity for fringe players like Farveez Maharoof and Kaushal Silva to prove their credentials.

Maharoof, currently playing county cricket for Lancashire, made an impressive start to the season with a hundred on his debut against Somerset at Liverpool.

Silva, 24, is uncapped but has an impressive first-class average of 45 and has been picked up as a back-up for Prasanna Jayawardene.

Pak may let US grill Osama wives

Pakistan may let US investigators question the wives of Osama bin Laden, a US official said, a decision that could begin to stabilize relations between the prickly allies that have been severely strained by the killing of the al-Qaeda leader.

"The Pakistanis now appear willing to grant access. Hopefully they'll carry through on the signals they're sending," a US official familiar with the matter said in Washington.

There was no immediate comment from the White House.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry said yesterday it had yet to receive a formal request from the United States.

However, senior Pakistani government officials in Islamabad said yesterday no decision had been taken on the US request.

US investigators, who have been sifting through a huge stash of material seized in bin Laden's high-walled compound, want to question his three wives as they seek to trace his movements and roll up his global militant network.

A Pakistani government official denied that permission for the US questioning of the women had been given, saying local investigators had yet to finish their inquiry.

"It's too early to even think about it," said the official, referring to the US request to question the women.

Pakistan says the three wives, one from Yemen and two from Saudi Arabia, and their children, will be repatriated and Pakistan was making contacts with their countries but they had yet to say they would take them, the official said.

Bin Laden was shot dead on May 2 in a top-secret raid in the northern Pakistani town of Abbottabad to the embarrassment of Pakistan which has for years denied the world's most wanted man was on its soil.

The government is under pressure to explain how the al-Qaeda leader was found in the garrison town, a short distance from the main military academy.

Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, in his first major address since bin Laden's killing, rejected suggestions of incompetence or even complicity in hiding the al-Qaeda leader.

"Allegations of complicity or incompetence are absurd," Gilani told parliament on Monday, saying it was disingenuous for anyone to accuse Pakistan of "being in cahoots" with al-Qaeda.

US President Barack Obama said on Sunday that bin Laden likely had "some sort" of a support network inside Pakistan, but added it would take investigations by Pakistan and the United States to find out the nature of that support.

Pakistan's main opposition party has called on Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari to resign over the breach of sovereignty by US special forces who slipped in from Afghanistan on helicopters to storm the bin Laden compound

The Original Blueprints of Osama Bin Laden's House

The special forces raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout required planning so meticulous that the military actually created a life-sized mock-up of the compound for the commandos to practice on. Coming up with enough information to create the model called for all the powers of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which has been described as the "eyes of America's intelligence network." The agency used "a global network of imagery satellites and sensors, some of which are so precise they’re banned from being sold on the commercial market."

However, the blueprints are available now, and the Independent's Andrew Buncombe went and found them. "A file held by the local authorities in the town shows that plans for the “pucca” (or proper) house were filed in the summer of 2004 by the man known as Arshad Khan, who is thought to have been Bin Laden’s courier." The file shows construction was completed by 2005, and that the occupants never paid any property tax. The architecture firm of Modern Associates, which drew up the plans, reportedly worked with Khan through a property agent. Here's some close ups of the blueprints above:

Where’s Hillary? Hasidic paper breaks the rules by editing Clinton out of White House photo

Hillary Clinton's expression, right hand clasped over her mouth in astonishment, is largely responsible for making the above photo iconic--and, to at least one newspaper, sexually suggestive.

In the photo, President Obama and his national security team are huddled around a conference table in the White House Situation Room, watching CIA director Leon Panetta narrate last Sunday's raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. The mood is clearly tense.

When Women's Wear Daily consulted a coterie of photo editors and designers about why the image is "destined to be one for the history books," Clinton was foremost in their responses.

"The Hillary Clinton expression is the one that holds the photograph fully," Time's photo director told the magazine. "You can see 10 years of tension and heartache and anger in Hillary's face," Conde Nast's Scott Dadich agreed.

Turns out she was probably just coughing during that crucial moment captured by White House photographer Pete Souza. But nevertheless, the image still proved a bit too racy for at least one of the many newspapers that printed it.

That would be the Ultra-Orthodox Hasidic broadsheet Der Tzitung, published in Brooklyn. The paper photoshopped Clinton, as well at the only other woman who could be seen in the room--Audrey Tomason, the national director of counterterrorism--out of the frame.

Two killed at Yemeni teachers' demo

At least two people were shot dead yesterday when Yemeni troops tried to break up a demonstration by teachers in Taez, south of the capital Sanaa, officials and a medical source said.

Thousands of teachers were staging a sit-down demonstration outside the regional ministry of education offices in Taez demanding better pay and the postponement of final school exams, protest organisers said.

"Two injured people died and four others were in serious condition at the intensive care unit," a medical source told AFP.

Bangladeshi youth beaten to death in India

A youth, who went missing on Thursday from a border village, was allegedly beaten to death inside the Indian territory yesterday morning, said the officials of Bangladesh Border Guards (BGB).

The deceased Md Hafizur Rahman 30, was son of Fazlur Rahman of village Khanpur under Dinajpur Sadar upazila.

Maj Muntasir, acting commanding officer of Dinajpur-2 Battalion of BGB, confirmed the incident. The body is now under Gangarampur police custody in India, he said adding India has taken step to send back the body to Bangladesh.

According to the BGB sources, the members of Border Security Force (BSF) of Bhathuria camp recovered the body from near the border pillar no 316 around 10:00am after he was allegedly beaten to death in the early morning, BGB officials said quoting their Indian counterpart.

BGB officials of Dinajpur-2 battalion protested the incident.

A tense situation was prevailing at the area.

Our Satkhira correspondent adds: A Bangladeshi cattle trader sustained bullet injury after BSF members opened fire targeting him at Pakirdanga, opposite of Gazipur border in Satkhira Sadar upazila around 3:30am.

Injured Shahadat Hossain, 25, son of Abdul Karim Morol of village Bharukhali, however, managed to enter into the Bangladesh territory.

He is now under treatment at a local private clinic, Abdul Karim Morol said.

Lt Col Enayet, commanding officer of 41 battalion of BGB, confirmed the incident.

India needs to keep its promises

India will make substantial announcements on specific outstanding issues with Bangladesh, like the Teesta river water sharing and decades-old border disputes, during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka.

"We have special relations with Bangladesh and we are fully aware of Bangladesh's concerns….We have to take effective steps expeditiously to resolve those issues,'' Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at his office in New Delhi yesterday.

Talking to a group of journalists from Bangladesh, Pranab admitted that there has been delay in implementing India's commitments made to Bangladesh. "There have been some slippages. People want to see much more things visible,'' he added.

A powerful minister of Manmohan's cabinet, Pranab said he would talk to his cabinet colleagues in different ministries concerned to see why things are being delayed and seriously pursue for expeditious implementations of the commitments listed in the Joint Communique, which was issued during Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in January last year.

"Whatever we have committed to Bangladesh, we must need to implement,'' the Indian Finance Minister said, adding "I do feel that some of the issues should be implemented immediately.''

Replying to a question about the interim Teesta water sharing, Pranab said "We want to make announcement about it during the Indian prime minister's visit [to Dhaka] some time this year.''

However, he said the elections in different Indian states and some other issues are delaying Manmohan's visit.

Asked about the frequent killing of Bangladeshi nationals in border areas, Pranab said given the "deep and intense relations'' with Bangladesh, such incidents are "extremely unwarranted."

The Indian finance minister suggested that an institutional mechanism should be worked out to stop recurrence of such incidents and ensure a peaceful border.

Iraqi MPs approve payouts for Saddam's US victims

Iraqi MPs okayed a $400-million (270 million euro) compensation deal yesterday for Americans who say they were mistreated by executed dictator Saddam Hussein's regime during the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

A total of 226 lawmakers were in the Council of Representatives' main chamber, with a majority approving the agreement, which was originally signed between Baghdad and Washington in September.

MPs loyal to radical anti-US Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr walked out of parliament when the issue was put to a vote, however.

Iraq's August 2, 1990 assault on neighbouring Kuwait was rapidly met with a concerted international military response that pushed Saddam's forces out of the emirate. Hussein's reign was later ended by a US-led coalition in 2003.

Several US citizens were held by Saddam's regime during the war over Kuwait and used as human shields to deter coalition attacks, with some claiming they were mistreated and tortured by Saddam's forces.

The US embassy welcomed the vote, with spokesman David J. Ranz saying: "This decision represents an important step in our bilateral relationship, and in putting the terrible legacy of the Saddam regime in the past."

The compensation deal is part of efforts to end provisions in force as a result of Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which regards Iraq as a threat to international security.

In December, the UN Security Council also ended key international sanctions imposed on Baghdad, halting punishing restrictions to prevent the proliferation weapons of mass destruction.

Pakistani soldier killed in explosion at camp

One soldier was killed and five were wounded in an explosion at an army camp in a Pakistani administered area of Kashmir early yesterday, officials said.
The blast took place around midnight and triggered fire in Gulpar camp in Kotli district near the UN monitored line of control that divides the disputed Himalayan region between India and Pakistan, local police chief Malik Khalid told AFP by telephone.
"One body has been recovered and five soldiers injured in the incident have been admitted to hospital," he said.
Local administration chief Fareed Ahmed confirmed the incident. "We are investigating if the explosion was accidentally caused by an electrical short circuit or if it was an act of terrorism," he said.
The region is split between the two countries along the line of control and has triggered two of the three wars between the neighbours since their independence from Britain in 1947.
Overall militant violence in the region has declined since India and Pakistan began a peace process in 2004.

Since then, there have been sporadic small clashes with both sides accusing the other of violating the ceasefire.

Gadhafi compound hit by NATO bombs

 TRIPOLI, Libya — A NATO airstrike flattened a building inside Moammar Gadhafi's compound early on Monday, in what a press official from Gadhafi's government said was an attempt on the Libyan leader's life.

Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in a part of the wrecked building when journalists were brought on a government-organized trip to the scene, a few hours after three loud explosions shook central Tripoli. The press official, who asked not to be identified, said Gadhafi used the destroyed building for ministerial and other meetings. She said 45 people were injured, including 15 who were seriously hurt, and some were still unaccounted for after the attack. That could not be independently confirmed.