China has put forward proposals to further intensify China-Africa cooperation especially in the economic and trade fields, a senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official said, reports Xinhua.

Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the proposals at a symposium of Chinese and Moroccan entrepreneurs here Thursday.

Brushing aside pressures from the international community, India is set to sign an agreement for an ambitious multi-modal transport project with Myanmar during the visit of the second most powerful man in the country’s ruling military junta here from Wednesday, reports PTI .

Economic cooperation, connectivity, security and energy are among the issues that are expected to dominate the talks that Vice Senior General Maung Aye will hold with Indian leaders, sources told PTI. Myanmar’s movement towards democracy will also come up for discussion.

Plans for a massive shake-up of U.S. financial market regulation prompted by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market will not satisfy critics and are likely to face stiff opposition from powerful vested interests, officials and analysts said yesterday, reports Reuters.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveils proposals for broad reform, in a telling acknowledgment from the pro- business administration of U.S. President George W. Bush that its hands-off approach to freewheeling financial markets is not sustainable.

Ahead of the crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices for considering options to tame rising inflation, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath on Monday said the government is looking at further cuts in duties on import of essential commodities, reports PTI .

Leaders of the six Asian countries here yesterday met with business community representatives to share their recommendations for enhancing trade and investment in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), reports Xinhua.

The prime ministers of six GMS countries, namely, Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, are here for the Third GMS Summit.

Could it be that we are heading for yet anther wheat crisis and a sharp increase in the flour price over the next few weeks, pushing food inflation to new highs? Probably yes. The farmers are demanding that the official wheat procurement price should be raised upwards to Rs600 per 40kg from the recently fixed Rs510, which is already 20 per cent higher than last year’s Rs425.

Staff Correspondent

Awami League leaders have warned that they are set to increase the pressure to have party chief Sheikh Hasina released from detention.

At a meeting at the party's central office on Bangabandhu Avenue Monday, the AL leaders said if Hasina was not immediately released from special jail a proposed hunger strike could turn into a mass movement.

AFP, HARARE - Zimbabwe's opposition claimed a clear lead over President Robert Mugabe and his party, as pressure mounted Monday for the swift announcement of full results from presidential and parliamentary polls.

Riot police patrolled the capital Harare as the first official returns trickled in, putting Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and challenger Morgan Tsvangirai's

Reuters, DHAKA - The son of a former finance minister was sentenced to 13 years in jail on Monday for acquiring wealth illegally while another politician's son was handed 17 years for illegal possession of firearms.

Separately, an anti-graft commission filed charges of corruption against Tareque Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, his wife and mother-in-law, officials said. Both Khaleda and Tareque are under detention.

Staff Correspondent

Jatiya Sangsad speaker Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar has said he has no authority to tell former lawmakers to vacate the NAM flats they are living in.

Agency

A bilateral committee tasked with redrawing the maritime border between Bangladesh and Myanmar met Monday at the state guesthouse Padma for the first such talks in 21 years.

Additional secretary to the foreign affairs ministry MAK Mahmood led the Bangladesh delegation, while Commodore Maung Oo Lwin headed the Myanmar team to the two-day talks.

Staff Correspondent

The government is set to borrow $300 million from a British bank to finance oil imports by the troubled Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, the finance adviser said Monday.

The government has also decided to borrow $220 million from the International Monetary Fund to meet the budget deficit, finance adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam told reporters after a meeting of the hard-term loan committee at the finance ministry.

Agency

Shamsunnahar Hena, a gynecologist in a Bangladesh hospital, was stunned when her pregnant patient confessed to having eaten half a kilogram of soil every day since she conceived.

A rising number of pregnant woman in Bangladesh's tea-growing Sylhet region are eating charred soil, following a tradition that is meant to stimulate their appetite, which in turn will boost their health and that of their unborn child.

The search for the ICC's next CEO

Cricinfo.com

The ICC is looking at a speedy resolution to the search for its next chief executive officer, with Imtiaz Patel declaring on Sunday that he had withdrawn interest in the position.

Its four-man recruitment committee may discuss the issue as early as this week and Cricinfo has learnt that Haroon Lorgat,

Reuters, ISLAMABAD - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf swore in 24 members of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's cabinet on Monday, six weeks after opposition

The Council of Advisers of the caretaker government Sunday finally approved the National Identity Registration Authority Ordinance 2008 with Home Ministry as the control ministry for providing the NID cards now under preparation, reports UNB.

As per the ordinance, the voter identity cards being provided by the Election Commission will be considered National ID card.

BNP leader Brig (rtd) ASM Hannan Shah Sunday ridiculed the government saying its covert policy of ''minus two'' known as elimination of Khaleda and Hasina from politics has now turned into minus of rice and ata, reports UNB.

"The so-called minus two policy has now yielded to plus. But they have minus rice and ata," Shah said sarcastically pointing to the abnormally high price of the food grains.

A senior BDR officer Sunday urged the retailers to keep their profit margin at a reasonable level and said the Bangladesh Rifles will monitor the market prices through intelligence, reports UNB.

“This is your responsibility to keep the prices of essentials under control,” Col Mohammad Abdul Halim, BDR director (operations & training), said at a meeting, with presidents and secretaries of retail market associations of Dhaka City, at the BDR Headquarters.

Visiting former chief of general staff of eastern command of India JFR Jacob has demanded immediate trial of war criminals, reports UNB.

"The trial of war criminals can be held under the country''s existing law. The government can take initiatives of holding their (war criminals) trials as the country people have already raised their voices for it," he told reporters after placing wreaths at the National Mausoleum in Savar Sunday.

Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has ordered his fighters off the streets of Basra and other cities in an effort to end clashes with security forces, reports BBC.

He said in a statement that his movement wanted the Iraqi people to stop the bloodshed and maintain the nation''s independence and stability.