Trading at the country's two bourses showed downtrend in the first session on Thursday, the last working day of the week.

The benchmark indexes as well as most of the share prices fell as trading resumed on the day.

At 12:46pm, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) general index lost 198.79 points to stand at 6142.12.

The International Crimes Tribunal will hear on Sunday the investigation panel's appeal to remand Jamaat-e-Islami leader Matiur Rahman Nizami.

Tribunal's registrar Mohammad Shahinur Islam revealed this to reporters at his office on Thursday.

On the same day, it will also hear another appeal by the panel for the arrest of former BNP MP M A Alim.

KID'S VACCINATION

Fewer parents in Bangladesh now refuse or delay vaccination of their babies than earlier, shows a study.

Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) coverage evaluation survey 2010 finds that parents of six percent children refuse vaccines for their kids while 14 percent make delay in completing the full dose of six vaccines.

The percentage of fully vaccinated children was 79, who completed their doses as per EPI schedule before celebrating first birthday. The percentage was 75 the previous year.

Brushing aside the allegation of the opposition leader that the country was going through a constitutional crisis, Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta has said the 1972 constitution is in place.

"If there is no constitution in the country, how you are the leader of the opposition? How are you flying the national flag in your car? Could you do that had there been no constitution?" Suranjit questioned Khaleda Zia.

Western powers pounding Libya's defences will wind up in the dustbin of history, said leader Muammar Gaddafi as his troops held back rebel advances despite four nights of attacks from the air.

While Western air power has grounded Gaddafi's planes and pushed back his troops and armour from the brink of rebel stronghold Benghazi, disorganised and poorly equipped insurgents have failed to capitalise on the ground and remain pinned down.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces pushed into the rebel-held city of Benghazi on Saturday, defying world demands for an immediate ceasefire and after France's U.N. envoy predicted an imminent military action.

Explosions shook Benghazi while a fighter jet was heard flying overhead, and residents said the eastern rebel stronghold was under attack from Gaddafi's forces.

A simple "sorry" from captain Shakib Al Hasan summed up Bangladesh's World Cup campaign which had begun with high hopes.

The Tigers crashed out of the running for the next level of Wold Cup after South Africa handed them out a crushing defeat on Saturday.

A win for the co-hosts on Saturday would have condemned England to an early exit but instead it was Shakib's men who have suddenly discovered they no longer have a role to play at the World Cup even though the sporting extravaganza will be continuing in their own backyard.

Six Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders, including Rangpur Medical College unit president and general secretary, have been arrested in connection with Tuesday's attack on a traffic police office.

Kotwali police chief Haider Ali Mollah told reporters that the BCL leaders were arrested on Tuesday night following a case filed after the attack.

Workers back form Libya have pressed the government for compensation.

A total of 465 workers from the Libya Expatriates Welfare Association made the demand at a press briefing at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

The workers said that on Jan 14, groups of Libyans attacked them and looted their valuables, including mobile cash, telephone sets, laptops, etc.

Libyan tanks and warplanes intensified their offensive against rebels on Tuesday, as the United States stressed that any no-fly zone to hobble Muammar Gaddafi's forces had to have global backing.

Rising casualties and threats of hunger and a refugee crisis have increased pressure on foreign governments to act, but many are fearful of moving from sanctions alone to military action.

Following spells of fluctuations, two bourses showed constant uptrend until one hour before the closing of trading on Wednesday.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) general index gained 207.36 points to stand at 6258.46 within 30 minutes of trading, but immediately fell by over 150 points to come down to about 6100 points around 11:45am.

Continuing the rise and fall, the index at 2pm touched 6294.74 points, up by 243.63 points or 4.02 percent from the beginning.

The full court will hear on Mar 15 the petition filed by Muhammad Yunus seeking a stay order on the High Court judgment upholding his removal from Grameen Bank as its managing director.

Hearing the stay petition on Wednesday, chamber judge Syed Mahmud Hossain put it forward to the full court of the Supreme Court.

Counsel for Yunus filed the petition with the Appellate Division earlier in the day.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has laid the foundation stone of the country's first-ever maritime university at Chittagong Marine Academy.

The foundation-laying ceremony was held on Saturday noon.

The university, 'Sheikh Mujib Maritime University', the second of its kind in South Asia, will be set up on a 35-acre of land on the other bank of the Karnaphuli River.

A truck has ploughed through a jubilant procession of cricket fans in the city's Banani area, killing a young man and injuring 10 others.

Three more fans were also injured in another accident at Shahbagh as they took out a procession after Bangladesh's victory in the crucial World Cup match against Ireland on Friday night.

Thousands of frenzied cricket fans burst into wild celebrations taking out jubilant processions at different places of the country after the exciting 27-run win by Tigers.

The law minister has urged the judges to work with more sincerity and honesty to ease the backlog of cases.

"If the process of trial is not expedited and the backlog of cases not eased it may result in people's non-confidence in the judiciary," Shafique Ahmed said on Saturday.

The lawyer-turned-minister was inaugurating the 102nd Judicial Administration Training Course at the Judicial Training Administration Institute in the city.

World powers struggled to find a way to stop Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi lashing out at his people as he clings to power in Tripoli, the last big city where an uprising against his rule has yet to take hold.

US President Barak Obama signed an order prohibiting transactions related to Libya and blocking property, the first major step to isolate the North African leader, who has used army, police and irregular forces to try to crush the protests.

The retail price of soybean oil has started coming down as the government withdrew 5 percent value added tax (VAT), the chief of the apex trade body has said.

"The price will drop further in the next two weeks," Abul Kalam Azad , president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told reporters on Friday after placing wreaths at the graveyard of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Air pollution triggers more heart attacks than using cocaine and poses as high a risk of sparking a heart attack as alcohol, coffee and physical exertion, scientists said on Thursday.

Sex, anger, marijuana use and chest or respiratory infections and can also trigger heart attacks to different extents, the researchers said, but air pollution, particularly in heavy traffic, is the major culprit.

West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury, the team spokesman said on Friday.

Bravo had sustained the injury during Thursday's World Cup defeat by South Africa.

"He is out of the World Cup. The MRI revealed cartilage damage to the left knee," the spokesman said.

EXPATS IN LIBYA

Relatives of Bangladeshis trapped in Libya have blocked the Dhaka-Sylhet highway at Bhairab demanding government steps to ensure their security.

Traffic on the highway came to a halt as over 1,000 people put blockade on it at Jagannathpur point of the district around 10am on Saturday, causing a three-kilometre tailback, witnesses said.