Krittivas Mukherjee

COLOMBO, Aug 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A worsening of relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan hangs heavy over a summit of South Asian leaders beginning on Saturday, where discussions on terrorism will precede negotiations on trade and food security.

Matthew Bigg

ATLANTA, Aug 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A dispute over whether black U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama has played the "race card" won't swing the election but could make it harder for voters to trust him, analysts said on Friday.

Barcelona have lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after Fifa ruled the club must release Lionel Messi for the Olympic Games, reports BBC.

The Catalan side are reluctant to let the 21-year-old Argentine forward go but Messi is keen to play in Beijing.

NAIROBI, Aug 02 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Livestock rustlers have killed at least 30 people in Kenya's remote Turkana region where clashes over scarce pasture and water resources often flare, a local leader said on Saturday.

COLOMBO, Aug 02 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Pakistan has offered to investigate last month's bomb attack on India's embassy in Kabul that killed two Indian diplomats among 58 people, India's top Foreign Ministry official said on Saturday.

Eminent scientist Animesh Roy invited

Jogesh Chandra Roy Memorial Trust arranged a dinner at city’s Lords Inn hotel in honor of Animesh Roy, an eminent scientist and great grandson of Rishikesh Roy and Gopa Hemangi Roy, grandson and grand daughter in law to Jogesh Chandra Roy yesterday, says a press release.

Blackburn have signed midfielder Carlos Villanueva on an initial one-year loan deal from Chilean club Audax Italiano, reports BBC.

Talks to sign Deportivo defender at an 'advanced stage'

Sky Sports

Newcastle United have confirmed talks to sign Fabricio Coloccini are at an 'advanced stage'.

Reports in Spain have claimed that the Magpies have already agreed a deal to bring in the Deportivo La Coruna defender.

REUTERS, PARIS- Former France defender Lilian Thuram, a member of his country's 1998 World Cup-winning team, announced his retirement from football on Friday.

AFP, GALLE, Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka grabbed three big wickets in the closing session to throw the second Test against India wide open on the third day on Saturday.

AFP, BERLIN  - A German medical team said Friday it had performed what it called the world's first transplant of two full arms, on a farmer who had lost both his limbs in an accident.

AFP, WASHINGTON  - US auto sales braked hard in July, automakers said Friday, as consumers avoided big-ticket spending in the face of rising unemployment, falling home prices and tight credit.

REUTERS, NEW YORK: Negin Farsad, a filmmaker and comedian, recalled a time not long ago when European friends would visit New York just to see her, and not, she said, to use her apartment as a "temporary locker for their shopping bags."

Farsad, 32, recently escorted two friends from London on the inevitable Europeans-clean-out-the-Apple-store shopping excursion, where they purchased a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro for nearly $3,000, plus hundreds of dollars worth of extra memory (why not?), and continued on a spree that included East Village boutiques and Bloomingdale's downtown.

Reuters, New York- Bankers and traders are bracing for sharply reduced bonuses amid one of the worst downturns ever -- and they will be the lucky ones.

REUTERS, SAN FRANCISCO- Yahoo's annual investor meeting on Friday will be a magnet for discontent over the company's failure to reach a merger deal with Microsoft and complaints about the company's past performance.

The 15th summit of the eight-member South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation opened in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo today though expectations are not very high. When the regional association was formed way back in 1985, there were high hopes that effective cooperation between the member states would change the face of South Asia where nearly one and half billion of the world’s population lives.

Agency

Chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed said Saturday that Bangladesh was committed to eliminating all forms of terrorism.

Visits BRAC projects in and outside capital

Staff Corrspondent

The black microbus carrying Rahul Gandhi pulled over on entering a village in Gazipur.

The India's ruling Congress Party stalwart got off, walked to a roadside teashop and asked for a cup of tea, puzzling the security men in his detail. He sipped the cup of tea, taking a fill of the greenery.

All measures put in place

Staff Correspondent

Authorities have put all measures in place to create a congenial atmosphere in four city corporations and nine municipalities for people to vote without fear, election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain said Saturday.

Our Correspondent

Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad announced Friday that his party would take part in upazila elections, in the light of a recent High Court ruling that lifted restrictions on political parties participating directly in local body polls.