Awami League will take part in the year-end elections to become the next democratic government, said a senior party leader Tuesday, reports bdnews24.com.

"Of course, Awami League will contest the polls. Hopefully, the political environment will also be amenable by the time the elections are due," said AL acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam.

Bdnews24.com

The government has decided to suspend the monthly pay order or academic recognition of 834 secondary schools under the general education boards and 82 technical and business management colleges for bad performance in the SCC and HSC examinations.

The Islami Oikya Jote in talks with the government Tuesday demanded elections in October as hajj and Eid-ul Azha would fall in December, reports agency.

AFP, LONDON - Oil prices rose on Tuesday to stand above 134 dollars a barrel as traders digested a warning from the International Energy Agency that soaring crude costs would dampen oil demand growth in 2008.

Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy's opening goal in the win over Italy was legitimate, says Premier League referees' chief Keith Hackett, reports agency.

Van Nistelrooy looked yards offside when he prodded home from close range.

"The player was not offside because in addition to the goalkeeper there was another Italian player in front of the goalscorer. Even though he had fallen off the pitch his position was still relevant

REUTERS, DHAKA - Half centuries by three top-order batsmen helped India to score a challenging 330 runs for eight wickets against Pakistan in a triangular series match on Tuesday.

AFP, SALZBURG  - Greece were the unlikeliest of Euro winners four years ago and to many people they would be an even unlikelier victor this time round as they set out on their bid to retain the title with an opening Group D match against Sweden.

AFP, BRDO PRI KRANJU - US President George W. Bush heads into an EU summit Tuesday seeking to tighten the squeeze on Iran's nuclear programme, a central message of his farewell European tour.

Bdnews24.com

Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury, who was transferred to the foreign ministry from the National Defence College on June 8, met foreign secretary Md Touhid Hossain Tuesday.

The 118th death anniversary of religious saint Loknath Brammachari was observed with due solemnity and festivity at city’s Anderkilla on June 5, said a press release.

Rajapukur Loknath Dham organized the occasion including a 2-day programme.

REUTERS, COLOMBO - Tamil Tigers accused the Sri Lankan government on Tuesday of denying international mediators access to the rebels and said Colombo was not ready for peace talks.

AFP, BEICHUAN - China declared victory on Tuesday in its spectacular battle to drain a quake lake that threatened more than one million people, after finally engineering a controlled release of the water.

The Independent

The daughter of Austrian dungeon father Josef Fritzl whose admission to hospital exposed the scandal has woken from her coma, doctors said today.

Kerstin Fritzl ,19, is one of seven children that Fritzl fathered by raping his daughter Elisabeth ,42, whom he kept imprisoned for 24 years in rooms under his home.

AFP, MOGADISHU - A hardline Somali Islamist leader Tuesday rejected a three-month truce reached between Mogadishu and its political foes, casting a damper on a fresh UN bid to bring peace to the shattered nation.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, an influential cleric designated a terrorist by the United States for suspected links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, said Monday's peace talks in Djibouti and the subsequent pact were "fruitless."

The Government's target of halving child poverty by the year 2010 was today looking unattainable after it emerged that child poverty has increased rather than fallen for the second year in a row, reports agency.

AFP, AMMAN - Archaeologists in Jordan have unearthed what they claim is the world's first church, dating back almost 2,000 years, The Jordan Times reported on Tuesday.

"We have uncovered what we believe to be the first church in the world, dating from 33 AD to 70 AD," the head of Jordan's Rihab Centre for Archaeological Studies, Abdul Qader al-Husan, said.

AFP, SYDNEY - More than 70 percent of young Australians show early signs of hearing loss, with loud music played through headphones believed to be a major cause, a survey released Tuesday showed.

REUTERS, NEW YORK - Stocks opened lower on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank would strongly resist rising inflation, stoking fears that interest rates may be on their way up.

Local government is one of the elements of good governance and honest local government reaches development benefits to the grass-roots. Strengthening the local government bodies and ensuring participation of people in the democratic process of the country are essential for overall development of a country. Besides, it is equally important to separate the Election Commission from the Prime Minister’s Office to facilitate working of the EC as an independent body in the election process.