The prime minister has directed the top administrative officials to curb any artificial price hike in the upcoming fasting month of Ramadan, when prices normally go up.

"Some rogue traders raise food prices by creating an artificial crisis during Ramadan. The entire administration has to be careful against such move," Sheikh Hasina told a meeting with secretaries of different ministries and divisions at the Cabinet Division conference hall on Sunday.

The conduct of civil servants have been like that of military officials because of the prolonged military rule in the country, local government minister Syed Ashraful Islam has said.

He called on civil servants to change their attitude towards public representatives.

"Their mentality has also remained unchanged," he said, replying to a supplementary query at the question-answer session in the parliament on Sunday.

As a way of "strengthening bilateral relations," the government has decided that India and Nepal will be able to use the Chittagong and Mongla ports, Shahjahan Khan, the shipping minister said on Saturday while visiting Paturia Ghat in Mankganj.

In relation to transport issues relating to the local area, he said some utility ferries would be added to the Paturia Ghat to make ferry movement uninterrupted - cutting down expenditure and saving time.

Rapid Action Battalion arrested a leader of the Indian separatist group, United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), Ranjan Chowdhury and an associate from Kishoreganj's Bhairab Upazila in the early hours of Saturday.

The ULFA leader, Ranjan Chowdhury alias Major Ranjan, has been staying in Bangladesh since 1997 and has been maintaining contact with the group.

Main opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia has been invited to the oath swearing programme of the newly elected Chittagong mayor M Manzur Alam, the Awami League leader general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said on Saturday.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will administer the oath of BNP-backed mayor-elect at her office at 10am on Sunday.

The ruling Awami League has decided to hold rallies across the country in a bid to obtain public support in favour of the trial of war criminals, Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said on Saturday at a press briefing at the party's Dhanmondi office.

The decision was taken at Friday's Awami League central working committee meeting chaired by party chief Sheikh Hasina, he added.

Commerce minister Faruk Khan has warned of stern action against those responsible for pushing prices of daily commodities up during the upcoming Ramadan.

His warning came while opening a tree plantation programme launched by Kashiani Upazila Krishak League in Gopalganj on Saturday.

He also urged the businessmen not to hike the prices.

The main opposition BNP has threatened to launch a mass movement unless the ruling party stops its move to reinstate the 1972 constitution.

Concerning the prime minster's call to form an all-party parliamentary committee to amend the constitution, BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain on Saturday said, "It is nothing but an ill-motive."

The Ramna police on Monday remanded Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami in custody for four days in a murder case.

Cab driver Mohammed Faruk Hossain, who sustained injuries on June 26 in an arson allegedly by pro-hartal people just before the June 27 countrywide shutdown, later died.

Spain won the World Cup for the first time when they beat Netherlands 1-0 after extra-time thanks to a goal by midfielder Andres Iniesta.

Iniesta fired home the winner in the 116th minute when he was put through in the area by Cesc Fabregas. Keeper Maarten Stekelenburg dived to his right and got a hand to the ball he could not keep it out.

The holy Shab-e-Barat will be observed across the country on July 27.

The decision came from a meeting of the National Moon Sighting Committee at the Islamic Foundation.

The Foundation said in a statement on Monday that the moon of Sha'ban month of Hijri 1431 could be sighted nowhere in the country.

A day after the food minister feared a probable food crisis during October-November, Abdur Razzaque on Monday told the parliament that there will be no such crisis.

The sudden U-turn comes after a meeting between the prime minister and secretaries at the Cabinet Division on Monday morning.

Bangladesh Rifles soldiers staged the bloody mutiny early last year to force the authorities' hand on their demands for higher pay and better position, the chief investigator says.

"The incidents happened over their so-called demands. No other reasons were found in the investigation," Criminal Investigation Department's senior special superintendent Abdul Kahar Akhand, who investigated two criminal cases filed over the incident, said on Monday.

Bangladesh 236 for 7(Kayes 76, Shahzad 3-41) beat England 231 (Trott 94, Shafiul 2-38) by five runs

Bangladesh produced a performance of immense spirit and character as they secured their first victory over England in any format with a famous five-run win at Bristol. In an extraordinary finale, Ian Bell limped out at No. 11 with a broken foot to accompany Jonathan Trott, but Trott edged a cut off the third ball of the final over bowled by Shafiul Islam after making 94 to send Bangladesh into scenes of wild celebration.

The condition of former BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, suffering from lung cancer, remains unchanged.

Square Hospital's Intensive Care Unit physician Dr Mirza Nazimuddin, speaking at a briefing on Saturday, said the 67-year-old politician had showed signs of improvement the previous day.

"It is neither good nor bad (now). He is under observation."

A Dhaka court on Saturday sent Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Delwar Hossain Sayedee on remand in the Faruk Hossain murder case filed with Ramna police.

The Detective Branch will now question the two leaders on the charges for the killing of Faruk in the lead-up to the June 27 opposition shutdown across the country. Earlier, they were presented to Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrates' Court at the end of the nine-day grilling in three cases filed with Paltan police.

Millers across the country have decided to stop supplying rice to the government warehouses from Sunday after a meeting with the government representatives failed to resolve the discriminatory cash incentive issue on Saturday.

"We've also decided to halt supply of rice until there is a positive response from the government side," K M Layek Ali, convenor of Bangladesh Auto, Major and Husking Mill Owners' Association, told bdnews24.com.

Over 2 million new faces adding up every year to the total population in Bangladesh which is frustrating all development efforts, family welfare minister AFM Ruhal Haque has said.

The population has doubled within 39 years of independence, which is alarming for the densely populated poor country, the minister said at a press conference marking 'World Population Day' at his ministry on Saturday.

Measuring children's neck circumference could provide a quick, simple way to screen them for weight problems, a new study suggests.

Such screening is recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential panel sponsored by the government's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, starting at the age of 6. Right now, doctors usually use body mass index, or BMI, to gauge whether a child (or adult) is overweight or obese. But BMI, which is a ratio of weight to height, is not a good indicator of how much body fat a person has.

North Korea said Friday that an American serving eight years' hard labour for an illegal border crossing has tried to commit suicide and is being treated in hospital.

Aijalon Gomes was "driven by his strong guilty conscience, disappointment and despair at the US government that has not taken any measure for his freedom", the communist state's official news agency said.