Clinton wins first debate: CNN/ORC poll

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pauses as she speaks with campaign supporters after the first presidential debate with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, in Westbury, New York, US, September 26, 2016. Photo: Reuters

Star Online Report

Hillary Clinton was deemed the winner of Monday night's debate by 62% of voters who tuned in to watch, while just 27% said they thought Donald Trump had the better night, according to a CNN/ORC Poll of voters who watched the debate.
That drubbing is similar to Mitt Romney's dominant performance over President Barack Obama in the first 2012 presidential debate, CNN reports.

READ more: Clinton, Trump clash in fiery first debate
Voters who watched said Clinton expressed her views more clearly than Trump and had a better understanding of the issues by a margin of more than 2-to-1. Clinton also was seen as having done a better job addressing concerns voters might have about her potential presidency by a 57% to 35% margin, and as the stronger leader by a 56% to 39% margin.
The gap was smaller on which candidate appeared more sincere and authentic, though still broke in Clinton's favor, with 53% saying she was more sincere vs. 40% who felt Trump did better on that score. Trump topped Clinton 56% to 33% as the debater who spent more time attacking their opponent.
Although the survey suggested debate watchers were more apt to describe themselves as Democrats than the overall pool of voters, even independents who watched deemed Clinton the winner, 54% vs. 33% who thought Trump did the best job in the debate.
And the survey suggests Clinton outperformed the expectations of those who watched. While pre-debate interviews indicated these watchers expected Clinton to win by a 26-point margin, that grew to 35 points in the post-debate survey.

About half in the poll say the debate did not have an effect on their voting plans, 47% said it didn't make a difference, but those who say they were moved by it tilted in Clinton's direction, 34% said the debate made them more apt to vote for Clinton, 18% more likely to back Trump.
On the issues, voters who watched broadly say Clinton would do a better job handling foreign policy, 62% to 35%, and most think she would be the better candidate to handle terrorism, 54% to 43% who prefer Trump. But on the economy, the split is much closer, with 51% saying they favor Clinton's approach vs. 47% who prefer Trump.
Most debate watchers came away from Monday's face-off with doubts about Trump's ability to handle the presidency. Overall, 55% say they didn't think Trump would be able to handle the job of president, 43% said they thought he would. Among political independents who watched the debate, it's a near-even split, 50% say he can handle it, 49% that he can't.
And voters who watched were more apt to see Trump's attacks on Clinton as unfair than they were to see her critiques that way. About two-thirds of debate viewers, 67%, said Clinton's critiques of Trump were fair, while just 51% said the same of Trump.
Assessments of Trump's attacks on Clinton were sharply split by gender, with 58% of men seeing them as fair compared with 44% of women who watched on Monday. There was almost no gender divide in perceptions of whether Clinton's attacks were fair.
The CNN/ORC post-debate poll includes interviews with 521 registered voters who watched the September 26 debate. Results among debate-watchers have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Respondents were originally interviewed as part of a September 23-25 telephone survey of a random sample of Americans, and indicated they planned to watch the debate and would be willing to be re-interviewed when it was over.https://youtu.be/ZEHPrYUcoi0

Trump hits Clinton on stamina; she pounces in retort

Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks as Democratic US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton listens during their first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, US, September 26, 2016. Photo: Reuters

AP, Washington

It was the opening Hillary Clinton had been waiting for all night.
Late in Monday's debate, when the candidates each had notched their points on trade, taxes, crime and more, the talk turned to Clinton's stamina, brought to the fore by her recent bout of pneumonia.

Also READ: Clinton wins first debate - CNN/ORC poll Moderator Lester Holt of NBC asked Trump what he had meant by questioning whether Clinton had a "presidential look."
Trump didn't back off: "She doesn't have the look," he reaffirmed. "She doesn't have the stamina."
"You have so many different things you have to be able to do and I don't believe Hillary has the stamina."
He made his point, feeding into the conspiracy theories swirling about Clinton's health, as well as feeding into sexist questions about whether a woman is tough enough for the job.

Clinton stood stock still, waiting to pounce.
First, she let fly a recitation of her exploits as secretary of state: travels to 112 countries, negotiations on peace deals, cease-fires and imprisoned dissidents - even the 11 hours she spent testifying before a congressional committee investigating the Benghazi situation.
Once Trump can do all that, said Clinton, "He can talk to me about stamina."
Then, she quickly pivoted to the point she'd been dying to make all night, hoping to turn every woman in America against him and evoking memories of Trump's boorish behavior in the primary election season.
Trump, she said, had tried to switch the context of his remarks from talking about her "looks" to her "stamina."
"But this is a man who called women pigs, slobs and dogs," she continued.
She went on to reference his past remarks calling pregnancy an "inconvenience" for employers and questioning when women should get equal pay.
Then, she went to Exhibit A, bringing up a onetime beauty queen whom Trump had called "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping, because she was Latina."
That woman, Clinton said, is now an American citizen - "and you can bet she's going to vote this November."
Trump was left to ask: "Where did you find this? Where did you find this? Oh really?"
He didn't deny he'd said it.
Instead, he played the victim, and offered himself as a model of restraint.
"I was going to say something extremely rough to Hillary, to her family. And I said to myself, I can't do it, I just can't do it," he said.
Clinton, he said, had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on negative ads on him, and "it's not nice. And I don't deserve that."
Later, during post-debate press interviews, Trump disclosed what he had held back:
"I was very happy I was able to hold back on the indiscretions of Bill Clinton."
There were plenty of tit-for-tat moments between Trump and Clinton over the 90-minute debate.
In this one, Trump made his point. But Clinton managed to revive a whole body of questions about how the Republican nominee treats half the electorate.

‘Tangail boy jailed for possessing narcotics,’ HC told

Star Online Report

Authorities today told the High Court that the Tangail schoolboy – who was handed two-year-jail for alleged Facebook threat to a lawmaker – was handed penalised “for narcotics”.
- After jailing boy in ICT act, they now say it was for narcotics
- ‘Assaulted, tortured, threatened’ for ‘threatening’ MP
- Authorities appear before High Court for explanation
Tangail authorities provided the turnaround explanation in response to High Court’s summon – based on a report published in The Daily Star on September 20.
The report quoted Executive Magistrate Rafiqul Islam to say that the boy penalised under ICT Act after the class IX student admitted sending a Facebook text to local lawmaker Anupam Shajahan Joy.
Now, the High Court has set October 18 for passing further order on its suo moto rule – issued earlier seeking explanation from Sakhipur UNO and local OC on their actions.

The boy, Sabbir Shikder, a student of Protima Bonki Public High School in Sakhipur upazila and now on bail, was also present before the High Court and presented his account today.

‘WAS ASSAULTED, THREATENED WITH DEATH’

Describing his account of the incident, Sabbir said plainclothes picked him up from his house around 9:00pm on September 16 and took him blindfolded to Sakhipur Police Station.
There, Sakhipur Officer-in-Charge Maksudul Islam “tortured him and threatened to kill him in crossfire” before escorting him to the residence of MP Anupam Shahjahan.
“The lawmaker beat me up with stick,” Sabbir said. Then he was taken to the office of Sakhipur upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Rafiqul Islam, where the upazila officer kicked him before jailing him for two years.
However, UNO’s lawyer SM Rezaul Karim and OC’s lawyer Nurul Islam Sujon told the High Court that the mobile court sentenced Sabbir for carrying marijuana.
Also, on the note of the report, the lawyers said that The Daily Star published it to malign the image of the lawmaker.

Diversity Award means so much to India: Barse

AFP . Manchester

   

‘Slum Soccer’ winning the inaugural FIFA Diversity award will mean the world to India, better known for its cricket than football, the CEO Abhijeet Barse told AFP on Monday.
‘Slum Soccer’ saw off two other short-listed rivals—The International Gay and Lesbian Football Association (ILGBTFA) and British anti-discrimination pressure group ‘Kick It Out’—to take the award.
“This is absolutely thrilling for India, being acknowledged for a football project when India doesn’t ever make the football headlines!” an overjoyed Barse said at the Soccerex Global Football Convention.
“This will help us project ourselves onto the Government with this sort of publicity.
“The Government used to see it as education versus sport but now they see sport is part of education.”
‘Slum Soccer’ Barse explained takes in children who are outcasts in society and gets them playing football as a means to getting their confidence back with the ultimate goal of re-integrating them into society.
“They just give up because they have no direction and don’t feel part of the community,” he said.
“We go not only into the slums but also to schools and we take children who feel marginalised.
“At the moment we have around 12,000 on a daily basis in the project not just in the cities but also in the villages and rural areas.”
Barse, who is an academic by background, said that it had been wonderful to see some of the successes they had had in their different children.
“Many have gone on to gain the confidence to apply for and obtain jobs,” he said.
“Some have even returned to our project as coaches. Others have returned to resume their education and are absorbed back into the community that once they didn’t feel part of.
“That is because we have built up their confidence through playing together and being a unit, learning off each other as much as from us adults.”
Barse, whose project is backed by among others UNICEF and FIFA’s Football For Hope, said that his father had been the brainchild behind the project.
“He was a sportsman himself, a handball player,” said Barse.
“But he came from a very poor background and he knew that lots of children wouldn’t be getting opportunities to shine because of their origins.
“Thus 14 years ago he started up ‘Slum Soccer’ to give them a possibility of hope. And it grew and grew.”
However, success as often the case had its price as Barse Senior discovered and his son observed.
“He realised it was unmanageable and I saw the impact it was having on him,” said Barse.
“I was doing my PhD in the US at the time but I decided that I would return and help,” he said.
“I have no regrets because of the joy it brings. Of course there are challenges but different to the ones I found in academia.
“It is very satisfying.”

Colombia, FARC rebels sign historic peace deal

AFP . Cartagena | Update: 12:18, Sep 27, 2016

           

Colombia’s leftist FARC rebel force signed a historic peace accord with the government Monday and apologized to the countless victims of the country’s half-century civil war.
In an emotional open-air ceremony, President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed the communist rebels into the political sphere after signing the accord with FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, alias Timoleon “Timochenko” Jimenez.
Dressed in white, the former mortal enemies signed and shook hands, smiling before an audience of international dignitaries, drawing loud cheers.
The ceremony in the Caribbean coast city of Cartagena followed a four-year process to end the last major armed conflict in the Americas. The accord remains to be ratified by referendum in a week.
“We are being reborn to launch a new era of reconciliation and of building peace,” Timochenko said.
“In the name of the FARC, I sincerely apologize to all the victims of the conflict for any pain we may have caused during this war.”
Colombian authorities estimate the territorial and ideological conflict has killed 260,000 people, left 45,000 missing and uprooted 6.9 million.
“Let no one doubt that we are moving towards politics without weapons. Let us all prepare to disarm hearts and minds,” Timochenko said.
Santos then stepped up to the podium and addressed a message to the thousands of FARC fighters preparing to disarm in their jungle camps.
“When you begin your return to society... as head of state of the homeland that we all love, I welcome you to democracy,” he said.
“Swapping bullets for votes and weapons for ideas is the bravest and most intelligent decision that any rebel group could take.”
The 2,500 guests at the signing included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Vatican’s Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
An array of Latin American heads of state, including Cuban President Raul Castro, sat near the signatories on stage.
FARC’s political future
The FARC launched its guerrilla war on the Colombian government in 1964, after a peasant uprising that was crushed by the army.
Over the decades, the conflict drew in several leftist rebel groups, right-wing paramilitaries and drug gangs.
Under the deal, the FARC is now to relaunch as a political party. Timochenko, 57, is expected to remain its leader.
At a remote jungle camp in El Diamante, western Colombia, FARC fighter David Preciado celebrated the accord by playing football with his comrades.
“The government did not defeat us, and we did not defeat them. Our 52 years of war were not in vain,” he told AFP.
“We are aware that we have to move forward together, united... to finally achieve victory, giving power to the people by political means.”
Amnesty
The rebels came to the negotiating table after being weakened by an army offensive led by Santos, 65, when he was defense minister.
After he became president, four years of talks hosted by Cuba yielded a final, 300-page accord last month.
It grants an amnesty for “political crimes” committed during the conflict, but not for the worst atrocities, such as massacres, torture and rape.
The FARC’s fighters are to leave their mountain and jungle hideouts and disarm in a UN-supervised process.
Colombian authorities estimate their number at more than 7,000.
No to ‘terrorists’
Recent polls show the “Yes” camp in the lead to ratify the accord in the referendum on October 2.
Some Colombians resent the concessions made to the FARC, however.
Former president Alvaro Uribe led a demonstration in protest at the signing on Monday.
“The Americans would not grant impunity to Osama Bin Laden. The French would not grant impunity to (Islamist militants) ISIS,” he said.
“Why should we Colombians grant total impunity to terrorists?”
Santos told the gathering at the signing ceremony: “I prefer an imperfect accord that saves lives to a perfect war that keeps sowing death and pain.”
FARC off blacklist
The European Union suspended the FARC from its list of terrorist groups, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.
The government has yet to begin planned peace talks with another, smaller leftist rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), saying it must first stop kidnappings.

The election process and the next election commission

M Sakhawat Hossain 

Prothom Alo carried an article on 17 September by Sohrab Hossain, asking ‘Who will conduct the elections?’ This was quite a timely piece and it is prime time to discuss the issue.
Hopefully the new election commission will be formed within less than four months, though there is no constitutional obligation to do so. There is no reason to believe that there will be any change in the process followed by the political governments in forming the election commission. The law minister has already said that the election commission will be appointed in the same manner as it has been in the past.
The election commission is formed in different ways in different countries. In some countries it hardly has a role to play in conducting the election. And in many democratic countries, it has control over the government during the election period. India is an example.
The election commission in India is firmly rooted and has strong support from the judiciary, the media, civil society and, above all, the political parties. They are all stakeholders. Very few election commissions in India have faced criticism.
During the last Lok Sabha election in India, the new Indian army chief was supposed to be elected, but even that was postponed at the behest of the commission.
Article 119 of our constitution also provides such powers to the election commission, but our commission cannot fully exercise these powers. They are not backed up by those supposed to back them. The judiciary must come forward to support the commission. When we were in the election commission, the media played a powerful role. We did not, however, receive as much support from the judiciary as desired.
I don’t know if the court can take any action automatically if the constitution is violated. In such cases, Indian civil society organisations approach the court through the PLI. In our country a few organisations did go to the court, but it is doubtful if they will be able to do so in the future.
Our experience with elections is not negligible. Our election commissions have dealt will all the types of elections as enumerated in political science. In our country, during one term an election commission gains experience of about 6000 election units, including the union parishad election and so on. India does not have this experience as the election commission there only conducts the Rajya Sabha election. The local elections are conducted by the respective state election commissions.
Despite our experience, there is a lack of continuity in our election work procedures. Actually the fault lies in the formation of the election commission. The commissions formed by the political governments simply look towards the government. So it then depends on the government, not the election commission, as to whether the election will be free, fair and credible.
The election commissions under the caretaker governments managed to conduct free, fair and credible elections, but after that the commissions failed to follow suit. The successive governments were non-cooperative and the election commissions were compromised.
The time span between 2007 and 2012 was significant in the history of the election commission. The elections conducted in this period were hardly debated and the election commission performed quite independently despite several bottlenecks and also managed to bring about several changes. Unfortunately, the subsequent commissions failed to carry on this trend or to effectively apply these changes.
There is a lack of public confidence in the present election system. It will be the first and foremost task of the next election commission to restore this confidence.
The first step will be the process of forming the election commission. Though there is similarity between the Indian constitution and ours, it must be kept in mind that the foundations of their democratic institutions, of which political parties are most important, are very strong. India’s federal structure is also conducive to democracy.
The fact of the matter remains that the election commission in Bangladesh cannot apply the authority vested upon it. The complementary bodies also fail to give it the required backing. Political parties, civil society, the government, the parliament, media, the judiciary and others are all important stakeholders in the election process and election management for a free, fair and credible election.
In rising democracies like Bangladesh, the lack of election integrity and acceptability on an international level is a problem for the administration. The United Nation’s 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights upholds an individual’s right to vote, and places importance on election integrity, credibility, international standards and settlement of election disputes.
The Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) in its research paper Deepening Democracy, and Professor Pippa Norris in her work, point out that if the election process is not credible and the application of law is absent, then the public becomes frustrated and loses confidence in the election process as well as in those who conduct the election.
Such elections are a serious violation of human rights. The governments which emerge from such elections, thus tend to be authoritarian and alienated from the people. The country’s entire election system is harmed. The price is paid in terms of law and order and human rights violations. This has been seen in post-election situations in Kenya, Nigeria and several East European countries.
If an election commission is biased or is ineffective, then the very foundations of democracy will be weak and authoritarianism will spring up. In our country, whether or not there will be a repeat of the 2014 elections and other subsequent polls, all depends on who will run the election commission and how they will perform their duty.
M Sakhawat Hossain: Retired Brigadier General, former election commissioner and columnist
hhintlbd@yahoo.com

Sofia Vergara wasted lots of money on accent lessons

IANS. Los Angeles

           

Colombian-American actress Sofia Vergara spent a lot of money on speech lessons when she started out in the film industry.

The "Modern Family" actress says she wasted a ton of money trying to change her accent, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"I spent so much money when I decided I was going to act. I'm like, 'I'm moving to Los Angeles, I'm gonna hire the best speech coach, I can't understand why Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz can't learn how to speak perfectly, I'm gonna do it'," Vergara said on Harry Connick Jr's new TV show "Harry".

The 44-year-old says her son Manolo, now 24, grew increasingly frustrated with her as she kept pronouncing words wrong.

"He would run lines with me... And he'd say, 'Mum, I just corrected you, like, two seconds ago and you said the word again wrong'," she added.

Vergara, who is married to filmmaker Joe Manganiello, had earlier shared that she is glad to have had her son when she was young.

"I think it helps when he grows up and you are like friends, as well as mother and son. It's fantastic to have your kids young, because you have so much energy."

"I think my family's really funny. Colombian people need that because we come from times that were tough, and sometimes the only way to survive that was to make fun of ourselves and those situations," she had said.

Protest vote closes AFC congress in just 20 minutes

AFP . Panaji |

           

An Asian football congress to elect representatives to the FIFA Council closed after just 20 minutes on Tuesday after members rejected the agenda in protest at a Qatari official being barred from the poll.
Members voted 42 to one against supporting the agenda at the meeting in India’s Goa, which meant the ballot to elect three new members to the world body’s powerful council was cancelled.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa said it was “probably the shortest congress” he had ever chaired.
“It has been an eventful morning and the message is clear to us all. Now my final task is to declare the extraordinary congress closed,” said the Bahraini, before heading into an AFC executive committee committee.
Delegates said the agenda was rejected because a senior Qatari official had been banned from standing just 24 hours before the vote was due to take place.
Scandal-plagued FIFA’s ethics committee last month recommended a two-and-a-half-year ban for Saoud Al-Mohannadi, vice-president of the Qatar Football Association, for refusing to cooperate with a corruption investigation.
Mohannadi denies any wrongdoing and had initially been cleared to stand, before the AFC announced late on Sunday that he’d been ruled out by FIFA.
FIFA has not revealed the subject of the corruption inquiry, but it is not connected with allegations related to the 2022 World Cup, which Qatar will host.
Tuesday’s debacle was witnessed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who beat Sheikh Salman to the job in an election in February and who was in Goa for the congress.
“It was not the right way to go about things. I wish this process had been done much earlier,” Praful Patel, president of the All India Football Federation, told AFP.
“It’s only fair that elections take place in a way that is fair and just. When people file nominations I think at that stage it’s better if they know whether they are going to be able to contest or not,” he added.
Corruption scandals
Six candidates from Asia, including China and North Korea, had been due to vie for three seats on the FIFA Council, which was set up under anti-corruption reforms earlier this year.
FIFA’s all-powerful executive committee, which had become the epicentre of corruption at the organisation, was rebranded as the FIFA Council at the body’s congress in Mexico earlier this year.
It is meant to operate in a similar way to a company’s board of directors as part of plans to make FIFA more transparent, including in the awarding of World Cup hosting rights, following a string of corruption scandals.
Three male candidates—Zhang Jian of China, Iran’s Ali Kafashian Naeni and Zainudin Nordin of Singapore—were set to compete for two of the seats in Tuesday’s vote.
Former Australian footballer Moya Dodd was favourite to beat Mahfuza Ahkter of Bangladesh and North Korea’s Han Un-Gyong to be the AFC’s designated female representative.
FIFA boss Infantino is undertaking a clean-up of FIFA after a series of corruption scandals and bribery allegations plunged the body into crisis.
Former president Sepp Blatter is serving a six-year ban from football over ethics violations, while former secretary-general Jerome Valcke was banned for 10 years over misconduct regarding television deals and 2014 World Cup ticket sales.
Allegations of vote-buying have also dogged the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar.

Hillary wins 1st debate over Trump

en.prothom-alo Online Desk

           

Hillary Clinton was deemed the winner of Monday night's debate by 62 percent of voters who tuned in to watch, while just 27 percent said they thought Donald Trump had the better night, according to a CNN/ORC Poll of voters who watched the debate.
That drubbing is similar to Mitt Romney's dominant performance over President Barack Obama in the first 2012 presidential debate, CNN said in its report.
Voters who watched said Clinton expressed her views more clearly than Trump and had a better understanding of the issues by a margin of more than 2-to-1. Clinton also was seen as having done a better job addressing concerns voters might have about her potential presidency by a 57 percent to 35 percent margin, and as the stronger leader by a 56 percent to 39 percent margin.
CNN finds The gap was smaller on which candidate appeared more sincere and authentic, though still broke in Clinton's favor, with 53 percent saying she was more sincere vs. 40 percent who felt Trump did better on that score. Trump topped Clinton 56 percent to 33 percent as the debater who spent more time attacking their opponent.
Although the survey suggested debate watchers were more apt to describe themselves as Democrats than the overall pool of voters, even independents who watched deemed Clinton the winner, 54 percent vs. 33 percent who thought Trump did the best job in the debate.
And the survey suggests Clinton outperformed the expectations of those who watched. While pre-debate interviews indicated, these watchers expected Clinton to win by a 26-point margin that grew to 35 points in the post-debate survey, CNN said.
About half in the poll say the debate did not have an effect on their voting plans, 47 percent said it didn't make a difference, but those who say they were moved by it tilted in Clinton's direction, 34 percent said the debate made them more apt to vote for Clinton, 18 percent more likely to back Trump.
On the issues, voters who watched broadly say Clinton would do a better job handling foreign policy, 62 percent to 35 percent, and most think she would be the better candidate to handle terrorism, 54 percent to 43 percent who prefer Trump. But on the economy, the split is much closer, with 51 percent saying they favor Clinton's approach vs. 47 percent who prefer Trump.
Most debate watchers came away from Monday's face-off with doubts about Trump's ability to handle the presidency. Overall, 55 percent say they didn't think Trump would be able to handle the job of president, 43 percent said they thought he would. Among political independents who watched the debate, it's a near-even split, 50 percent say he can handle it, 49 percent that he can't, the CNN report said.
And voters who watched were more apt to see Trump's attacks on Clinton as unfair as they were to see her critiques that way. About two-thirds of debate viewers, 67 percent, said Clinton's critiques of Trump were fair, while just 51 percent said the same of Trump.
Assessments of Trump's attacks on Clinton were sharply split by gender, with 58 percent of men seeing them as fair compared with 44 percent of women who watched on Monday. There was almost no gender divide in perceptions of whether Clinton's attacks were fair.
The CNN/ORC post-debate poll includes interviews with 521 registered voters who watched the September 26 debate. Results among debate-watchers have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Respondents were originally interviewed as part of a September 23-25 telephone survey of a random sample of Americans, and indicated they planned to watch the debate and would be willing to be re-interviewed when it was over.

Lisa Haydon announces her marriage

IANS . Mumbai |

Actress Lisa Haydon has announced that she is soon getting married.
Lisa shared the news on her Instagram account On Tuesday along with a photograph with her beau.
She posted an image of herself with her boyfriend Dino Lalvani with whom she has previously posted a number of photographs on the photo-sharing website.
In the photograph that Lisa shared, the couple is seen sharing a kiss and the caption reads: “Gonna marry him.”
Lisa and Dino have reportedly been dating for a year.

Trial of Hijbut Tahrir leader Mohiuddin begins

Court Correspondent |

A Dhaka court on Tuesday framed charges against six people, including former Hizbut Tahrir chief coordinator Mohiuddin Ahmed, in a case filed under the Anti-terrorism Act in 2010.
Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah also ordered starting the trial process.
Mohiuddin Ahmed was arrested on 10 April 2010. A case was filed against him under the anti-terrorism act in 2010.
Mohiuddin got bail on 3 May 2011, and was freed from jail next year. However, he denied of having any relation with Hizbut Tahrir now.

Clinton and Trump to square off in highly anticipated debate showdown

   

Published: 2016-09-26 15:40:21.0 BdST Updated: 2016-09-26 15:42:08.0 BdST

• Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump will face off for the first time on Monday in a presidential debate that could rank as one of the most watched and highly anticipated political showdowns in US history.The surprisingly tight race for the White House and the unpredictable clash in styles between well-known but polarising foes has generated wide interest in the potentially pivotal encounter, which comes six weeks before the Nov 8 election.The size of the audience is expected to challenge the presidential debate record of 80 million who watched the 1980 encounter between Democratic President Jimmy Carter and Republican Ronald Reagan.The 90-minute debate will be held at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island. It is the first of three planned presidential debates.Both Trump and Clinton, who polls show are the least liked White House candidates in modern history, hope to use the debate to erase some of those lingering voter doubts and address campaign-trail weaknesses.The volatile Trump, a businessman and former reality television star, will get a chance to show a depth and steadiness worthy of a credible commander in chief, while the cautious Clinton will be able to try to connect directly with voters who do not trust her, strategists said.But Trump, a political newcomer who has often shown more affinity for putdowns than policy, could benefit from lower expectations from voters."There is no question it's a lower bar for Trump. He doesn't have to be brilliant, he just can't be too bombastic," said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist who is now a political scientist at the University of Southern California.The stakes are enormous. The debate comes as polls show Clinton's once sizable lead over Trump has evaporated amid more questions about her family foundation and her use of a private email server while secretary of state.A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed half of America's likely voters would rely on the debates to help them make their choice. More than half, 61 percent, were hoping for a civil debate and were not interested in the bitterness shown on the campaign trail.

Grudge match

Clinton, 68, and Trump, 70, have regularly exchanged sharp insults, raising the prospect of a fiery grudge match. Trump frequently chides Clinton as "Crooked Hillary" and has called for her jailing for the email controversy. Clinton condemns Trump as temperamentally unfit for the White House.

Trump dominated the crowded Republican debates with rapid-fire attacks on his rivals, but he has no experience in a one-on-one debate setting that requires more prolonged discussion of issues.

Clinton has participated in many one-on-one debates on the national stage with Barack Obama during their 2008 battle for the Democratic presidential nomination and with US Senator Bernie Sanders in their Democratic nominating race earlier this year.

Clinton's camp has done its best to raise expectations for Trump.

"Getting through a debate while maintaining your demeanour and not becoming unhinged should not be the standard," Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri told reporters.

The role of moderator Lester Holt of NBC News has also come under scrutiny ahead of the debate, with the Clinton campaign and her Democratic supporters urging him to correct Trump if he makes false claims.

Trump has also tried to influence Holt and the moderators of the other showdowns with Clinton, saying the candidates should be the ones to correct the record.

But in a year when outsiders like Trump and Sanders have made a mark, Trump's best argument could be that he is a better agent of change than the former secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York, said Scott Reed, a veteran Republican operative who is now chief strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"He's got to draw the contrast between Trump as the candidate of change and Clinton as the candidate of more of the same," Reed said.

BANGALIAANA REINVENTED!

For centuries, poets and playwrights alike have tried to describe her beauty through their literary creations and artists have tried to capture her elegance on their canvases. Such is the mystique and allure of a Bengali woman's grace.

A modern Bengali woman is many things in one. She has to be smart, independent, with a mind and a career of her own. She has to make her mark in the world, both at home and abroad. With her wit and sophistication, she has to have a global outlook and attitude. At the same time, she has to stay true to her heritage and culture, for her heart is rooted in tradition. With time and modernisation, some aspects of a Bengali woman's erstwhile detailed charm have lost their place in a modern life. In keeping with trends seeping in from all over the world, these nuances are slowly creeping out of the general consciousness. With a little bit of imagination, some of these lost traditions can be reinvented and implemented into a modern woman's wardrobe and lifestyle, while keeping our age-old traditions alive. 

Women of the Tagore household in the turn-of-the-century Kolkata were quite the trendsetters. Their style statements were meticulously copied by fashionable women of that era, which in turn set the trends all over Bengal.  Frilly, three-quarter sleeved blouses were highly fashionable and coveted by fashionistas of the time. This style can be modified and worked into a modern woman's wardrobe by pairing it with lightweight chiffon and georgette sarees.  When worn with flowing fabrics, it will not look dated or boring, but trendy and exciting.  With subtle embroideries around the neck, back and sleeves, and the frill in a contrasting colour, it will be a major update on the same old short sleeved blouse. It can be a great option for fun events like Mehendi, Sangeet or Holud. The humble petticoat was also given its due recognition by putting frills and cutouts of embroidered swatches on its lower hem back then. The modern rendition can be a version in a shimmery, shiny fabric such as lame (metallic) or moonlight. When worn underneath chiffons in solid colours chiffon or a French lace saree, the subtle shimmer gleaming from underneath will look very glamorous and sophisticated. Perfect for evening soirees and parties, this petticoat will make one stand out in a crowd. 

Speaking of sarees, the traditional handloom sarees of yore are being quietly replaced by mass-produced, synthetic fabrics mimicking the look of cotton but failing to provide its comfort and elegance. A Dora saree in a soft pastel shade can be your ideal partner for the next lunch gathering, or a Biti saree could be perfect for a rooftop tea party. Skip the imported fabrics for once and embrace a local weave. You are bound to look fresh and get complimented! And you could give good old glass bangles a shot, skipping gold bangles for once. They not only look pretty but their musical presence will bring a spring in your step!

The next time you are getting your hair done, give the old favorite Bira Khopa a shot. Whether you are opting for a saree or a lehenga-gown, this hairdo has a lot more going for it that it gets credit for. Simple yet stunning it will tie your whole look together. And tuck in a divine Chaapa phool or two while you are at it, skipping the stale, imported carnation or gerbera. The fresh flowers' heady fragrance will envelope you wherever you go, and enchant those around you.

There used to be a time when women of every household would swear by the beauty concoctions whipped up in the kitchen. Homemade kajol was most popular, as it was a safe and hygienic option over the commercially-produced, toxic ones available in the market. Teep, an indispensible element of a Bengali woman's vanity, was also made at home using powdered colours before the stick-on version was invented. Various other face packs and hair oils were made at home. So the next time you have some free time ask your mother or granny for recipes and whip up some of your own makeup, in your own kitchen!

By Sabrina N Bhuiyan

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed

Model: Abony, Riba, Doyel

Wardrobe: Chondon for Star Lifestyle

Make-up: Farzana Shakil’s Makeover Salon

Special thanks to Chondona Dewa
n

Australia to offer new, 5yr visas to families of migrants

BSS, Canberra

Families of migrants to Australia will be able to apply for a five-year temporary residency visa, in a move set to reduce decade-long wait list for families seeking a permanent residency visa, the Australian government has announced.

The move was made after the government became aware of frustrations surrounding the current visa program, Assistant Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke was quoted by The Australian on Saturday.

Currently, if family members of a migrant to Australia wish to join their family through a visa program, they are put on a lengthy wait list for a permanent residency visa.

But under the new plan, migrants can sponsor their family's move, and they'll be given a five-year visa without waiting for long time.

Families or the migrants will be required to contribute to the cost of the visa, a measure which has come about after a Productivity Commission report last week found the overall cost of hosting migrants' parents would be up to 2.5 billion US dollars once welfare, healthcare and other social benefits are given to them.

Hawke said many migrants and their ethnic communities were upset at the long wait list which prevented families from being reunited in Australia.

"We want to help families reunite and spend time together, while ensuring that we do so in a way that does not burden Australia's healthcare system," Hawke added.

The government is yet to decide on a cost for the new, five-year temporary visa program, however it expects to implement the visa from July 1, 2017. The government estimated that just 1,500 people migrate to Australia to join family members who were already living in the country.

Great calibre sees Tigers through

VILLAIN TO HERO: Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed was finding his return to international cricket yesterday to be quite taxing after the Afghans had taken him for 49 in his first six overs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. However he turned things around spectacularly, claiming four wickets for just ten runs off his next two overs, as the hosts clinched a win and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Bishwajit Roy

The Tigers survived a scare from Afghanistan on their return to ODI cricket after a long break with a nerve-wracking seven-run win at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur last night. Dismissing the last Afghan batsman off the last ball, Taskin Ahmed went for his trademark airplane celebration while captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was punching the air as the victory in the first ODI of the three-match series brought great relief to the Tigers' tent.

Bangladesh snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and Taskin deserves credit for the way the agile pacer bounced back in the death overs after some poor bowling up front, but it was the true professional Shakib Al Hasan who was the real hero in denying Afghanistan another upset like the one in the 2014 Asia Cup match in Fatullah. They could have achieved a much better start in their first ODI of the year had they not dropped a few vital catches or leaked runs in the field after some poor batting at the end of their innings, which saw them lose the last seven wickets for 62 runs. In the end however, the way the Tigers managed to overcome the pressure and win only showed the maturity of a team and the hallmarks of a big side.

Shakib scored 48 off 40 balls and then took two wickets for 26 runs in 10 overs to become player of the match. These were merely the statistics but his true impact on the game was much more impressive. While the other batsmen struggled against the Afghan leg-spin, the left-hander showed his true character and the brilliance of his left-arm spin under pressure in the 47th over virtually took the wind out of the visitors' sails, after they rode on a 144-run third wicket stand between Rahmat Shah and Hasmatullah Shahidi to get so close to the 265-run target.

Afghanistan were well placed, needing 28 to win with five wickets in hand, when Shakib started the 47th over. The left-arm spinner conceded only one run to tip the balance in the home team's favour after earlier providing the much needed breakthrough to the Shah-Shahidi partnership, removing Rahmat Shah (71) to become Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in all three formats -- the only cricketer in the world to achieve the feat.

Then the hitherto expensive Taskin grabbed the initiative to complete the job in style. Taskin killed any Afghanistan hope by removing Mohammad Nabi and Asghar Stanikzai in the 48th over. His cunning slower off-cutter to dismiss Nabi was particularly brilliant. Rubel Hossain gave away only eight runs in the penultimate over leaving Afghanistan to score 13 runs from the last six balls with two wickets in hand, but Taskin nailed the yorkers and removed the two remaining obstacles to seal Bangladesh's tense win.

Skipper Mashrafe also contributed heavily to the win through his bowling, recording the team's second most economical figures after giving away just 42 in his ten overs. He also claimed two wickets, the more important one being that of opener Mohammad Shahzad, who had, before being caught behind off Mashrafe, plundered a 21-ball 31.

Taskin's success must have been sweet relief for Imrul Kayes, who put down Mohammad Shahzad in the second over to deny Taskin immediate success on his comeback from suspension. Mahmudullah Riyad would have been similarly relieved as he dropped a sitter at deep midwicket to give Shahidi a life when the batsman was on 63.

Tamim was brilliant during his 98-ball 80 before committing an error while Riyad executed some brilliant shots in his 74-ball 62. The duo batted with authority after the early departure of Soumya Sarkar, who made his first duck to continue his poor form, and the shaky innings of Kayes, who made 37 runs.Earlier, half-centuries from Tamim Iqbal and Riyad should have given Bangladesh a big score but a middle-order collapse left them stranded on 265 and these two batsmen were at fault as their wrong shot selection at the wrong time prevented them from capitalising on good innings to take the team's total over the 300-run mark.

Rashid Khan changed the momentum when he removed Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman with googlies in his last two overs and the late blows slowed down the Bangladesh charge, restricting them to just 69 in the last 10 overs.

Bangladesh trained long and hard before entering the series but they were not up to the mark. Eventually however, their greater experience and calibre came into play as they won the match under pressure.

6 top JMB activists held from WB, Assam

The Statesman, Singur

Six top Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) activists, including four wanted in the 2014 Khagragarh blast case, were arrested from West Bengal and Assam.

Of the six, three were Bangladeshi nationals, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vishal Garg said.

"These people were not in West Bengal after Khagragarh blast. They had left the state and moved to South India and Northeastern states. They were planning subversive activities in some South Indian states. We are trying to find out the details," Garg said.

The JMB activists arrested by the Kolkata Police Special Task Force included Anwar Hussain Farooq, the head of the outfit's West Bengal unit, and Yusuf Sheikh, the second in command in the state.

Sheikh, also the JMB chief motivator in the state, carried a Rs.10 lakh reward on his head announced by NIA.

The four others who were wanted in connection with Khagragarh blast of October 2, 2014, were Shahidul Islam, Mohammad Rubel, Abul Kalam and Jadidul Islam.

Kalam and Rubel were carrying on their heads a reward of Rs.3 lakh and 1 lakh respectively.

Kalam was held from Coochbehar station in north Bengal on Sunday while Jahidul was arrested from Cachhar district of Assam on Saturday.Yusuf and Shahidul were arrested from Natun Bazar under Basirhat area of North 24 Parganas district on Sunday while Farooq and Rubel were picked up from Bagda Road in Bangao in the same district, Garg said.

Forged ID papers, 2 kg white powdery substance, one laptop, mobile phones, detonator, wire cutters, batteries Bangladeshi and Indian currency, letters written in Bengali, travel guide, books on chemicals and memory cards for camera were seized from them.

China likely to pledge big

During President Jinping's visit next month, China may commit loans under 5-year cooperation plan involving billions of dollars

Rejaul Karim Byron

China may commit to a five-year comprehensive cooperation plan, including assistance in several billion-dollar projects, during the Chinese president's Bangladesh visit in the middle of next month.

Already, the Chinese government has expressed initial interest in giving around $23 billion in soft loan for 20 projects to be implemented between 2016 and 2020. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is likely to be signed in this regard when Xi Jinping comes to Dhaka on October 13 or 14, finance ministry officials said.

The comprehensive plan may also include a commitment for increasing Chinese grant and long-term cooperation in disaster management.

All the line ministries will hold a meeting at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) to discuss the latest about the 20 projects on October 2. The projects will later be finalised at an inter-ministry meeting, said one official.

Before that, on September 28 and 29, the ERD will sit with officials of the Chinese Exim Bank over signing of loan agreements for two of these projects. The two projects involve purchasing six ships from China with a loan of $184 million and setting up Dasherkandi Water Treatment Plant with a $280-million loan. 

The loan agreement is likely to be signed during the Chinese president's visit, said an ERD official.  

Bangladesh has already selected some Chinese companies to implement seven to eight of the 20 projects, said the finance ministry official, asking not to be named.

Bangladesh will try to sign the loan agreements within the next two years and start implementing the projects.The cabinet committee on economic affairs has given the go ahead to the line ministries for implementing the projects through those companies.

Since taking office in 2009, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited China twice, the last time in June 2014.

After that Bangladesh sent lists of dozens of projects to the Chinese government for soft loan. The Chinese side also made verbal commitment for giving assistance of $10 billion, $20 billion and $30 billion. But there was no written response.

During the Chinese president's visit, Bangladesh expects big pledges from him, the ministry official said. According to primary indications from China about the projects it wants to fund, seven are in the power and energy sector, which would cost about $7.7 billion.

The projects include a 1,320 megawatt coal-based power plant in Kalapara upazila at Payra Seaport. An MoU was signed in this regard during Hasina's last visit to China and the government is already acquiring land there to set up the plant.

Another project involves a 350MW coal-fired thermal power plant at Gazaria in Dhaka's Munshiganj, where China will provide $433 million. China may also give a soft loan to build an industrial park for setting up garment factories in Gazaria, where Chinese businesses will invest.

In the rail sector, China has shown interest in funding four projects costing around $6.21 billion, including the 172km Padma Rail link project.

The three other projects involve upgrading the rail lines from Joydevpur to Mymensingh, Joydevpur to Ishwardi and Akhaura to Sylhet.

In four projects under the Roads and Bridges Division, Beijing may offer $6.65 billion. The projects include Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway, Dhaka-Sylhet four-lane highway and Sitakunda-Cox's Bazar Marine Drive Expressway.

To attract Chinese investment, the Bangladesh government has already allocated two economic zones in Gazaria and Anwara in Chittagong. 

China may offer soft loans to develop these zones as well, said another finance ministry official.

Over the years, China has invested trillions of dollars against treasury bonds in the US and countries in Europe. As interest rates on those bonds continue to fall, China is now eager to invest in developing countries which will bring it profits through interest and also help it expand its businesses.

And Bangladesh wants to take this opportunity, but on easier borrowing terms, officials said.

At present, China charges two percent interest on soft loans with a repayment period of 15 years plus five years of grace period. The loan also carries 0.2 percent commitment fees and 0.2 percent management fees.

In case of such loans, the Chinese government selects the contractor, and stipulates that all materials for the projects be purchased from China.

Bangladesh will try to get the loan at 1 percent interest and introduce limited tender system, which is done in case of bidder selection under Indian soft loan.

Under the limited tender system, bidders from the loan-providing country participate in the tendering process, instead of being handpicked by the government.

About the limited tendering process, China has already given its primary consent, sources said.

Since independence, China has provided Bangladesh $1,519 million in soft loans and grants. Of the sum, $916 million came in the last seven years from FY10 to FY16 alone.

It was $303 million in the preceding seven years from FY02 to FY09.