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Saudi authorities Thursday beheaded a man for murdering one Bangladeshi and stabbing another during a bid to rob them, according to the Saudi interior ministry.
Sultan Al Sahli, a Saudi, was convicted of killing one of the Bangladeshis with a blow to the head, and stabbing and wounding the other, said the ministry, cited by state-run Saudi Press Agency news agency.
Sahli wanted to steal their mobile phones and money, the agency said.
His beheading brings to 26 the total number of executions in the kingdom so far this year.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday said the government plans to start construction work on the Padma Bridge project, the largest ever infrastructure project in the country, in the next fiscal year.
“We firmly believe, we’ll be able to start the construction work in the next fiscal year,” he told at a pre-budget discussion at Sonargaon Hotel in the city.
The Finance Minister also said he does not think there is any reason to worry about the financing of the Padma Bridge.
On GDP (gross domestic product) growth projection for the next fiscal, he said the 7.2 percent GDP growth projection should not be considered as “too much ambitious.”
On black money, Muhith said: “We didn’t show too much dependence on the black money in the previous fiscals. Since, we’ve big reforms plan regarding the stock market in the next fiscal, we don’t want to touch it.”
He indicated that investments of black money in the capital market would continue through the next fiscal year, considering the sensitive nature of the stock market. Currently, black money is allowed to be invested in stocks by paying tax at 10 percent.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) jointly arranged the function titled ‘The 33rd Consultative Meeting of National Board of Revenue’ with AK Azad in the chair. The even was telecast live by private television channel NTV.
NBR chairman Dr Nasiruddin Ahmed, FBCCI first vice president M Jashim Uddin and vice president Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, former FBCCI president Akram Hossain, BGMEA president M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, DCCI president Asif Ibrahim, Standard Bank chairman Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed, BARVIDA president Abdul Mannan Chowdhury, actor Elias Kanchan, and leaders of different district chambers, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Unveiling the government’s plan for the upcoming budget, Muhith said the neglected communications sector especially railways would get special allocation in the next budget to ensure smooth communication system in the country. “Railways sector remained neglected for long… we’ll look into it.”
He said the next budget will have specific directions for the next five years on the use of energy resources and electricity generation. He admitted that all the quick rental power plants could not come into generation timely.
The Finance Minister also said that the government will keep significant allocation for four areas –- skill development, maize production, poultry industry and beet sugar.
He assured the entrepreneurs that the government would consider a stimulus package for setting up Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) in industrial areas.
About pre-shipment inspection (PSI), Muhith said: “We want to say bye to the system. Hope it will go soon.”
He said the key objective of the next budget will be to maintain the growth trend and the government will try to make a balance between demand and supply. “To maintain the balance, some may be benefited and some may be affected.”
The Finance Minister also assured the business leaders of accommodating their proposals in the next budget. “If not possible, we can bring changes after the budget placement.”
FBCCI president AK Azad sought a provision for imposing penalty with regular tax on whitening undisclosed income.
He also said the businesses do not favour the government decision allowing the investors to invest black money in stocks by merely paying tax at 10 percent.
“We’re urging the government to withdraw the proposal as it’ll surely discourage honest taxpayers and hurt them… it won’t be a good example for future either.”
The FBCCI chief said those who have undisclosed money can be brought under the income tax net through imposing appropriate penalty.
He also urged the Finance Minister to take initiatives and sit with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to find out a way to resolve the ongoing political conflict in the country.
“You’re a senior minister of the government… I request you to take steps to find out a solution,” he said, adding that confrontational political programmes hit the economy hard.
Azad alleged that some ‘top dogs’ shattered the country’s capital market and sought a legal provision in the next budget to bring back into the market the money they had taken out as hefty profit.
The FBCCI president also sought permission for investing abroad and urged the Finance Minister to give specific directives for that.
He said: “No Bangladeshi investor is now allowed to invest abroad…but there’s ample scope to invest in many countries, including neighboring Myanmar. We want an announcement in the next budget in this regard.”
Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu demanded special allocation for railways to cut pressure on roads and reduce road accidents.
Jashim Uddin said the government needs to generate additional 2000 to 3000 megawatt of electricity to achieve the projected 7.2 percent GDP growth for the next fiscal.

Nishat Mazumder has climbed to the fearsome and unforgiving peak of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain at more than five miles high, as the first Bangladeshi woman.

She ascended to Everest's 8,850-meter-high (29,035-foot-high) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Nepal on Saturday morning with M A Mohit, the second Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest.

An accountant by profession, Mazumder was accompanied by Mohit, a veteran climber who made it to the top of Everest, Manaslu and Cho-Oyu-3 summits higher than 8,000 metres.

"We found out from her Sherpa that Nishat and M A Mohit have made it to the top around 9:30am," Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club founder Inam Al Haque told  on Saturday.

Both Mazumder and Mohit are members of the club.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has congratulated Mazumder on her success.

Mazumder, the second child of her parents, was also the first Bangladeshi woman to have conquered three Himalayan peaks higher than 6,000 metres. She conquered Himalaya's Mera Peak (6,653.78 metres) in 2007, Singchuli Peak (6,501 metres) in 2008 and Makalu Peak (8,493.3 metres) in 2009.

Born in Laxmipur, Mazumder completed her secondary education at Bottomley Home Girls High School and higher secondary education at Shahid Anwar Girls College. She did her bachelors and masters in accounting from Dhaka City College and currently works for Dhaka WASA.

Mazumder dedicated her ascent to Plan International's 'Because I am a Girl' campaign. NGO Plan Bangladesh co-sponsored her expedition that began on Apr 9.

Musa Ibrahim, member of Bangladesh's North Alpine Club, was the first Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest on May 22, 2010.

Weather conditions on the mountain have been challenging this year, prompting several expeditions to cancel their plans to try to reach the summit.

May is considered the best month to climb Everest, when climbers get about two windows of good weather for their bid for the summit.

'Because I am a girl'

When Plan Bangladesh launches its 'Because I am a Girl' campaign this October they plan to urge everyone to raise their hands, 'Hands Up!' they call it, in support of women's empowerment.

Nishat Mazumder, their champion, will have already raised her hand on top of the Everest. "Now that has got to be the highest raised hand in the world, right? You couldn't get any higher than the Everest," said Nova Shams, Plan's spokesperson in Dhaka.

Given her unprecedented feat as a Bangladeshi woman, Mazumder will naturally feature prominently in the campaign that will be launched on the global Girl Child Day on Oct 11 globally.

"And this ties in really well with our theme," Shams told  She has shown that woman too can overcome daunting odds with the family support and mental resolve.

Kill again,BSF don't stop their kill in bangladeshi.India's Border Security Force has killed another Bangladeshi citizen on Dinajpur border despite the Indian government's promise to stop killing along the border.

The incident occurred early on Friday morning at the district's Daudpur border in Birampur, Commander of the 40th Battalion of the Border Guard Bangladesh Lieutenant Colonel Tayebul Haque told .

The deceased has been identified as Saidur Rahman Chiku, 50 who is the son of Abdul Gafur of Birampur Upazila's Poli Mahmudpur village.

He used to rustle cattle from India, Haque said.

The BGB Commander said Saidur and his companions were on their way to India when members of BSF's Gobindapur camp threw grenade at them near pillar no. 289/25 (a).

Saidur received wounds from the grenade and fell to the ground. The BSF members then opened fire at him and killed him, he said.

The BSF has taken Saidur's body, Haque said.

The BGB Commander said they tried to communicate with their Indian counterparts to get the dead body back. "The BSF is yet to respond."

In 2011, the international human-right outfits Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International had severely criticised the Indian government for continuous killing of unarmed Bangladeshis along the border.

Human Rights Watch found numerous cases of indiscriminate use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, and killings by the security force, without adequate investigation or punishment.

The BSF chief, Raman Shrivastava, after a four-day visit to Dhaka on Sep 30 last year said his forces had introduced non-lethal weapons in many places to bring border killings down to "zero level".

According to reports, over 900 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed by the BSF over the last decade, many of them when they crossed into Indian territory for cattle rustling or other smuggling activities.

An overseas telephone call was made to the Rapid Action Battalion on Friday afternoon asking it to release the large shipment of the banned club-drug Yaba tablets seized from Asadganj in Chittagong.

Acting commander of RAB-7 Maj Ziaul Ahsan Sarwar told  that the call was made from an 'unknown' number on the mobile phone of Cox Bazar camp unit commander of RAB-7 Captain Rashid around 4pm.

"The person on the other side asked him to release the Yaba shipment that was seized in the morning. He then hung up the phone," he added.

Maj Sarwar said after they were informed of the matter, they tried to contact the phone number, but found it switched off.

"The (phone) number is not from any of the mobile phone operators of the country. We're looking into issue," the RAB official said.

RAB-1 and RAB-7 in a joint drive seized 270,000 banned Yaba tablets and arrested drug peddler Abdur Rashid along with his three accomplices at Asadganj in Chittagong.

RAB personnel claim that it is so far the largest Yaba seizure. The estimated value of the banned drugs is around Tk 90 million.

Police have set up close circuit TV cameras at the gate of missing BNP leader Ilias Ali's Banani house.

His friend Rafiqul Islam Hilali, who stays in the house, told  that the law enforcers did not even seek permission to install the cameras.

"They came and set up cameras hurriedly," he said.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media and Community Service) Masudur Rahman said the cameras were set up outside the house and they were being monitored 'centrally'.

"We have given utmost importance to the security of the missing BNP leader's family," he added.

On Apr 18, police had found Ilias' car abandoned near his house. He and his driver Ansar Ali have been missing since then. The opposition and his family have been claiming that government henchmen had picked him up.

BNP has enforced several nationwide general strikes over the issue. Cases over violence during the shutdowns saw 33 top opposition leaders, including BNP Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, arrested.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will lead a mass hunger strike of the 18-party opposition alliance on Sunday at the capital's Mahanagar Natya Mancha in Gulistan.

BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan on Saturday confirmed the hunger strike at a rally held in front of the party's Naya Paltan headquarters.

Earlier in the day, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Motijheel zone Deputy Commissioner Anwar Hossain told  that the opposition was given the approval to hold the protest programme at the Natya Mancha.

The main opposition had requested the government to allow them to use one of the three places – the Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) premises, or any vacant place at Mahanagar Natya Mancha or Ramna Green – as the venue for protest programme.

Nazrul at the rally said, "We will protest the government's repression through this peaceful mass hunger strike. Our leader Khaleda Zia will be with us there."

The hunger strike would he held from 10am to 4pm. BNP last staged any similar programme on July 13 last year at the Institution of Engineers premises.

The decision to stage the hunger strike was taken at an 18-party opposition alliance meeting at Khaleda's Gulshan office on Thursday night following a countrywide dawn-to-dusk general strike that day demanding release of top opposition leaders held in cases over violence during a shutdown on May 29.

The programme has also been called demanding withdrawal of cases against top opposition leaders, election under a non-party and neutral government and return of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali.

Protesting a trial court verdict to jail 33 senior leaders of the opposition alliance on Wednesday in connection with an Apr 29 arson case, the opposition had enforced Thursday's general strike.