China's Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL) saw its fastest growth in four years in 2023, with a rebound in its consumer segment and income from new businesses like smart car components accelerating its recovery from U.S. sanctions. Revenue rose 9.63% from a year earlier to 704.2 billion yuan ($97.48 billion), with the consumer business contributing most to that figure, growing 17.3% to 251.49 billion yuan. While Huawei did not break down the consumer figure, the segment includes its handset business, which saw a renaissance last year as the company returned to the mainstream 5G smartphones market with the Mate 60, apparently overcoming U.S. restrictions. From 2019, the U.S. has restricted Huawei's access to U.S. technology, accusing the company of being a security risk, which Huawei denies. Last year marked the third consecutive year of growth for the company after revenue plummeted by almost a third in 2021 when the company started to exhaust chip reserves, though revenue remains below its 2020 peak of 891.3 billion yuan. Huawei was relatively muted about its achievement, doing away with the press conference and launch event it has held every year at least since the U.S. restrictions began. In a press release, rotating chairman Ken Hu said the results were in line with forecasts. "We've been through a lot over the past few years. But through one challenge after another, we've managed to grow." At a launch event last year, Meng Wangzhou, Huawei's CFO and the daughter of the company's founder, announced that Huawei was no longer in crisis mode. Net profit in 2023 rose by 144.5% to 87 billion yuan, with the net profit margin more than doubling on a year earlier to 12.35%. Some of that came from ongoing payment from the sale of the Honor smartphone brand, which Huawei sold in November 2020, a company spokesperson said. While the company's core ICT infrastructure business remained stable, its cloud business grew by more than a fifth, generating revenue of 55.3 billion yuan. Source: Reuters

Miss South Africa was crowned Miss Universe on Sunday in Atlanta after a lavish ceremony filled with glitter and heartfelt speeches about female empowerment. Zozibini Tunzi, 26, finished first ahead of the Puerto Rican and Mexican finalists in a flashy televised event, hosted by American comic turned TV personality Steve Harvey. Television personalities Vanessa Lachey and Olivia Culpo served as backstage commentators, and a panel of seven women determined the winner. Tunzi earned cheers during her closing speech, a new segment of the competition, in which she talked about wanting to empower young women to feel confident. "I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered to be beautiful," she said. "I think that it is time that that stops today," she said to thunderous applause. Tunzi beat more than 90 contestants from around the globe in the 68th instalment of Miss Universe, which was held in Atlanta's Tyler Perry Studios. The two favorites ahead of the competition, Miss Thailand Paweensuda Saetan-Drouin and Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados, did not make it to the final 10. The Philippines' Catriona Gray, who presented Tunzi with the crown, took home the Miss Universe crown in 2018. Although she did not make the finals, Miss Myanmar Swe Zin Htet made waves last week when she came out as the competition's first openly gay contestant. "I have that platform that, if I say that I'm a lesbian, it will have a big impact on the LGBTQ community back in Burma," Htet told People magazine, using her country's historic name. Homosexuality is illegal in the southeast Asian country and is punishable by up to life in prison. In 2018, the competition also featured Miss Spain Angela Ponce, who blazed a trail as Miss Universe's first transgender contestant. But the pageant has had a controversial past. Multiple contestants have alleged that US President Donald Trump would regularly enter the competitors' changing room while he owned the organization from 1996-2015. Additionally, Miss Universe continues to host the swimsuit competition, which has drawn criticism for objectifying the contestants, although that part of the pageant was not televised. Source: AFP/MSN AH

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is going to be kicked-off from May 30 at England and Wales. In the 12 th edition of the cricket’s biggest extravaganza, a total of 10 teams will compete for the most coveted trophy. Here is the complete fixture of the tournament: SL- Date - Match - Venue - Time (BST) 1 May 30-2019 England vs South Africa The Oval- London 3.30PM 2 May 31- 2019 West Indies vs Pakistan Trent Bridge- Nottingham 3.30PM 3 June 1- 2019 New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Cardiff Wales Stadium- Cardiff 3.30PM 4 June 1- 2019 Afghanistan vs Australia County Ground Bristol- Bristol 6:30PM 5 June 2- 2019 South Africa vs Bangladesh The Oval- London 3.30PM 6 June 3- 2019 England vs Pakistan Trent Bridge- Nottingham 3:30PM 7 June 4- 2019 Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka Cardiff Wales Stadium- Cardiff 3:30PM 8 June 5- 2019 South Africa vs India Hampshire Bowl- Southampton 3:30PM 9 June 5- 2019 Bangladesh vs New Zealand The Oval- London 6:30PM 10 June 6- 2019 Australia vs West Indies Trent Bridge- Nottingham 3:30PM 11 June 7- 2019 Pakistan vs Sri Lanka County Ground Bristol- Bristol 3:30PM 12 June 8- 2019 England vs Bangladesh Cardiff Wales Stadium- Cardiff 3:30PM 13 June 8- 2019 Afghanistan vs New Zealand County Ground- Taunton 6:30PM 14 June 9- 2019 India vs Australia The Oval-London 3:30PM 15 June 10- 2019 South Africa vs West Indies Hampshire Bowl- Southampton 3:30PM 16 June 11- 2019 Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka County Ground Bristol- Bristol 3:30PM 17 June 12- 2019 Australia vs Pakistan County Ground- Taunton 3:30PM 18 June 13- 2019 India vs New Zealand Trent Bridge- Nottingham 3:30PM 19 June 14- 2019 England vs West Indies Hampshire Bowl- Southampton 3:30PM 20 June 15- 2019 Sri Lanka vs Australia The Oval- London 3:30PM 21 June 15- 2019 South Africa vs Afghanistan Cardiff Wales Stadium- Cardiff 6:30PM 22 June 16- 2019 India vs Pakistan Old Trafford- Manchester 3:30PM 23 June 17- 2019 West Indies vs Bangladesh County Ground- Taunton 3.30PM 24 June 18- 2019 England vs Afghanistan Old Trafford- Manchester 3.30PM 25 June 19- 2019 New Zealand vs South Africa Edgbaston- Birmingham 3.30PM 26 June 20- 2019 Australia vs Bangladesh Trent Bridge- Nottingham 3.30PM 27 June 21- 2019 England vs Sri Lanka Headingley-Leeds 3.30PM 28 June 22- 2019 India vs Afghanistan Hampshire Bowl- Southampton 3.30PM 29 June 22- 2019 West Indies vs New Zealand Old Trafford- Manchester 6:30PM 30 June 23- 2019 Pakistan vs South Africa Lord’s- London 3.30PM 31 June 24- 2019 Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Hampshire Bowl- Southampton 3.30PM 32 June 25- 2019 England vs Australia Lord’s- London 3.30PM 33 June 26- 2019 New Zealand vs Pakistan Edgbaston- Birmingham 3.30PM 34 June 27- 2019 West Indies vs India Old Trafford- Manchester 3.30PM 35 June 28- 2019 Sri Lanka vs South Africa The Riverside- Chester-le-Street 3.30PM 36 June 29- 2019 Pakistan vs Afghanistan Headingley- Leeds 3.30PM 37 June 29- 2019 New Zealand vs Australia Lord’s- London 6:30PM 38 June 30- 2019 England vs India Edgbaston- Birmingham 3.30PM 39 July 1- 2019 Sri Lanka vs W.Indies The Riverside- Chester-le-Street 3.30PM 40 July 2- 2019 Bangladesh vs India Edgbaston- Birmingham 3.30PM 41 July 3- 2019 England vs New Zealand The Riverside- Chester-le-Street3.30PM 42 July 4- 2019 Afghanistan vs West Indies Headingley- Leeds 3.30PM 43 July 5- 2019 Pakistan vs Bangladesh Lord’s- London 6:30PM 44 July 6- 2019 Sri Lanka vs India Headingley- Leeds 3.30PM 45 July 6- 2019 Australia vs South Africa Old Trafford- Manchester 6:30PM 46 July 9- 2019 First semifinal (1st place vs 4th place)Old Trafford- Manchester 3.30PM 47 July 10- 2019 Reserve day Old Trafford- Manchester 48 July 11- 2019 Second semi-final(2nd place vs 3rd place)Edgbaston- Birmingham 3.30PM 49 July 12- 2019 Reserve day 50 July 14- 2019 Final Lord’s- London 3.30PM 51 July 15- 2019 Reserve day Lord’s- London Source: BSS AH

The government has finalized the names of 12 noted personalities and one institution for Independence Award-2019 for their glorious and remarkable contributions at the national level. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to handover the award to the recipients at a function at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the city on March 25, said a handout on Sunday. Reports BSS. Those nominated for the award are: martyred intellectual Mufazzal Haider Chowdhury (posthumous), martyred ATM Jafar Alam (posthumous), AKM Mozammel Haque, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Dr Kazi Misbahun Nahar, Abdul Khalek (posthumous) and Professor Mohammad Khaled (posthumous) in independence and Liberation War, Brigadier General Dr Nurunnahar Fatema Begum in Medical Science, Dr Kazi Khaliquzzaman Ahmed in social service, Murtaza Bashir in culture, Hasan Azizul Haque in literature, Professor Dr Hasina Khan in research and training and Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) in science and technology. AH

According to UN report titled “World Economic Situation and Prospects”, Bangladesh will become the 3rd fastest growing economy in the world in 2019 in terms of increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The report says, Sudan and India, expecting to expand at 8.1% and 7.6%, takes 1st and 2nd place respectively. Bangladesh is expected to grow 7.4% this year with the influence of strong fixed investment, growing private consumption and adaptive monetary policy. Though a rise is seen in inflation figures in 2018 due to depreciation of domestic currency and higher oil prices, inflation is expected to be stable this year. Focusing on South Asian economy, the flagship UN report said the regional GDP is expected to expand by 5.4% in 2019 and 5.9% in 2020, after an estimated expansion of 5.6% in 2018. Source: SD Asia AH

Met Office researchers expect to record one of the biggest rises in atmospheric concentrations of CO2 in 2019. Every year, the Earth's natural carbon sinks such as forests soak up large amounts of CO2 produced by human activities. But in years when the tropical Pacific region is warmer like this year, trees and plants grow less and absorb smaller amounts of the gas. As a result, scientists say 2019 will see a much bigger CO2 rise than 2018. Since 1958, the research observatory at Mauna Loa in Hawaii, has been continuously monitoring and collecting data on the chemical composition of the atmosphere. In the years since they first started recording, the observatory has seen a 30% increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere caused by emissions of fossil fuels and deforestation. Scientists argue that the increase would have been even larger without the ability of the forests, land and seas to soak up around half of the gas emitted by human activities. This ability however, varies with the seasons. In the summer, CO2 levels in the atmosphere fall as the trees and plants soak up more of the carbon as they grow. In the winter, when they drop their leaves, they soak up less and atmospheric levels rise. But when temperatures are warmer and drier than normal, trees and plants grow less and absorb less. This natural variation is compounded in years when there's an El Niño event, which sees an upwelling of heat from the Pacific into the atmosphere. "The warm sea surface conditions now will continue over the next few months and that will lead into the vegetation response," said Dr Chris Jones from the Met Office. "Around the world this heat has different impacts, in some places it's hotter and drier and you get more forest fires, in a tropical rainforest for instance you reduce the natural growth of the vegetation." According to the Met Office, these limits on the ability to absorb CO2 will see a rise in concentrations this year of 2.75 parts per million, which is higher than the 2018 level. They are forecasting that average CO2 concentrations in 2019 will be 411ppm. Carbon dioxide concentration exceeded 400ppm for the first time in 2013. This year's predicted rise won't be as big as in the El Niño years of 2015-16 and 1997-98. However there have only been increases similar to this year's, about half a dozen times since records began. Researchers say the long-term trend is only going in one direction. "The year-on-year increase of CO2 is getting steadily bigger as it has done throughout the whole of the 20th century," said Dr Jones. "What we are seeing for next year will be one of the biggest on record and it will certainly lead to the highest concentration of CO2." Other researchers say the Met Office findings are worrying. "The increases in CO2 are a function of our continued reliance on fossil fuels," said Dr Anna Jones, from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). "Some tempering in the rate of increase arise from the Earth's ability to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, but that can change year-on-year as the Met Office forecast shows." "What's critical, however, is that the persistent rise in atmospheric CO2 is entirely at odds with the ambition to limit global warming to 1.5C. We need to see a reduction in the rate of CO2 emissions, not an increase." The Met Office scientists say that it doesn't always follow that a record CO2 concentration will lead to a record global temperature in 2019, as there are many natural factors that can impact the final figure. The researchers there are pleased that observations over the past four years show that their model is accurate. They believe it can be used in the future to help countries accurately attribute increases in emissions to their actions or to natural factors.   MHK  

Bangladesh is celebrating the New Year 2019 with new hopes through different programmes like other countries of the world. On the eve of the 31st night, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has issued special instruction for the celebration of New Year this year. Meanwhile, President M Abdul Hamid greeted the countrymen on the occasion of New Year 2019. In a message on Monday, on the eve of the New Year, he wished happiness and welfare for all in 2019. The President said though the celebration of Bengali New Year has merged with the national culture, the English ‘New Year’ influences all because of the widespread use of English calendar in daily activities. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday greeted the countrymen on the eve of the New Year 2019 in English calendar. “The outgoing 2018 was a glorious year in the history of the Bangalee nation . . . let the new year bring in all our lives untainted happiness, peace and prosperity,” she said in a message issued on the occasion of New year. MHK

Bangladesh’s plans to tackle the Rohingya refugee crisis have been stalled until the new year with repatriation and relocation programs only likely to be revisited following year-end general elections, a top Bangladeshi official said on Sunday. Abul Kalam, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner said, “a new course of action” needed to be adopted on repatriation that took into account refugees’ key demands. More than 7 lakh 20 thousnad Rohingya fled a sweeping army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017, according to U.N. agencies. The crackdown was launched in response to insurgent Rohingya attacks on security forces. Rohingya refugees say soldiers and Buddhist civilians killed families, burned many villages and carried out gang rapes. U.N-mandated investigators have accused Myanmar’s army of “genocidal intent” and ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has denied almost all the accusations, saying its forces engaged in a counter-insurgency operation against “terrorists”. In late October, Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed to begin to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled, but the plan has been opposed by the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the U.N. refugee agency and aid groups, who fear for the safety of Rohingya in Myanmar. The repatriation of the first batch of 2,200 refugees was to begin officially on November 15, but it stalled amid protests at the refugee camps. None of those on the list agreed to return if their demands for justice, citizenship and the ability to go back to their original villages and lands were not met. “I don’t think anyone’s agreeing to go back without these,” said Kalam, who last week called on the international community to pressure Myanmar to accept certain “logical and acceptable” demands in order for any repatriation to take place. Myanmar does not consider the Rohingya a native ethnic group and calls them “Bengalis”, suggesting they belong in Bangladesh. It has agreed to take the Rohingya back and said they would need to accept the National Verification Card, which it says would allow Rohingya to apply for citizenship. The Rohingya reject the card, saying it brands them foreigners. Kalam said he believed Myanmar needed to propose a “clearer path” to citizenship for the Rohingya if any returns were to take place, adding he would raise the matter at the next bilateral meeting on repatriation, likely to take place next month. Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay was not reachable on Sunday for comment. With Bangladesh now set to go to the polls on December 30, any decision either to repatriate people, or relocate refugees from the crowded camps to Bangladesh’s Bhasan Char island will not proceed until 2019, Kalam said. “Elections are coming up now, so the government will only finalize a future course of action after the elections,” said Kalam, adding that Bangladesh remained ready to repatriate refugees if any volunteered to return. Bangladesh has vowed not to force anyone to return. Kalam said construction work on alternative housing on Bhasan Char was “nearly complete.” He said he was hopeful some refugees would agree to move, given the island’s “livelihood opportunities” such as fishing and farming. Aid agencies express caution as the island is prone to flooding. Source: Reuters AH

Junior Chamber International (JCI) Bangladesh has elected their new board for the year 2019 in the general assembly held at a hotel in the capital on Saturday. The general assembly was held in presence of all the chapters’ delegates of JCI Bangladesh. With an ever-lasting impression of delight and pledge of a brighter future for the Bangladesh the new board was elected. Said a press release.   Irfan Islam was elected as National President for 2019, who is currently serving as Executive Vice President of JCI Bangladesh. Sarah Kamal was elected as National Executive Vice President for 2019. Along with them Arman Ahmed Khan, Salehin F. Nahiyan and Ismat Jahan were elected as National Vice Presidents of JCI Bangladesh. Besides, Erfan Haque was appointed as National Secretary General, Mir Shahed Ali as National General Legal Counsel and Sakib Ahmed as Treasurer for 2019. Abu Taleb Siddique was appointed as Chair, Bangladesh Development Council and Ziaul Haque as Chair, International Affairs. Mehzabeen Aziz was appointed as Special Assistant to National President. Mehedi Hossain, Kanij Fatema, Mahamudun Nabi, Shafiqul Alam, Shahedul Azam, Abrar Hossain Sayem were selected as 2019 National Directors. Hasib Reza was selected as 2019 National Training Committee Chair. The General Assembly was conducted by 2018 National President Fayaz Atiqul Islam of JCI Bangladesh. Mentionable that, Junior Chamber International (JCI) is a worldwide organization of young professionals and leaders between the ages of 18 and 40. The organization is found in over 120 countries and has a membership of 200,000 across the world. Its duty is to contribute to the advancement of the global community by providing the opportunity for young people to develop the leadership skills, social responsi­bility, fellowship, and entrepreneurship necessary to create positive change. The JCI Headquarters is in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. As a part of JCI –an international voluntary organization, JCI Bangladesh is running its operation in Bangladesh with around 14 local chapters with member base of around 700 and the local chapters are functioning to serve the community, society and in the national level. AH

The moon will have its first 4G cell phone network in 2019, the network builder Vadafone said. Reports Xinhua.  The German branch of the multinational telecommunication company has teamed up with Nokia to do the mission, London-headquartered Vadafone said in a statement.  The network is to support a private lunar rover mission by PTScientists, a private space company based in Berlin, which plans to launch a lander and two small rovers to the moon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.  PTScientists said their team is committed to bringing down the cost of space exploration and democratizing access to the moon. Their moon rover plan aims to study the lunar rover used by the Apollo astronauts during their historic landing in December 1972.  Nokia will create a space-grade Ultra Compact Network that is said to be the lightest ever developed - weighing around 1 kg, the same as a bag of sugar, according to the statement.  The planned network will enable PTScientists' lander to broadcast a live video from lunar surface to the audience on earth and facilitate the communication among the lander and rovers.  Under previous communication technologies used in moon exploration, such as analogue radio, transmitting data consumes considerable energy reserves and requires rovers to be stationary.  "The great thing about this ... is that it saves so much power, and the less energy we use sending data, the more we have to do science!" said Robert Bohme, CEO and Founder of PT Scientists. AH