US President Joe Biden has nominated Bangladeshi-American Nusrat Jahan Choudhury to be the first Muslim woman to serve as a federal judge in the United States. Choudhury's nomination - if confirmed, she would be just the second Muslim judge, as well as first Bangladeshi-American to sit on a federal bench in the U.S. - captured most of the attention among the eight named Wednesday in Biden's latest round of nominees chosen to reflect his promise of diversifying the judiciary.   Choudhury emerged as the top choice among Muslim American advocates last summer for one of New York's federal court vacancies; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer backed her as an expert in civil rights and liberties, USA Today reports.. Muslim Advocates, a national civil rights organization, wrote in a July letter to Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, the two Democratic senators of New York, that Choudhury has a "stellar reputation" for advancing the rights of minority communities and that her nomination would make much-needed history. Choudhury, 44, has built a stellar record serving in various important positions with the storied American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, which calls itself "the world's largest public interest law firm," working across the entire spectrum of civil rights and civil liberties. She is currently the Legal Director at the ACLU's  Illinois chapter, where she oversees a team advancing civil rights and civil liberties across Illinois.  Nusrat has more than a decade of experience in advancing reform in the criminal legal system and policing. She has led litigation to protect immigrants from dangerous detention conditions and serves as counsel for community organizations enforcing a federal consent decree to reform Chicago police patterns of excessive force. Her team advances First Amendment rights, government transparency, change in the criminal legal system and policing, voting rights, access to reproductive health care, gender equity, and the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, children in the foster system, young people in juvenile detention, and people in prisons and jails. Prior to joining the Illinois chapter, Nusrat served as Deputy Director of the national ACLU Racial Justice Program, a staff attorney in the ACLU National Security Project, and a Marvin M. Karpatkin Fellow with the organization. At the ACLU, Nusrat led efforts to challenge racial profiling and unlawful stop-and-frisk, the targeting of people of color for surveillance without evidence of wrongdoing, and practices that disproportionately punish people for being poor. Her work against practices that disproportionately punish people for poverty without prior court hearings, consideration of ability to pay, or legal representation changed practices in Georgia, Mississippi, Washington, and South Carolina, and and is said to have helped secure national guidance from the American Bar Association and other entities to promote fairness and equal treatment of rich and poor in courts. Nusrat also helped secure the first federal court ruling striking down the US government’s No Fly List procedures for violating due process. She filed litigation to challenge the NYPD’s unjustified and discriminatory profiling of Muslims for surveillance, which resulted in a court-ordered settlement agreement, and to secure public records about the FBI’s racial and ethnic mapping program. Read:Bangladeshi-American Nusrat recommended as New York judge Nusrat clerked for Judge Barrington D. Parker in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and for Judge Denise Cote in the Southern District of New York.  She is a recipient of the South Asian Bar Association of New York Access to Justice Award and the Edward Bullard Distinguished Alumnus Award of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.  Nusrat is a graduate of Columbia University, Princeton University, and Yale Law School, according to her profile on the ACLU website.  Personal life Nusrat is the daughter of Nafisa A. Choudhury and the late Dr. Nurer R. Choudhury, who migrated to the United States before she was born. Her mother was a food-services coordinator for grammar schools and middle schools in Northbrook, Illinois and the surrounding areas. Dr Nurer R Choudhury was the chief of neurology at St. Mary’s of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago, and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Nusrat tied the knot with Michael Early, a graphic designer, in 2012.   Well-received The nomination dropped on Wednesday night in the US, and so still awaits scrutiny in Thursday's round of the morning shows and newspapers, but the initial reactions on Twitter would seem to be overwhelmingly positive in favour of Choudhury's nomination. Many have shared the news published by USA TODAY that leads with "Biden nominates Muslim woman to the federal bench, a first in US history". Dean Obeidallah, one of the few Muslims who gets to host his own show on American radio, tweeted: "WOW! Biden nominates Muslim woman to the federal bench, a first in US history! Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, the legal director of the ACLU Illinois, is Biden's nominee for United States District Court in New York." Mark Levine, legal reporter for Slate magazine, wrote on Twitter: "[T]his is an extraordinary slate of brilliant nominees, several of whom will make history. ACLU stalwart Nusrat Jahan Choudhury on EDNY sounds almost too good to be true." EDNY is the Eastern District of New York, the jurisdiction where a vacancy has opened up on the bench, and which Choudhury will serve if confirmed.  Louise Melling, an ACLU colleague who serves the national chapter, where Nusrat used to work, as deputy legal director, tweeted: "What a spectacular cast. I’m delighted to see Nusrat Choudhury, a beloved aclu colleague, on the list as well." At the same time it must be pointed out that voices on the right of the US political spectrum are far less enthused. The White House's own press release on the nominees also gives Nusrat Choudhury top billing. The part extolling the virtues of the cohort,  mentions Nusrat' accolades first: "A nominee who would be the first Bangladeshi-American, the first Muslim-American woman, and only the second Muslim-American person to serve as a federal judge." This is Biden’s thirteenth round of nominees for federal judicial positions, the first in 2022, that bring the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 83. Seven out of yesterday's 8, and overall 62 out of these 83 nominees have been women.

Bangladeshi-American activist-entrepreneur Nabela Noor’s debut children's book 'Beautifully Me' treads a path many authors have already delved into -- fat shaming. But what makes her book stand out is the portrayal of the importance of self-love against "the society's shallow beauty standards" -- it has already created a buzz on social media. Published on September 14, Noor's book, in fact, showcases a heartwarming story that follows Zubi, a joyful Bangladeshi-American teenager on her own self-love journey. “Excited about her first day of school, Zubi sees her mother frowning in the mirror and talking about being 'too big', she starts to worry about her own body and how she looks. 

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Wednesday asked President Joe Biden to nominate Bangladeshi-American Nusrat Choudhury and two other women experienced in civil rights litigation to serve as federal judges in New York. If confirmed, she would be the first Bangladeshi-American, and only the second Muslim American, on the bench. The first, Zahid Quraishi, was confirmed by the US Senate for a seat in New Jersey in June. Also, Jessica Clarke and Nina Morrison have been recommended to serve as federal judges in Manhattan and the Eastern District. "These three diverse and incredibly talented women would bring tremendous expertise in civil rights, fair housing, criminal justice reform and more to the federal bench," Chuck said in a statement. Nusrat, 44, the legal director at the ACLU of Illinois, could serve as a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York, which has courthouses in Brooklyn and Central Islip. She had previously worked since 2008 at the national ACLU, including as deputy director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program. Schumer is the top Democrat in the US Senate and senior senator from New York. Biden often follows his recommendations for home-state nominees. If Biden makes these nominations, they would further his goal of bringing more professional and demographic diversity to the judiciary. Progressives and judicial reform proponents have long called for more judges on the federal bench with backgrounds other than the typical mix of former prosecutors or defence attorneys from major law firms, according to Reuters.

The High Court has ordered Japanese citizen Nakano Eriko and Bangladeshi-American Sharif Imran, fighting for custody of their two children, to spend a fortnight with them in a Gulshan apartment. During the stay, the court ordered the Deputy Director of the Department of Social Services to ensure a good environment for them and Dhaka Metropolitan Police to ensure their safety. Bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the order considering the wellbeing of the children after a hearing on the matter. Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir represented the mother’s side at the court and Advocate Fawzia Karim presented the father’s side. At one point the court heard the children’s opinion in a special chamber separately on which parent they wanted to stay with. That seemed to have been inconclusive. On August 23, the High Court had asked the authorities concerned to keep the two children of Eriko and Imran at the Tejgaon victim support centre in a good environment until August 31 amid a legal battle over their custody. The court also granted permission to the parents of the children to meet them at the Tejgaon victim support centre in a stipulated time. At one point the counsels of both parents informed the court about the two children's discomfort in staying at the victim support center. The court then asked both parents to come to an agreement on where the children would stay in a familial environment before passing a final decision on the matter today. On August 19, Nakano Eriko filed a petition with the High Court seeking its directives to return her two daughters-- Jasmine Malika, 11, and Laila Lina, 10---from their Bangladeshi father Sharif Imran. The court than asked the authorities concerned to produce the two children with their father and aunt before the court on August 31. It also asked Imran not to leave the country with his daughters for next one month. On Sunday, a team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police took the two children under custody. On Monday, Advocate Fawzia Karim, counsel of Imran drew the attention of the court about the custody. Advocate Monir said “Eriko, a 46-year-old woman and a physician by profession, filed a petition seeking custody of her two children. Eriko and Imran tied the knot on July 11, 2008, according to the law of Japan. They used to live in Tokyo and the couple has been blessed with three daughters.” “The three daughters of the couple aged 11, 10, and seven are studying at a school in Tokyo. In January, Imran appealed for the divorce and on January 21 he filed an appeal to the school authorities to take his one daughter but they refused following the objection of Eriko,” said Monir. Later, Imran picked up two of his two daughters from school and went to a rented building before returning to  Bangladesh with them. In May, a court in Tokyo handed  custody of the two daughters to Eriko. Eriko came to Bangladesh in July to spend time with them, and then filed a writ to get her daughters back.

A Bangladeshi-American Lyft driver died after a ‘drunken  driver’ struck his vehicle in Queens, New York City on Sunday. The accident took place at the intersection of Fresh Pond Road and Elliott Avenue in Maspeth. Authorities identified the victim as Mohammed Hossain, 47, a father of three in Brooklyn, according to local dailies. He had migrated from Bangladesh 12 years ago. Read:Man rams car into 2 Capitol police; 1 officer, driver killed Hossain’s devastated friends and relatives visited the scene of the crash Sunday morning, trying to wrap their head around the sudden loss of the beloved family man. Hossain supported his wife and their three children in Borough Park, Brooklyn, by driving for Uber and Lyft. “It’s only when the person you just talked to a few days ago is joking and you’re not there. It doesn’t make sense,” his brother-in-law Rezaul Rahman said. Rahman says his sister, Hossain’s wife, was contacted after 8 am. Read:Uber, Lyft team up on database to expose abusive drivers “I went in and saw her on the phone. She saw me and started crying. At that point you don’t know how to feel,” Rahman said. The alleged drunk driver, 22-year-old Erik Chimborazo of Brooklyn, fled the scene but returned a short time later, according to police. He's been charged with DWI, driving without a license and insurance and vehicular manslaughter, according to the NYPD. The passenger of the Explorer was also injured and taken to a nearby hospital. Read:Canadian police say Muslim family targeted by deadly attack According to police, Eric Chimborazo was drunk when he drove a red light and Hossain’s car at T-Bone. The surveillance video showed the impact of the crash. Hossain was taken to Waikov Hospital where he was pronounced dead. His passengers were also slightly injured.

Bangladeshi-American Dr. Omar Ishrak, former executive chairman and CEO of Medtronic, has been elected to the Board of Directors of Cargill, one of the world's top producers and distributors of agricultural products such as sugar, refined oil, cotton, chocolate, and salt. 

Bangladeshi-American Zayn Siddique has been named by President-elect Joe Biden to a key position in the office of the White House deputy chief of staff.

Bangladeshi-American Omar Ishrak has been elected chairman of the Intel Corporation board of directors succeeding Andy Bryant who stepped down after serving for seven years.