WHAT if the most sinister achievement of modern capitalism is its ability to convince people that their suffering is entirely self-inflicted? Netflix鈥檚 Squid Game, which burst into global consciousness in 2021, isn鈥檛 merely a dystopian thriller, it is a masterclass in economic allegory. On the surface, it tells the story of 456 people who voluntarily sign up to compete in...
AT THE Singapore Changi Airport, I was waiting for my connecting flight to Brisbane, Australia. I entered one of the restaurants for a meal. As I waited for my order to be served, I looked around. My attention was grabbed by a service robot which was given the name Wendy. Wendy was moving around and collecting used dishes from the tables. As she did her work, she...
IN THE evolving situation, the severity of vector-borne diseases, especially mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, is increasing day by day. The worst dengue situation happened in 2023. According to government estimates, the number of infected people was 321,179 and the number of dengue death was 1,705 that year. This year until August...
IN TODAY鈥橲 interconnected trade system, the smallest tremor in distant economies can send out disruptive waves through developing nations such as Bangladesh. As the country navigates the turbulent aftermath of the Covid pandemic, the combined impact of geopolitical tension, fractured supply chains and persistent inflationary pressures continues to...
THE Israeli human rights organization B鈥橳selem released a comprehensive report on July 27 describing the Israeli war on Gaza as genocide...
THERE is something profoundly disquieting about a moral catastrophe unfolding under the glaring light of international attention鈥攐nly to be met with an American shrug and a diplomatic shrug-off. Israel鈥檚 unfolding plan to seize full military and administrative control of Gaza, paired with the dismaying acquiescence of the United States, ought to alarm every...
IN RECENT years, debates over electoral reform in Bangladesh have intensified, with many policymakers, academics and citizens arguing for a system that would represent the diversity of political opinions. One potential model comes from Japan鈥檚 house of representatives, which uses a combination of single-seat constituencies and proportional representation. Adopting...
THE emergence of artificial intelligence brings both promise and peril to the democratic process as Bangladesh prepares for its national and local elections. While artificial intelligence offers tools for efficiency, communication and data management, it also poses threats to electoral integrity, political stability and social trust. Without proactive measures, the...
鈥楢SSASSINATION,鈥� wrote George Bernard Shaw in The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet, 鈥榠s the extreme form of censorship鈥�. Such extremism visited Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues in Gaza City late on August 10. Resting in a tent located outside the main gate of Gaza City鈥檚 al-Shifa Hospital, he was killed alongside Al Jazeera correspondent...
IN CERTAIN corners of the Republic perhaps there are some curious institutions that pride themselves on their monastic devotion to austerity, where intellectual labour is performed not in cloistered stillness but in communal chambers reminiscent of well-behaved boarding houses, their perpetual murmur interrupted only by the occasional sigh of a scholar negotiating...
THIS article critically examines India鈥檚 expanding regional hegemony, characterised increasingly by domination rather than genuine partnership. Under diplomatic rhetoric, this posture undermines the core democratic values India professes to uphold, including pluralism and regional cooperation. Focusing on India鈥檚 sixteen-year dominance over Bangladesh, the article...
ADDRESSING the parliament, president Anura Kumara Dissanayake affirmed the government鈥檚 commitment to confronting human rights violations from the past, stating: 鈥榃e will face these grievous legacies openly, firmly, and with sensitivity to all...
RAHUL Gandhi鈥檚 chilling expos茅 of fraud in Indian elections offers far-reaching health benefits for Indian democracy even if it may not change the facts on the ground anytime soon. A change would require nationwide street- and village-level...
THE hope that the July uprising ignited appears to be fading after just one year. Those who once felt the experience of power are now scattered and beginning to feel powerless. Many have grown sceptical that there will be any qualitative changes. While the...
CRIME detection and law enforcement have undergone significant evolution with the advancement of technology. In many developed countries, artificial intelligence has revolutionised policing by improving crime prevention, investigation and...