ONCE, Nurul Islam鈥檚 nets would fill with fish, sustaining both his family and the local community. 鈥楾wenty years ago, this river water was good. It was full of life,鈥� recalls Nurul Islam, 70, in a Reuters interview in 2023. His family has lived along the...
SAMAR Abu Elouf, who won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year for the picture below, posted on her Instagram account that her son鈥檚 close friend Sami Shukour had been killed while he 鈥榳ent to look for flour to feed himself and his family.鈥�...
THE forthcoming Dhaka University Central Students鈥� Union (DUCSU) election will take place at a pivotal moment in our history and carries profound significance. In the wake of July uprising, this is not merely a contest between student panels 鈥� it is a battle that could shape the political future of Bangladesh itself...
WE OFTEN think that discrimination and patriarchy begin with grand gestures such as denying girls education, restricting women from working, or limiting their presence in public life. But did we really look closely at our homes? Not only with our eyes but also with our hearts. If you did, I bet you would see that it often starts with the tiniest actions: a plate left on the dining...
WE LIVE in an age defined by the fourth industrial revolution, where technological progress is advancing at a pace previously unimaginable. Expanded data storage, massive information flows and lightning-fast processing already reveal how far innovation has carried us. Yet the real transformation lies in the convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and...
IN AN increasingly digital Bangladesh, the urgency of establishing a comprehensive data protection regime cannot be overstated. Every day, millions of citizens share personal data with government agencies, banks, telecommunication companies, healthcare providers, and private online platforms. This information ranges from national identity card details to financial...
THERE are two types of war correspondents. The first type does not attend press conferences. They do not beg generals and politicians for interviews. They take risks to report from combat zones. They send back to their viewers or readers what they see, which is almost always diametrically opposed to official narratives. This first type, in every war, is a tiny minority...
The police today find themselves in a peculiar bind 鈥� damned if they act, damned if they do not. They are, on the one hand, accused of inaction, negligence and, even, complicity when citizens face mob attacks, kidnapping, or daylight robberies. They are, on the other hand, condemned for excessive force, partisanship and brutality whenever protests are suppressed...
EVERY year on September 4, the world observes World Sexual Health Day, a global initiative that underlines the essential role of sexual health in human well-being. Sexual health is not merely the absence of disease or dysfunction; it embodies safety, responsibility, dignity and fundamental rights. Promoting it ensures that every individual, regardless of gender, age or...
EVERY year, Bangladesh braces for disasters 鈥� cyclones in the Bay, floods in the lowlands, droughts in the north. Each time, thousands of families lose crops, livestock, or homes. Relief operations come swiftly, yet the fundamental question persists: how can vulnerable communities rebuild their lives?...
FOR decades, voters have heard promises of integrity, justice and accountability. These promises have come with every election, but they have invariably ended in disappointment. Investigations have faltered, commissions have been wound up and the very leaders who promised to end corruption and impunity have, too, often joined the ranks of those who...
SOMETIMES, history moves not through bold declarations but through quiet recalibration. That is what unfolded in Tianjin on August 31, when Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit...
BY HABIT, the choreographed Indian crowd began to chant 鈥楳odi Modi鈥� at an event for the Indian prime minister鈥檚 two-day visit to China. The Chinese hosts, on the other hand, greeted him with a knowledgeable display of Indian classical music, something Indians would struggle to reciprocate if it ever came to that. There鈥檚 a trade deficit, and there鈥檚 evidently a cultural...
THE world is observing the 8th Rohingya Genocide Remembrance this year to honour the genocide against the Rohingyas that occurred in Myanmar鈥檚 Rakhine State. The Rohingya crisis, often considered one of the most pressing humanitarian challenges of the 21st century, has attracted global attention to the plight of the Rohingya people in Bangladesh. Beginning in...
The Chinese People鈥檚 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression was a comprehensive national war of resistance declared by China against the Japanese invasion. This year marks the 80th anniversary of China鈥檚 remarkable victory in the human...