PROFESSOR Muhammad Yunus鈥檚 recent visit to London, marked by the distinguished honour of receiving the King Charles III Harmony Award 2025, was a moment of significance鈥攏ot only for him personally but also for the Bangladeshis and the wider global community who value peace, equity, and sustainable development. It also, perhaps unintentionally, served as...
ENFORCED disappearances are a grave rights violation in which state agents or affiliated groups secretly abduct, detain or arrest individuals while deliberately conceal their fate or whereabouts, thereby removing them from legal protection and exposing them to torture, extrajudicial killing or indefinite detention without trial. Often used as a tool of repression in...
IN TODAY鈥橲 hyper-competitive and hyper-connected world, crime is no longer the business of back alleys and dimly lit street corners. It is carried out in conference rooms, corner offices and digital spaces by those dressed in crisp suits and operating from positions of power. These are not criminals with a record of violence or histories of petty theft. Rather, they are...
THE neoconservatives who orchestrated the disastrous wars with Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya 鈥� and who were never held accountable for the profligate waste of $8 trillion taxpayer dollars, as well as $69 billion squandered in Ukraine 鈥� look set to lure us into yet another military fiasco with Iran...
ISRAEL鈥橲 consistent attacks on Iran since 2023 have all been illegal, violations of the United Nations Charter (1945). Iran is a member state of the United Nations and is therefore a sovereign state in the international order. If Israel had a problem with Iran, there are many mechanisms mandated by international law that permit Israel to bring complaints against Iran...
THE Republic of Kosovo, as a new European state, aims to be part of the international community by respecting all international rules and norms. As a young demography, the people of Kosovo have endured a difficult history in the struggle for statehood, much like Bangladesh. With the declaration of independence, Kosovo is now part of the international community and continues to contribute to global peace and...
BACK in 2008 when the monarchy was overthrown in Nepal, a friend there excitedly exclaimed, 鈥楴ow we will have democracy!鈥� I tried to warn him that democracy does not just happen overnight; that it requires a lot of work and nurturing and then a lot more work...
BANGLADESH stands at a crossroads. On the one hand, it faces intensifying climate risks, mounting fuel import costs and increasing energy demand; on the other, it has the opportunity to shape a more sustainable and resilient energy future. The national budget for the 2025-26 financial year, recently unveiled, provides a timely lens through which to assess how seriously...
BANGLADESH remains one of the most vulnerable nations in the world when it comes to the impacts of climate change. Rising sea levels, erratic weather patterns and frequent natural disasters have made the threat both immediate and long-lasting. Despite these...
THE health sector reforms commission was formed to propose ways and means to develop a people-oriented, easily available universal healthcare system. 鈥楶eople-oriented care鈥� must fulfill people鈥檚 health needs with quality. This will be possible only...
THROUGHOUT history, human society has continuously evolved, driven by waves of technological progress and innovation. While industries, economies, and everyday life have rapidly transformed, education systems across the globe have often...
BANGLADESH stands at a crossroads of global economic shifts, environmental imperatives and leadership tests. Global trade turbulence, driven by tariff wars and protectionism, is putting new pressures on Bangladesh鈥檚 export-driven economy. Simultaneously, rapid urbanisation and...
THOSE drone attacks on five Russian airfields last week were nothing if not daring. No final report from Moscow yet, but three figures鈥� worth of Ukrainian drones launched from the backs of trucks destroyed some number of strategic bombers in the Russian fleet...
THE challenge of addressing extreme poverty is both urgent and complex. While Bangladesh has made significant strides in poverty reduction since the 1990s, recent economic headwinds, including persistent inflation, global commodity price fluctuations, and post-pandemic recovery pressures, have exposed vulnerabilities of millions living just above or below...
A THICK, dirty fog often settles over Dhaka by late morning. This vast, overcrowded metropolis, now home to over 20 million people, is grappling with a dire environmental emergency. According to the World Bank, in 2019, air pollution, contaminated water, poor sanitation and exposure to lead were responsible for more than 272,000 premature deaths in Bangladesh...
