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The country's private MPO-affiliated teachers have been protesting for three consecutive days with three demands including a 20 percent increase in rent, elimination of discrimination and announcement of a roadmap for nationalizing education. After receiving no assurance from the government, they have now given a new ultimatum - they will begin a hunger strike until death if their demands are not met.
Modern football is no longer confined to the goal line and touchline. It is a contest of technology, psychology, words and tactics — at times even of shrewd manoeuvring. The match Bangladesh played against Hong Kong-China could easily have been held in the afternoon or evening; but starting it at 8 pm had a clear purpose — to throw the visiting side into possible logistical complications ahead of their away match on 14 October.
In early October 2015, Cricket Australia postponed its scheduled tour of Bangladesh citing security concerns. Around the same time, the country’s national football team was also due to visit Dhaka. Just like the cricketers, the Socceroos also backed out. Their demand was that the match be shifted elsewhere. But after reviewing the security situation in Bangladesh, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) declared that the match would be held in Dhaka. If Australia refused to play, Bangladesh would be awarded three points. Yet the International Cricket Council (ICC) could not compel the Australians to tour Bangladesh.
On October 10, a ceasefire in Gaza was officially announced. International news media were quick to focus on what they now call “the peace plan”. United States President Donald Trump, they announced, will go to Cairo to oversee the agreement and then to Israel to speak at the Knesset. The air strikes over Gaza, they reported, have stopped.
There are no exact statistics on how many small entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are currently engaged in IT and B2C e-commerce businesses. However, their numbers are increasing, and with the right policies, exports and export diversification from this sector could grow further. These small entrepreneurs mainly run their businesses using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and F-commerce.
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Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed has spoken an unvarnished truth about extortion: the level of extortion and illegal levies has increased since 5 August 2024, and stopping extortion, bribery and corruption requires political commitment. Because an extortionist is not just an extortionist—he is also a political player. I had the opportunity to work directly with him when he was the Governor of Bangladesh Bank. Being a man of simple habits, he is free from greed. A CSP officer from the Pakistan era, he is also competent. Upon taking office as Finance Adviser, he said that the state of the economy was not as bad as people claimed. Yet, once in power, the new government’s political gimmick was to publish a white paper on the corruption of the previous one.
In October 2023, Israel launched yet another indiscriminate attack on Gaza. Almost two years on, the death toll in Gaza has already exceeded 65,000. Nearly all of the 2.1 million residents of the besieged enclave have been displaced multiple times. Recently, Israel began a full-scale assault on Gaza City, the largest city in the territory. The objective is clear — to empty this densely populated city completely and seize control of it. In this situation, international pressure on the United States, the United Kingdom, and other Western countries to force Israel to end the war and genocide is steadily increasing.
Chief Adviser of the Interim Government Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus went to New York in the United States to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Along with seven advisers and officials of equivalent rank, six leaders from three political parties accompanied him—BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the Acting Chairman’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher and Dr Nakibur Rahman, National Citizen Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain and Joint Convener Dr Tasnim Zara. Initially, Dr Nakibur Rahman and Tasnim Zara were not included in the delegation; they were later added at the request of Jamaat and NCP.
At the same time, he imposed strict restrictions on the free flow of news. Under the Official Secrets Act, press freedom was curtailed. The British role in spreading education was never without purpose; it served state policy. They had no intention of creating a highly educated Indian nation.
The most discussed event in Bangladesh’s recent politics is the long interview given by BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman to BBC Bangla. After seventeen long years in exile, this interview is not merely a message of his personal return; rather, it also carries hints of a possible new equation in Bangladesh’s future politics. As one of the main contenders for power, the BNP has long suffered from a crisis of leadership, internal divisions, corruption allegations, and failure to wage an effective movement. In such a context, this public political statement from the party’s top leader has sparked new debate—some see it as the beginning of BNP’s resurgence, while others consider it still an undefined promise.
The war is ongoing in Gaza. In the meantime, Israel seems to be moving day by day towards international isolation. This has raised the question: is Israel’s situation then becoming like that of ‘South Africa’?
On October 10, a ceasefire in Gaza was officially announced. International news media were quick to focus on what they now call “the peace plan”. United States President Donald Trump, they announced, will go to Cairo to oversee the agreement and then to Israel to speak at the Knesset. The air strikes over Gaza, they reported, have stopped.
'With the winter breeze, a dance begins on every branch of the Amlaki tree, the leaves shiver and fall in rhythm.' In the rhythm of this poem by the revered poet Rabindranath Tagore, winter is arriving a little early this year in Bangladesh, the abode of natural beauty. In this land of six seasons, each season appears with its own distinct characteristics.
Only a few days ago, the fields of Chak Bhola Kha village in Bogura’s Shibganj upazila echoed with the laughter of children and the chatter of tea-stall gatherings at dusk. Now, the once-lively village lies eerily silent and deserted. Doors and gates are locked, homes abandoned, and many residents are on the run, fleeing to avoid arrest. It all began on the night of October 4.
Venezuela has announced the closure of its embassy in Norway just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to restore democratic rights in the country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning regarding three cough syrups produced in India that were intended for children aged between one and five years.
US President Donald Trump has declared an end to Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza after the historic exchange of prisoners.
Three economists; Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, have won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their pioneering research on economic growth.
In 1987, two very different dreams were born in Asia. In Taiwan, Morris Chang set his sights on building a company called TSMC that would manufacture the world’s best chips. At the same time, in Shenzhen, China, Ren Zhengfei founded Huawei—a small business that purchased cheap telecom equipment from Hong Kong and sold it in the Chinese market.
The country's private MPO-affiliated teachers have been protesting for three consecutive days with three demands including a 20 percent increase in rent, elimination of discrimination and announcement of a roadmap for nationalizing education. After receiving no assurance from the government, they have now given a new ultimatum - they will begin a hunger strike until death if their demands are not met.
There are no exact statistics on how many small entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are currently engaged in IT and B2C e-commerce businesses. However, their numbers are increasing, and with the right policies, exports and export diversification from this sector could grow further. These small entrepreneurs mainly run their businesses using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and F-commerce.
Those of us who grew up in the 1990s saw before our eyes countless giants and towering figures — bright stars who shone across literature, politics and culture.
In 2025, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai. He was born on 5 January 1954 in the small Hungarian town of Gyula. Although he studied law at university, he eventually found his lasting home in literature. His life is quiet and disciplined—he often spends time alone in the hilly regions of Hungary, writing, travelling, and reflecting on the philosophies of Chinese and Japanese culture.
