EDITOR
Qiaojia County is about 280 kilometres from Kunming. The journey takes travellers through more than a dozen tunnels along winding mountain roads. The Jinsha River runs alongside much of the route, its long, meandering course cutting through the rugged landscape. Impressive buildings dot its banks, some so modern that it is difficult to tell at first glance whether they belong to a town or a village.
Chongqing is a mountainous city in south-western China, where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet. At first glance, its mist-shrouded skyline, towering buildings, elevated roads carved through hills and metro trains running through the middle of buildings make it seem as though the entire city is looking towards the future. Yet, on the banks of the Jialing River, a small village in Yuzhong district called Hongyan reminds visitors that the foundations of this dazzling present were laid upon a past marked by fire, blood and extraordinary patience.
Two Bangladeshi citizens were detained. An investigation was conducted, charges were filed, the case went to trial, a verdict was delivered, a higher authority upheld it, a royal decree was issued, and the death sentences were carried out. At no stage of this lengthy process, it appears, did the Bangladeshi state know what was happening. It learned of the executions from a statement by Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry and media reports—when Nazrul Islam Abdul Bashir and Siti Akter were already dead.
Bangladesh’s ambition to establish sovereign AI capabilities within the next 12 months marks a significant policy commitment, with implications for its technological autonomy, national security and international partnerships. However, translating this ambition into measurable outcomes will require more than a political declaration.
During May 1999, I was enrolled as a student at Jahangirnagar University, and Prothom Alo, a newspaper that had graced the newsstands merely twelve months prior, had already established itself as an integral component of our daily morning routine. At that time, I served as the university correspondent for the daily publication Sangbad. Nevertheless, each morning I would proceed to the common room of my residential hall, frequently waiting for my opportunity to peruse Prothom Alo.
An extraordinary occurrence transpired within the chambers of the United Nations Security Council. Sam Altman, Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI, and Dario Amodei, Chief Executive Officer of Anthropic—executives representing two organizations that maintain intense competitive rivalry within the artificial intelligence sector—articulated their perspectives utilizing remarkably congruent terminology.