Hossain Ali was supposed to receive Tk 5,000 to Tk 7,000. He also needed the money. His wife, Amena Begum, is suffering from a brain tumour. They were supposed to go to India for treatment. Both husband and wife had obtained passports. But due to a lack of money, the trip ultimately did not happen.
It is 1am. Three browser tabs, two travel groups and dozens of unread messages have failed to answer one simple question: where should four friends go for their next holiday?
Bangladesh is like an unfinished poem written by nature's hand. Somewhere the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal, somewhere hills touching their heads to the clouds. Somewhere tiger footprints in the deep forests of the Sundarbans, somewhere the blue of the sky in the waters of the haor. Green carpets of tea, sails of boats on the bosom of rivers, ancient architecture, folk culture and diversity of taste—altogether, it is as if many Bangladeshes reside within one country.
For nearly six decades, Akhter Hussain created a world of joy for children through playful rhymes, enchanting stories and inspiring songs. With his simple, lively and natural language, he coloured the childhoods of generations. His writings did not remain confined to the pages of books; they found their way into textbooks, songs and the country’s cultural movements, becoming part of people’s lives.
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.
Bangladesh produces thousands of engineers every year, but too few are trained to answer a basic question for the country’s progress: how do we stop important systems from breaking down?
China is in a hurry to reach the future. Artificial intelligence is in its hands, robots are moving beside it, and an entirely new technological economy is beginning to take shape. But there is another picture behind all that speed.
A new name, a new stage and a new dream. A new sun seems to have risen over the footballing landscape of Southeast Asia. The FIFA ASEAN Cup kicked off for the first time today, with Laos and Brunei Darussalam facing each other at Hong Kong’s Mong Kok Stadium on September 24. Now Bangladesh stands at the threshold of that new chapter. Tomorrow, the red and green will make their tournament debut against Malaysia at Jakarta’s iconic Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
A secluded area. Bamboo groves and trees all around, with hardly any people in sight. The Karatoya River lies about half a kilometre to the east. A village is roughly half a kilometre to the south, while another is about a kilometre to the north. In between is a quiet path leading toward agricultural fields.
The law sets a deadline of 180 working days. In reality, it takes an average of nearly three years and seven months—around 1,370 days—to conclude a case of violence against women and children. That is roughly seven and a half times the statutory timeframe. Each case, on average, comes up for hearing 22 times. A study by the Bangladesh Supreme Court, based on an analysis of 4,040 cases heard by 46 Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals in 32 districts between January and June this year, paints this picture. The study also found that the conviction rate in these cases was just 3 percent.
A shopping bag in one hand and a household ledger in the other—but the numbers no longer add up. Every trip to the market brings another shock. Rice, eggs, milk, flour, vegetables—the daily essentials are steadily eating into household budgets. Now, a fresh blow has come from rising fuel prices. And the heat is no longer confined to filling stations; it is spreading through transport, production, markets and the cost of everyday life.
The widely followed legal battle between The New York Times, OpenAI and Microsoft over whether news content can legally be used to train artificial intelligence models has entered a critical stage. After nearly three years of litigation, the case has recently taken several dramatic turns. On one hand, previously confidential court documents have come to light; on the other, the US government has formally sided with the two technology companies.