Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is introducing major changes to its commercial terms. Effective October 30, 2026, the revised terms authorise Meta to use automated software to access websites associated with businesses, collect their content and use it to develop, research, train and improve its products and services.
The turn of change has again come on the canvas of nature. Crossing the white cloud rafts in the blue sky of autumn and the swaying of kash flowers, the counting of the days of Hemanta has started on the pages of the calendar. Kartik and Agrahayan—these two months make up Hemanta, the fourth season of the six seasons of Bengal. This season knocks at the door of nature with the arrival message of winter. But with the change of time, is that ever-familiar form of Hemanta gradually fading?
Allegations are supposed to be heard in a court of law, and punishment imposed by the state only after guilt has been established. Yet an increasingly troubling pattern is emerging in Bangladesh.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has failed to escape criticism despite apologising amid the controversy. He expressed regret to the FIFA Council over the scrapped “FIFA Forward Enterprise” (FFE) project, but representatives of two of Europe’s most influential football nations, England and Germany, were not satisfied. They said the necessary administrative reforms of world football’s governing body cannot be achieved under the current leadership.
Prison walls are meant to keep inmates behind bars, but overcrowding is stripping away even their last measure of comfort. Facilities intended to hold people awaiting trial have become places where finding room to sleep is a daily struggle. Burdened with more than twice their intended population, Bangladesh’s prisons have become a stark reflection of a growing humanitarian crisis.
In the vast agricultural tracts of Shyamnagar Upazila, Satkhira—a coastal area adjacent to the Sundarbans in the country's south—decades of shrimp farming involving the pumping of saline river water onto croplands have caused soil salinity to rise to such an extent that it is no longer possible to cultivate crops using fresh water, even if one wished to do so. Nevertheless, local farmers have been attempting to grow fresh-water crops on their land over the past decade.
At the outset, let us correct one misconceptions that have long been repeated. That is-- Durga Puja should be called Sharadotsav, or the autumn festival.
“None of you should go to bring Dad back without me. I want to go and bring him home too.”
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.
The season is changing, but winter appears to be taking its time. The familiar signs of autumn—white clouds drifting across the sky, dew settling on grass at dawn and a coolness in the air—have arrived unevenly across Bangladesh. While early mornings are beginning to carry a hint of winter, the heat of the day has yet to fully retreat.
Seven South Korean financial institutions, including three major commercial banks, were hit by seemingly coordinated cyber attacks within days of one another, exposing more than 65,000 customer and employee records between 28 September and 3 October.
Lionel Messi will pull on the sky-blue and white shirt for the last time at the Estadio Monumental tonight, ending a 20-year relationship with Argentina's home ground when the World Cup winners take on Benin in a friendly.