Maduro ready to talk 'face to face' with Trump

CARACAS, Nov 18 (AFP): Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Monday he was ready to talk "face to face" with his US counterpart Donald Trump, who hours earlier mentioned possible talks between the two leaders amid soaring military tensions in the...

Trump will sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON, Nov 18 (AP): President Donald Trump said Monday he will sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia despite some concern within the administration that such a sale could lead to China gaining access to the U.S. technology behind the...

Zelensky to visit Turkey today

KYIV, Nov 18 (AFP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he will visit Turkey on Wednesday, in a bid to "reinvigorate" peace talks and to restore prisoner-of-war exchanges with Russia.Negotiations to end the war have faltered after three rounds of...

UN may get half of required fund

ROME, Nov 18 (AFP): The UN's World Food Programme warned Tuesday that funding cuts mean it will struggle to feed even a third of the 318 million people facing severe hunger in 2026."Declines in global humanitarian funding are forcing WFP...

Man killed in Barguna road accident

BARGUNA, Nov 18 (BSS): A man was killed in a road accident on the Town Hall road under sadar upazila of Barguna district on Tuesday.The deceased was identified as Shyamol Chandra Shill, 55, of Kalipur village in Patharghata upazila of...

Lalmonirhat's 'Nabanna' spirit slips into memory

LALMONIRHAT, Nov 18 (UNB): Once a vibrant fixture of rural Bengali culture, the traditional 'Nabanna Utsab', the festival celebrating the first harvest, is quietly fading from many villages across Lalmonirhat, according to local residents.With the end of the Bangla month...

Holidaymakers' flow increasing on Cox's Bazar beach as winter sets in

COX'S BAZAR, Nov 18: Cox's Bazar, the world's longest sea beach, has seen a surge in the movement and volume of holidaymakers giving a clear sign of the arrival of winter. Now various points of the beach bustle with millions...

How an 11-year-old Bangladeshi girl made it to Everest Base Camp

Everest Base Camp is a dream destination for mountain lovers and travellers. Every mountain person dreams of standing before Mount Everest, and that dream begins at the Everest Base Camp.But can a child make this dream come true?Yes, an 11-year-old...

Making traditional homemade food tastier for children

Remember what the millennials had for their meal as children? Home-cooked meals from their grandmother, mothers, often their sister-in-laws, and sisters. The foods were prevalent but rich in affection and health benefits. The foods had an identity based on the...

Basic sanitation is a daily battle for women in Dhaka

Shreya stands outside a small, dimly lit toilet block on a university campus in Dhaka, waiting. The door does not lock properly. The floor is still wet from the last user. She has already limited her water intake for the...

Ensure justice in DU sexual abuse case

The grave allegations against Professor Ershad Halim of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Dhaka have shaken the very foundations of the education system. Students of the department have filed a case, and the police have arrested the...

Crackdown on illegal phones to benefit local industry

Starting 16 December 2025, Bangladesh will fully enforce the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), blocking all unauthorised, smuggled, cloned, or unregistered mobile phones from accessing telecom networks. Each device's IMEI will be matched with the user's NID and SIM registration....

Grim warning at COP30: Record high CO2 emission

As delegates began to gather in Belém, deep in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, for the COP30 climate summit, reports published in the Global Carbon Budget landed like a thunderclap-reminding the world that rhetoric has far outpaced action. The...

Implementing mandatory customs bond automation

The customs bond facility allows export-oriented industries to import raw materials and intermediate goods duty-free. The condition is that the raw materials and intermediate goods thus imported have to be stored in bonded warehouses and not diverted to the domestic...

Start-ups need policy support, tax incentives

Nowadays, the startup business has become a common phenomenon. In Bangladesh, the startups are experiencing significant growth, creating new business innovation, and also making an important contribution to the economy. For this new business idea, Bangladesh's business sector is growing...

Grabbing public land with impunity

One may recall the fury of the forest grabbers when they attacked government officials including members of the joint-forces in November last year as the latter carried out an eviction drive at Rajbari in Sreepur upazila of Gazipur to recover...

Juba Dal leader shot dead in city

A local leader of Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal was shot dead on Monday evening in the capital's Mirpur Pallabi area.The deceased was identified as Golam Kibria, member secretary of the Pallabi thana unit of Juba Dal.The attack took place around 6:40pm...

July uprising victim families welcome death sentences

Families of those killed and injured in the July uprising have welcomed the death sentences handed down to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, describing the ruling as a long-overdue step toward justice.They also...

MEDLOG, CPA ink Pangaon terminal operation deal

MEDLOG, a Switzerland-based world leader in inland logistics, will manage and operate the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (PICT) near Dhaka for 22 years.A concession agreement was signed to this end between the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and MEDLOG Bangladesh Private...

Dhaka tense as verdict sparks unrest

Dhaka saw noticeably thinner crowds on Monday as the capital braced for unrest ahead of the verdict against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.Security was heightened across the city, prompting transport operators and educational institutions to scale back operations amid fears...

BB to halt five public services from Nov 30

Bangladesh Bank (BB) will discontinue five major public services, including the sale of savings certificates (Sanchayapatra) and prize bonds, from November 30 as part of a broader effort to modernise its operations and strengthen security across its offices.Sources at the...

Police disperse demonstrators at Dhanmondi 32

Police fired sound grenades and charged batons to disperse demonstrators who gathered at Dhanmondi-32 in the capital on Monday afternoon.Earlier, police and army personnel took control of Dhanmondi-32, dispersing demonstrators, who had arrived with two excavators on two trucks in...

Major maiden foreign port venture to fetch Bangladesh $550m FDI

Denmark-based shipping-giant Maersk's outfit sets foot in Bangladesh's port venture with a substantial investment through a deal signed Monday on construction and operation of Laldia Container Terminal (LCT) in Chattogram. The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and APM Terminals, a unit...

Buyers cancel visits amid rising political uncertainty

Global buyers of Bangladesh's readymade garments are cancelling scheduled visits and meetings in the country over security and political uncertainties, a development that industry leaders warn could affect work orders for the next two seasons.At a discussion in Dhaka on...

Prayer Timings (2025-11-18)

Rice imports go up to build contingency stock

Bangladesh ramps up rice import to build a contingency stock with the buys having soared over 8,133 per cent in value during the first quarter of the current fiscal year, statistics show. Officials say the import spree is driven by...

Next polls to fix country’s future course for 100 yrs

Upcoming dual voting in national elections and referendum will determine the course of Bangladesh for over 100 years, says Chief Adviser of the post-uprising government Prof Muhammad Yunus while instructing deputy commissioners to play fair in the polls. He asks...

NCP demands execution of sentence on Hasina in a month

National Citizen Party (NCP) has demanded the execution of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's death sentence be carried out within one month."The convicted criminals responsible for enforced disappearances and genocide are the worst not just in Bangladesh, but across global...

Jamaat satisfied over death sentence to Hasina

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami expressed on Monday satisfaction with the verdict sentencing ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in a case over crimes against humanity committed during the July (2024) mass uprising.In its immediate reaction following the judgement delivered on Monday,...

Hasina's punishment milestone for future: Salahuddin

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed on Monday said that while the punishment handed down to Sheikh Hasina does not fully reflect the gravity of her crimes, the verdict represents a significant milestone for the country's future.The International Crimes Tribunal...