Mohammad Jamil Khan

With one day left before his visa expired, Mohammad Julhas, 28, could not afford another cancellation.

More than 100 Bangladeshis have been recruited into Russia’s war against Ukraine, and dozens have been killed on the front lines, according to rights groups that say many of the men were misled, exploited, or financially trapped before ending up in combat.

Mohammad Obaidullah thought he was finally heading back to work in Dammam after two failed attempts. The 38-year-old, from Cumilla’s Muradnagar, had boarded a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight on February 28.

Flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Doha remained suspended, with airport officials reporting around 90 cancellations from Dhaka and Chattogram since Saturday.

Flights from Bangladesh to several Middle Eastern destinations have remained suspended since yesterday afternoon as some countries in the region temporarily closed their airspace due to US and Israel’s strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliation.

Passengers told to leave contacts and await updates from airlines

Amid the ongoing reshuffle of government officials, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sazzat Ali submitted his resignation yesterday.

Uncertainty has arisen over the withdrawal of security support -- including the deployment of gunmen, and in some cases, house guards -- provided to at least 70 politicians and politically important individuals ahead of the 13th parliamentary election.

Home Minister orders strict chain of command, zero tolerance for corruption

Intense lobbying has gripped the bureaucracy and police, with officials scrambling for coveted postings as the contours of a new BNP-led government begin to take shape.

Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman described the just-concluded polls as an “acceptable, fair election”, saying the outcome was widely accepted and made possible by soldiers’ “responsibility and efficiency”.

Law enforcement agencies have put in place a tight security arrangement across the country for the national election and referendum today, deploying nearly 10 lakh personnel to ensure a free, fair, and uninterrupted vote.

With the much-awaited national election set to take place tomorrow, looted firearms yet to be recovered and thousands of licensed weapons yet to be deposited may pose security challenges, experts and law enforcers said.

As a single constituency, Brahmanbaria-3 (Sadar) has the highest number of vulnerable polling centres in the 13th parliamentary election, with 121 centres classified as “highly risky”, according to police assessments.

Around 5:00am on January 11, a team of Rapid Action Battalion conducted a drive at a house in Raghunathpur in Benapole and recovered two firearms, six rounds of bullets and four magazines.

Police have identified 13 constituencies across nine districts as “high risk” ahead of the February 12 national election, after analysing political violence since the announcement of the polls schedule on December 11.

Violence has flared since campaigning began for the 13th national election on January 22, and police say arrests and cases alone will not be enough unless rival groups show restraint.

5 dead and nearly 1,000 injured since Oct last year, rights group says

As major political parties prepare their election manifestos, law enforcement experts and rights activists urge them to make law and order a top priority, keep police free from political interference, and end the partisan use of the force.

With the 13th national election and referendum approaching, the interim government has placed the most vulnerable polling centres under heightened security, tightened controls on firearms and ordered law enforcers to take swift legal action against anyone attempting to disrupt the vote.