The Pakistani government said today that news of slaughter carried out by Awami League members in East Pakistan before March 25 “has been kept strictly secret for fear of reprisals in West Pakistan”.

Billionaire benefactors Bill and Melinda Gates, co-founders of one of the world’s largest private charitable foundations, filed for divorce on Monday after 27 years of marriage but pledged to continue their philanthropic work together.

Authorities of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP) are likely to start installation of rail track on the Mawa-Bhanga section from July in a major development for the fast-track project being implemented by Bangladesh Railway.

Doctors at Dhaka Medical College’s forensic medicine department have completed the primary post-mortem on the body of female college student, which was recovered from her Gulshan flat on April 26.

Hefajat-e-Islam last night demanded release of “Ulema and religious-minded general people” who were arrested over violence by the Islamist organisation in March during demonstrations protesting Indian Prime Minister Narandra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is eagerly waiting for US response over obtaining Covid-19 vaccines as its stock of AstraZeneca vaccine doses purchased from India will run out soon.

The government will again extend the period of a project taken to set up a modern healthcare facility at the capital Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) after the project authorities failed to complete the work on schedule mainly due to the pandemic.

Hugo Xavier became one of the first people to cross the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge when it opened on Thursday near his tiny hometown of Arouca in northern Portugal.

A Supreme Court lawyer yesterday served a legal notice on the government, asking it to verify through forensic tests the authenticity of an alleged conversation between the college student found dead in a Gulshan flat and Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir.

Iran yesterday denied media reports suggesting a prisoner swap deal had been reached with the United States, in parallel with nuclear talks involving the two arch-rivals.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s decision to indefinitely postpone elections could rekindle tensions between his secular Fatah movement and Hamas Islamists, piling pressure on Abbas to set a new timeline for a vote, experts said.

Bangladesh reported that 65 more people died from Covid-19 in 24 hours ending at 8:00am yesterday, raising the death toll to 11,644.

Taiwan’s defence minister yesterday said authorities were investigating whether a man from mainland China had managed to cross the Taiwan Strait in a rubber dinghy in a bid to seek political sanctuary.

India reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus infections for a 12th straight day yesterday to take its overall number of cases to just shy of 20 million, as scientists predicted a peak in the pandemic in the coming days.

The University Grants Commission is considering allowing public universities to hold exams online keeping in mind that it would benefit students and also reduce session jams.

Four Hefajat-e-Islam leaders were placed on remand yesterday in seven cases filed with police stations in the capital and Chattogram over the 2013 mayhem and the recent violence in Dhaka and Chattogram.

The Bangladesh government decided to refer to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations the question of genocide in the newborn republic.

Eight global and regional human rights bodies yesterday wrote a letter to the UN human rights chief, expressing concerns over the state of media freedom in Bangladesh and urging authorities to protect and respect freedom of expression.

A Cox’s Bazar court on Saturday sent three men to jail on charge of gang-raping an 11-year-old girl.

Operation of regular international flights to and from Dhaka resumed on May 1 after a 17-day suspension due to coronavirus restrictions.