The Philippines has lifted a moratorium on oil and gas exploration in the disputed South China Sea, which the government said yesterday could fast-track talks with Beijing on a joint energy project.

Anti-rape protesters started their long-march programme from Dhaka to Noakhali’s Begumganj upazila against the growing incidents of rape, sexual harassment and violence against women across the country in recent times and the culture of impunity.

A study conducted by Bangladesh Health Watch (BHW) reported that coronavirus patients spent Tk 12,000 each on average as medicine cost.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the administration to take extensive measures against rape and raise public awareness against such incidents in society.

The EU yesterday sanctioned senior aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including the man known as his chef, over the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny and Kremlin meddling in Libya’s civil war.

Four years ago, US President Donald Trump rode a wave of late-deciding voters to a shocking election victory. But those voters are unlikely to rescue him again, new Reuters/Ipsos polling shows.

Imposing tighter controls to curb Covid-19 contagion could save hundreds of thousands of lives across Europe before February as the continent battles an exponential surge in infections already forcing curfews and lockdowns, the World Health Organization said yesterday.

Information Minister Hasan Mahmud yesterday said YouTube channels and IP TVs would not be allowed to present news.

A copy of the first collection of plays by William Shakespeare was sold Wednesday for $9.97 million at auction in New York, setting a new record for a work of literature.

A family of four, including two children, was killed during a robbery in their house in Satkhira’s Kalaroa upazila early yesterday.

A faction of Chhatra Adhikar Parishad yesterday left the organisation and formed a new one declaring the parishad’s joint conveners Nurul Haque Nur, also former Ducsu vice-president, and Muhammad Rashed Khan personae non gratae.

Malaysia has agreed to reopen its labour market for Bangladeshi migrant workers soon, according to a press release of expatriates’ welfare ministry.

Tens of thousands of Thai protesters cheered and chanted into the night in central Bangkok yesterday in a show of mass defiance to a ban on demonstrations designed to end more than three months of anti-government action.

Prime Minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman today provides assurance that all possible measures would be taken to remove the difficulties confronting people of the northern districts.

The High Court has upheld the life sentence handed to a convict in a rape case in Khulna, considering the circumstances and statement of the victim although her medical report was not available.

A Dhaka University student yesterday sued former Ducsu vice-president Nurul Haque Nur under the Digital Security Act over making insulting and defamatory comments about her during a Facebook Live broadcast.

The Myanmar military has intensified its attacks, involving its ground, air and naval forces, against the Arakan Army, reported The Irrawady, amid concerns that civilians in Rakhine are becoming victims of the conflicts.

The former executive assistant of Fahim Saleh, co-founder of Pathao, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of first-degree murder for allegedly decapitating and dismembering the tech entrepreneur in his luxury New York condo in July.

Newly appointed Indian High Commissioner Vikram Kumar Doraiswami yesterday said Bangladesh would get top priority in trial, distribution, delivery, and partial co-production of the potential Indian Covid-19 vaccine.

Panic gripped Rangamati’s Naniarchar after a gunfight took place in the area on Tuesday evening.