The coronavirus pandemic is still raging worldwide, but fresh World Health Organization data indicates its pace is easing in most regions, with the biggest slowdown seen in the hard-hit Americas.

The cabinet has decided not to formulate new laws scrapping the old ones either enacted or promulgated from January 1, 1972 to August 5, 1975 during the rule of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Some 172 countries are engaging with the COVAX facility designed to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization said yesterday, but more funding is needed and countries need now to make binding commitments.

In a “note of dissent”, Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar yesterday differed with the Election Commission’s move to revise the Representation of the People Order, 1972, and the election-related laws of local government bodies.

The tidal water that has flooded many areas in the country’s coastal districts keeps receding, but it leaves a trail of destruction.

China today vetoes Bangladesh’s application for UN membership. An Indian-Soviet resolution recommending the admission of Bangladesh to the United Nations is rejected by China’s first Security Council veto.

A court in Cox’s Bazar yesterday granted bail to a women and her two daughters, who were tortured in broad daylight on Friday over “cattle theft” in the district’s Harbang union.

At least 3,500 private medical facilities did not bother to apply for renewing their licence by the deadline that passed on Sunday.

The Election Commission yesterday announced the dates of by-polls to three parliamentary constituencies -- Dhaka-5, Pabna-4 and Naogoan-6 -- amid coronavirus pandemic.

Although people are dying with Covid-19 and new cases are being detected everyday, over 72 percent of hospital beds for the infected patients are vacant across the country, according to officials.

The BNP is likely to take part in the upcoming local government elections and the by-polls for parliamentary seats “if the situation returns to normal.”

A Dhaka court yesterday framed charges against expelled leader of Jubo Mohila League Shamima Nur Papia and her husband Mofizur Rahman in an arms case.

Vast swathes of coastal land in Khulna division have been flooded due to high tide and heavy rainfall, while rivers in the north saw a slight rise in water level yesterday.

The Bangladesh Government today asks the Security Council to pronounce “speedily and favourably” on its application for membership of the United Nations, “resisting the unjustified manoeuvres” of Pakistan to block its entry.

The BNP yesterday expressed solidarity with the demands of Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (Noab) and urged the government to act immediately to save the industry.

The suspected white supremacist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers last year, a massacre that prompted a global campaign to stamp out online hate, arrived in Christchurch on Sunday ahead of sentencing hearings.

United States-led international coalition troops withdrew from Iraq’s Taji military base yesterday and handed it over to Iraqi security forces, Reuters witnesses and the coalition said.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said Saturday it had downed and seized an Israeli drone that flew over the UN-demarcated Blue Line border.

India has assured Bangladesh that it will carry out an investigation into why border killings were taking place despite the Indian government’s decision to bring those down to zero, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said.

South Korea ramped up coronavirus restrictions yesterday to try to contain a growing outbreak, as many countries around the world battled worrying surges in infections.