Fears of a hard Covid lockdown sparked panic buying in Beijing yesterday, as long queues for compulsory mass testing formed in a large central district of the Chinese capital.

Iran yesterday called for a new meeting “as soon as possible” in the talks that have been held in Vienna aimed at restoring its frayed 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday sought to unite a deeply divided nation after winning re-election in a battle against rival Marine Le Pen that saw the far right come its closest yet to taking power.

Police yesterday recovered the body of 9-year-old Jihad, around 44 hours after he had gone missing on Saturday while bathing in the Lohalia river in Patuakhali’s Dumki upazila.

A man was killed and two others injured after a boiler at a rice mill exploded in Rajbari Sadar’s Gouripur area yesterday.

A youth was arrested in Kishoreganj early yesterday on charge of hurting religious sentiments.

A projectile was fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, prompting a retaliation, the Israel Defense Forces said early yesterday.

Bangladesh Bank is set to give Sri Lanka another year to repay the $200 million loan as it looks to lend a helping hand to the island nation, which is going through its worst debt and economic crises.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque yesterday asked the authorities concerned to beef up monitoring of travellers to India as Covid-19 infections are increasing in the neighbouring country.

The Supreme Court chamber judge yesterday refused to stay a High Court verdict granting copyright of 260 books of the popular spy thriller “Masud Rana Series” and 50 books of “Kuasha Series” to ghost writer Sheikh Abdul Hakim.

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is likely to visit Dhaka this week, most probably on April 28, says a diplomatic source yesterday.

Sri Lanka’s financial crisis is a classic example of what populist policies, corruption and mismanagement can cause, economists and political analysts from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka told a webinar yesterday.

The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it held “fruitful technical discussions” with Sri Lanka on its loan request, while the World Bank said it was preparing an emergency aid package for the crisis-stricken country.

French voters headed to the polls yesterday for the presidential run-off between centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron and his challenger Marine Le Pen, after a fractious campaign that has seen the far right come its closest yet to winning power.

While there was no forecast of excessive rainfall or flash flood, a dyke broke at Chhayar Haor of Sunamganj and Netrokona yesterday, raising the urgency to finish harvesting the Boro paddy before the water destroys the crop.

A man was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and fined Tk 3 lakhs for hacking into another’s Facebook account and spreading anti-religious messages on the social media platform.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a foreign vessel smuggling fuel in the Gulf and arrested its crew members, state media said yesterday, in the third such incident reported this month.

North Korea’s state media yesterday boasted that its armed forces had “gained invincible power” under leader Kim Jong Un as it prepares for a major army holiday that analysts say could be marked with a military parade or major weapons test.

Israeli forces yesterday said they had arrested 12 people across the occupied West Bank over the weekend in connection with a spate of deadly attacks inside the Jewish state.

A Rangpur court yesterday accepted a case against the judge of a magistrate court after his wife filed a complaint of torture over dowry.