Ukraine said yesterday that tens of thousands of people have likely been killed in Russia’s assault on Mariupol and Russian forces have slowed down evacuations from the besieged southeastern city, where conditions are desperate.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed her frustration for not having a strong opposition in the country as the two main opposition parties, created by military rulers, don’t have a base among the mass people.

China blasted the United States for making “groundless accusations” about its Covid-19 policy, after surging cases in Shanghai prompted the American consulate to let some staff leave the locked-down megacity.

Experts yesterday called for cracking down on syndicates of traders who hike the prices of essentials during Ramadan like clockwork every year by manufacturing a crisis.

North Korea has described Joe Biden as an “old man in his senility”, in a characteristically colourful personal attack on the US president after he accused the Russian leader of war crimes in Ukraine.

A team of Rab-8 has arrested four men for their alleged involvement in the abduction and rape of a schoolgirl in Gopalganj’s Kotalipara upazila.

Eminent citizens yesterday said the long-anticipated anti-discrimination bill sparks hope, but it should undergo significant changes before it’s passed.

Police were trying to arrest the lone accused in a case filed over the rape of a homemaker in Jamalpur’s Islampur upazila.

Border Guard Bangladesh yesterday recovered the body of an Indian national from Durgapur Kuthibari border in Lalmonirhat’s Aditmari upazila.

A Dhaka court yesterday denied bail to Ashish Rai Choudhury, an accused in the actor Sohel Chowdhury murder case, in a narcotics case.

Iran’s foreign minister said yesterday that Washington is “imposing new conditions” in the negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Ukraine said yesterday it was seeking another round of European Union sanctions against Moscow and more military aid from its allies as it braces for a major Russian offensive in the east of the country.

The controversy surrounding a Hindu teacher in Naogaon was an attempt to cover up a long-running corruption by a small section of the school authorities, according to staffers.

A fisherman was shot dead in a clash between police and fishermen over catching jatka (hilsa fry) in the Meghna in Laxmipur on Saturday night.

A father and his infant son were killed in a road accident in Chattogram yesterday noon.

The government will sort out the modalities with the Saudi government by early next month such that Bangladeshi citizens can perform Hajj this year, said Faridul Haque Khan, the state Minister for religious affairs.

As the Covid-19 infection rate is at its lowest in Bangladesh, more people are expected to be leaving the capital and other major cities for Eid this year after a two-year lull.

Bangladeshi tourists have started crossing the border through the Banglabandha Land Port in Panchagarh, more than two years after their entry through the port was suspended in the wake of Covid-19.

France yesterday prepared for the first round of presidential elections projected to produce a run-off rematch between President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen that will be far tighter than their duel five years ago.

Calls for freeing Hriday Chandra Mondal, the Munshiganj school teacher arrested in a case defaming Islam, are getting louder, with local and global rights organisations yesterday issuing statements demanding his release.