Nasa counted down yesterday to the launch of a $1.5 billion spacecraft that aims to plunge into the Sun's sizzling atmosphere and become humanity's first mission to explore a star.

A good yield of pineapple had brought smiles to farmers in Tangail's Madhupur but low prices cut short their happiness.

Five people, including two minor girls, were killed and 45 others injured in road accidents in Gaibandha, Khagrachhari, Savar and Munshiganj yesterday.

Police recovered the slit-throat body of a security guard of an ATM booth in Joypurhat town yesterday.

Two police officers were among four people killed yesterday in a shooting in eastern Canada and a suspect has been arrested, authorities said.

A minor was among three people who died yesterday in Chittagong, after they inhaled toxic gas from an under-construction water tank of a mosque while playing football in the city's Jhaowtala area.

Twenty-four national and international organisations yesterday called for immediate and unconditional release of noted photographer Shahidul Alam.

Zimbabwe's defeated opposition faced a deadline yesterday to file its legal challenge to try to overturn the July 30 election result, which has been mired in fraud allegations and a government crackdown on opponents.

More than half a million Venezuelans have crossed into Ecuador this year, the UN said yesterday, after Quito declared a state of migration emergency triggered by the crisis engulfing Venezuela.

Armed robbers killed at least 10 people, including a policeman, when they raided a police station and two banks in southern Nigeria, police said yesterday.

New Zealand became the latest country yesterday to outlaw single-use plastic shopping bags, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying they will be phased out over the next year as a "meaningful step" towards reducing pollution.

Reporters Without Borders said it had restored its website in Egypt yesterday, exactly one year after it was blocked by the authorities.

Canada is quietly nudging allies including Germany and Sweden for help with resolving its row with Saudi Arabia, a government source confirmed Thursday.

Ten people have died in an outbreak of Ebola in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a toll issued yesterday that said 27 other deaths were suspected to be Ebola-related.

Brazil's top presidential candidates -- minus imprisoned frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- have clashed in the first debate of the campaign, showcasing sharp divides in Latin America's biggest nation.

North Korea issued a forceful statement Thursday against what it said were elements of the US government which are not adhering to the spirit of the dialogue established by US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Singapore summit hin June.

Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar has alleged that a vested quarter was cooking up a conspiracy theory about the dinner, attended by US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat, at his Mohammadpur residence on August 4.

A truck rammed into a battery-powered rickshaw killing three persons at T and T intersection in the district town around 9:45pm yesterday.

Two alleged drug dealers were killed in separate “gunfights” with police in Chandpur and Rajshahi districts, while one was arrested by police from the capital's Gabtoli, yesterday.

The High Court yesterday directed the home secretary to make arrangements for examining whether noted photographer Shahidul Alam was tortured in custody.