The first day of the sale of advance bus tickets for Eid holidays went rather quiet yesterday with many apparently opting for rail, waterways, and air, fearing traffic would be terrible on the highways.

Road Transport and Highway Division (RTHD) yesterday gave its reaction to a news published on The Daily Star yesterday with the headline "Holidaymakers' Journey Before Eid: Rain, road repair major concern".

Will Bangladesh cricket's biggest stars Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan contest in the upcoming general elections? Or will they not?

Saudi Arabia yesterday rejected French President Emmanuel Macron's comment that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri had been held against his will in the kingdom in November.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said he would approve a new law to reduce the age limit for political office, raising the prospect of younger candidates at next year's general election.

Human Rights Watch warned yesterday that Syria's new property law does not satisfy international standards and amounts to the "forced eviction" of vulnerable people unable to prove land ownership.

The United Nations yesterday issued a blistering report accusing the Afghan state of violating women's rights by failing to prosecute criminal violence against them, underscoring widespread gender brutality nearly 17 years after the Taliban's fall.

Qatar has moved closer to granting permanent residency to foreigners after its senior legislative body approved a draft law, first announced in the wake of the ongoing Gulf crisis.

With the ban on harvesting lifted and after a week's delay in ripening, mangoes have finally started making an appearance in the markets in Chapainawabganj, a district famous for its high quality mangoes, since Monday.

Residents of Ichli area are being subjected to the peculiar suffering of having to live in the vicinity of a huge storage of rotten shrimps for the last five months.

A drug addict allegedly stabbed his wife to death for money at Suhilpur village in Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila early yesterday.

Atanu Patranabish Chhoton, 54, from Boro Pukurpar in Netrakona town, always led an active life. Alongside his pursuit of various careers as family breadwinner, Atanu indulged his flair for creativity at cultural and literary events.

The BNP is observing the 37th death anniversary of its founder and former president Ziaur Rahman across the country today with due reverence.

A gunman yesterday shot dead two female police officers with their own weapons before killing a bystander in a brazen suspected terror attack in Belgium, briefly taking a hostage at a school before being killed by police.

President Abdul Hamid yesterday stressed the need for enhancing IT and technical expertise of Bangladeshi peacekeepers to compete with those from other countries.

Three activists of United People Democratic Front (UPDF) were shot dead by unidentified criminals in Korollya Charri village in the district's Baghaichari upazila yesterday morning.

Dhaka again refuted the Myanmar government's claim of “receiving” 62 Rohingya refugees, among the 700,000 who fled to Bangladesh due to a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine State.

The BNP will keep a close eye on the Gazipur city polling stations the night before the voting day and try to assemble party men outside to guard the centres during polling as part of its new strategy for the June 26 mayoral polls.

Bangladesh pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman has been ruled out of the Afghanistan series in Dehradun, India and will not travel with the team today as he is yet to fully recover from a toe injury he sustained while representing Mumbai Indians in the recently concluded Indian Premier League.

A total of 75 people were arrested by police in separate anti-narcotics drives at Jatrabari and Mirpur area yesterday, increasing the tally of arrests in the drive to around 400 over the last three days.