The world is becoming “better prepared” to deal with future variants of the coronavirus, the CEO and co-founder of German vaccine-maker BioNTech told AFP yesterday, as the company works on an Omicron-specific shot.

The queues and chaos in front of TCB trucks have only been growing recently due to reduced earnings of low- and middle-income groups and price hikes.

I had about 10 taxis on the Dhaka-Narayanganj route. There was no strike on that route on the morning of February 21. At that time, I was in Narayanganj. The transport strike actually began in the evening, shortly after the shooting.

Pakistan’s military has stepped up operations along the Afghan border in recent weeks after a spate of militant attacks that has dashed any hope the frontier might see more peace and stability after the end of the war in Afghanistan.

A special Southeast Asian envoy to the crisis in Myanmar yesterday said he was seeking to visit the country next month and appealed to its military junta to give its blessing for him to talk with a shadow government it has labelled “terrorists”.

After a series of legal battles and suffering in custody for around 16 months, Dinajpur college student Dipti Rani Das yesterday got permanent bail from the High Court in a case filed under the Digital Security Act for hurting religious sentiments.

Journalists and citizens from various walks of society were victimised the most by the Digitial Security Act 2018 for voicing their opinions on digital platforms, speakers said at a webinar yesterday.

Two people were killed after a vehicle hit a motorcycle near Dhaka airport early yesterday.

Police detained an Indian girl from Panchagarh’s Tentulia yesterday for entering Bangladesh illegally.

A sixth grader was raped allegedly by a youth in her house in Chattogram city Wednesday night.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hand over the Ekushey Padak-2022 to 24 eminent persons on Sunday on the occasion of the Amar Ekushey and the International Mother Language Day.

The proposed regulation and policy for social media and streaming services will be alarming for journalism and the free flow of information, experts said yesterday.

Speakers at a roundtable in Sylhet yesterday urged the government to step back from constructing a safari park at Moulvibazar’s Lathitila forest.

A teenager was abducted, held hostage for four days and gang-raped by two youths in the capital’s Lalbagh, police said.

The Anti-Corruption Commission has filed 13 cases against 29 people, including fugitive PK Halder, for embezzling about Tk 523 crore of FAS Finance and Investment.

An expert team yesterday started the process of shipping 500 tonnes of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane, a banned toxic pesticide, to France for destruction.

A Boeing 737-800 aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines has remained grounded in Malaysia since Tuesday due to a crack on its windshield.

In 1952, I was the editor of Sainik. I used to live in 19, Azimpur with Mr [Principal Abul] Kashem. I was present at the meeting of the All-party State Language Action Committee in Nawabpur [February 20, 1952]. The meeting decided not to violate section 144.

Two Bangladeshi brothers died in a road accident in Oman’s Sinaw city, around 200km from Muscat, early Tuesday.

Some 318 illegal brick kilns are still running and polluting the environment in Dhaka and four other surrounding districts -- Gazipur, Manikganj, Narayanganj and Munshiganj.