The government has urged the Election Commission to take necessary steps to hold Zila Parishad elections as soon as possible.

Nor’westers lashed many parts of the country, including the capital and its adjacent districts, early yesterday, killing at least five people.

It was when they unclothed Nahid Hossain’s dead body for post mortem examination that the morgue staff realised how horrifyingly he had been beaten to death by the sparring Dhaka College students and the New Market shopkeepers.

A day after the capital’s New Market area became the scene of furious battles between shopkeepers and Dhaka College students, law enforcement’s apparent inability to bring a swift end to the violence drew criticism yesterday.

Shopkeepers in the capital’s New Market area and Dhaka College students fought pitched battles all day yesterday over a brawl that started on Monday night centring an argument at a fast food shop.

The International Monetary Fund has revised down its economic growth projection for Bangladesh to 6.4 percent for the current fiscal year largely because of Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions.

About eight years back, the government took up a project to excavate a canal to ease the sufferings of Chattogram city residents from waterlogging, a perennial problem.

The Editors’ Council (Sampadak Parishad) has said the space for independent media will shrink further if the proposed “Mass Media Employees (Services Conditions) Act-2022” is passed by parliament.

At least eight newsmen, including a photojournalist of The Daily Star, were attacked and injured while performing their duties during the clash between New Market employees and students of Dhaka College in the capital’s New Market area yesterday.

The government should take precautionary measures to prevent a fresh surge in the number of coronavirus cases during the Eid vacation, suggested experts.

Farmers in haor areas continue to harvest half-ripe Boro fearing more flash floods triggered by torrential rain in the north-eastern districts of Bangladesh and in India’s Meghalaya.

Russia said yesterday it had hit hundreds of military targets in Ukraine overnight, destroying command posts with air-launched missiles, while authorities in the western city of Lviv, which has escaped heavy bombardment, said a missile attack killed seven.

Another haor in Sunamganj’s Derai upazila -- Huramandira -- has been inundated after an adjacent levee broke due to excessive pressure of water.

The Bangladeshi diplomats, who responded to the call of Bangabandhu and expressed allegiance to the Mujibnagar Government before December 16, 1971, set the example of sacrifice and patriotism.

The Election Commission should take steps to restore people’s trust in it and reform the electronic voting system for holding a free, fair and participatory election, senior journalists said yesterday.

The government’s decision to dissolve zila parishads has received widespread criticisms with experts saying that the appointment of unelected individuals at the helm of the 130-year-old local government body contradicted the constitution.

A Sylhet court yesterday framed charges against six people, including five police personnel, in a case filed over the death of Rayhan Ahmed in custody two and a half years ago.

The Finance Division has recommended that the government avoid hard-term loans and discourage import of luxury goods to cope with macroeconomic pressures arising from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ukraine yesterday vowed to ‘fight to the end’ as a Russian ultimatum for the last remaining Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender expired yesterday.

Transport experts have warned that there could be a dreadful situation on roads if traffic movement is not properly managed during the rush of people travelling to their home towns before the Eid.