AT least 67 percent of the country's 8,500 brick kilns are running without the permission of the Department of Environment, according to the environment group, Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba). Of these, more than 1,900 kilns use wood to burn bricks, a practice which is a punishable offence as per our environmental laws. These statistics are highly alarming, given that unauthorised brick kilns are responsible for causing irreversible damage to the environment and posing serious health hazards to people working and living in nearby areas.

Experts expresses outrage about the bulldozing of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud by Islamic State militants in Iraq

Men tend to be more narcissistic than women and as a result are more likely to exploit others, a US study said after analyzing three decades of data from more than 475,000 people.

IT is disquieting to see that police has proposed change to some important safeguard provisions of Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013. A prominent Bengali daily, Prothom Alo, has reported that the police authority has sent a proposal to Home Ministry to bring alterations in the definition, investigation process and punishment provisions stipulated in the Act.

ACCORDING to an international survey carried out by VeriskMaplecroft, Bangladesh's aspirations to become a major gateway for international manufacturing is in for a shock. Having being ranked 35 out of 100 cities most vulnerable to natural disasters, it is imperative for the government to factor in the exposure of future industries and industrial belts to natural vagaries. Dhaka has been identified as the worse affected followed by Barisal, Chittagong, Khulna and Narayanganj. Sadly Dhaka is the premium industrial centre for the country.

The Smithsonian, the largest research and museum group in the world, bans the fashionable photography aid

Melanie Smith monitors around 90 women daily who are believed to be living with Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq and depicts an idea into what life really is like inside IS

ON Tuesday, foreign diplomats, including the US and EU ambassadors in Dhaka, met with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office. Reiterating their urgent concerns about violence against innocent citizens of Bangladesh, the diplomats urged Khaleda to ensure that the violence resulting from her movement comes to an end.

THE explanation offered by a senior police officer in disallowing rally of leaders of progressive student alliance to protest Avijit murder in Rajshahi University is unacceptable. They were told that only Bangladesh Chattra League (BCL) is allowed to take out processions on campus to protest the killing of secular writer Avijit Roy.

FRUIT and vegetable growers, given their limited staying power with perishables, are among the hardest-hit in the economy .

WHAT is now an established fact is that Bangladesh is a major supplier of labour in international markets. However, the country provides workers in the lower value segment of overseas labour market.

International Crimes Tribunal exonerates 10 more eminent people from proceedings for contempt of court, as they apologise unconditionally for statement on David Bergman verdict

Singapore has retained its position as the world's most expensive city, according to research by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Bill Gates is declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time by Forbes magazine's annual ranking of global billionaires

“If political games are played with the law, it causes uncertainty and instability. This is the biggest hurdle to freeing [ourselves] from this abnormal situation.”

SO far BNP's political programme has cost 113 lives. Sixty of them were victims of arson attacks on buses and public transport. More than 1,200 vehicles have been destroyed by fire or damaged by miscreants. One hundred thirty people are writhing in agony in the burn units.

WITHIN less than a week of Avijit Roy's murder, we reiterate our call for a focused investigation such that Avjit's killers and purported masterminds of the extremist outfit Ansar Bangla 7, which claimed responsibility for the attack, can be brought to justice without delay. If we cannot ensure justice against the dark forces, our values of freedom, tolerance and secularism will suffer a major blow.

Nineteen of 220 members of an Assyrian Christian community kidnapped by Islamic State (IS) in Syria released

“I had informed all including the DIG and IG [about death threats to Avijit]. People will consider Avijit's killing as an indicator of your [law enforcers] failure.”

THE regularity with which the law enforcing agencies have been discovering dens of the extremist groups along with large quantity of weapons, incendiary and explosive materials is worrying. But one must give plaudits to the police for their successes in this regard.