There is a “real risk” of multiple famines this year, UN chief Antonio Guterres said yesterday and urged ministers meeting on food security to take practical steps to stabilise food markets and reduce commodity price volatility.

The US has congratulated Bangladesh on the momentous opening of the Padma Bridge, saying this will create important national and regional connectivity, boost commerce and improve quality of life.

All relief -- government or non-government -- is to be distributed in a coordinated way by committees formed in upazilas and unions of the Sylhet division.

The people of the country’s southern districts are elated over the inauguration of the Padma Bridge today.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was taken home from Evercare Hospital yesterday as doctors feared she might get Covid amid rising cases in the country.

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday said it is reviewing the “white paper” that named 116 religious leaders and Islamic speakers for their “involvement in laundering money, funding militancy and spreading communal hatred”. 

Organised rescue efforts are struggling to reach the site of an earthquake in Afghanistan that has killed more than 1,000 people, as survivors dig through the rubble by hand to find those still missing. 

Criminals shot dead a so-called Arsa member at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar’ Ukhiya upazila on Wednesday evening, said police.

At least 1,319 new Covid-19 cases were recorded, against the 9,214 samples tested, in the 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, while one death was reported during the period.

European leaders formally accepted Ukraine as a candidate to join the EU yesterday, a bold geopolitical move triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but a reminder that the 27-nation bloc will need a major overhaul as it looks to enlarge again.

Police yesterday arrested a man for his alleged involvement in the rape of his co-worker at a restaurant in Narsingdi.

A BNP leader was hacked to death in Narsingdi’s Kath Bazar area on Wednesday night.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics has extended the time of the ongoing population and housing census by seven days for four flood-hit districts.

Record floods were expected in parts of southern China yesterday as heavy rains pushed water levels in the Pearl River delta to their highest in almost a century.

The government has slashed import duty on rice until October 31 to help increase the supply of the staple and stabilise the domestic market, according to a notification issued yesterday.

Vikram Kumar Doraiswami, Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, said the Padma Bridge will contribute to greater connectivity between Bangladesh and India and in the sub-region supporting the BBIN initiative.

Bangladesh’s first education act, which will be sent to the cabinet division next week for approval, orders a ban on printing, publishing and marketing notebooks and guidebooks -- a menace to the country’s education system.

The number of daily Covid-19 cases in the country crossed 1,000-mark after nearly four months, with 1,135 new cases reported in 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday.   

Growing majorities in nations friendly to the United States have come to view Washington as a reliable partner since the Ukraine war, an international survey said yesterday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday told parliament that she hoped the next national election would be held in a free and fair manner with spontaneous participation of all political parties.