Taiwan’s air force scrambled jets for a second consecutive day yesterday as multiple Chinese aircraft approached the island and crossed the sensitive midline of the Taiwan Strait, with the island’s government urging Beijing to “pull back from the edge.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used a South American tour Friday to tell Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro he “has to leave,” drawing a furious accusation of “war-mongering” from the leftist leader.

Around 20,000 people protested in Thailand’s capital yesterday against the government of former coup leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, with many demonstrators also calling for reforms to the monarchy.

The Covid-19 weekly death toll of around 50,000 lives is unacceptably high, the World Health Organization has said as the one million fatalities landmark approaches.

A truck driver was beaten dead by a mob at Rajshahi’s Puthia upazila after his vehicle ran over and killed two goats.

Six people, including a Chhatra League activist, were killed in separate road accidents in Mymensingh and Gopalganj in the last two days.

Two prosecution witnesses gave judicial statements to a local court yesterday in the case of the attack on Ghoraghat UNO Wahida Khanam.

The FBI is increasingly worried about possible violent clashes between ideologically-motivated extremist groups before the November election, director Chris Wray said Thursday.

Taiwan scrambled fighter jets yesterday as 18 Chinese aircraft buzzed the island, crossing the sensitive midline of the Taiwan Strait, in response to a senior US official holding talks in Taipei.

The BNP yesterday harshly criticised The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam for his commentary on democracy and alleged that it was against the party.

The contracts of 25 road and culvert construction projects, worth more than Tk 88 crore, have been cancelled by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Faridpur.

Around 120,000 years ago in what is now northern Saudi Arabia, a small band of homo sapiens stopped to drink and forage at a shallow lake that was also frequented by camels, buffalo, and elephants bigger than any species seen today.

A five-member Bangladesh delegation will be in New York during the General Assembly session of the United Nations which commences today.

Chairmen of all educational boards will sit in a meeting on Thursday to discuss how to hold the postponed Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations.

Large parts of Europe yesterday geared up for broad new restrictions to stop the coronavirus and Israel became the first developed country to enforce a second nationwide shutdown, as infections worldwide topped the 30-million mark.

Belarus’ borders remained open yesterday after President Alexander Lukashenko announced they would be closed as he warned of a possible “war” with neighbouring countries, whom he accuses of supporting a burgeoning opposition movement.

Police arrested a man on the charge of stabbing his wife and three other members of his in-laws’ family in Tangail’s Mirzapur upazila on Thursday.

The government has relaxed the age limit for all government job seekers, except for those seeking jobs in Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), considering the Covid-19 situation.

Opinions on how governments handled the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic varies hugely in Europe, a survey showed yesterday, with hard-hit Italians especially disillusioned with the EU.

Latin America has started to resume normal social and public life at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic still requires major control interventions, World Health Organization regional director Carissa Etienne said on Wednesday.