Two high officials of the Bangladesh government -- Ruhul Quddus, newly appointed secretary general, and Abdul Khaleque, inspector general of police -- reach Dhaka. Cheers and gunfire are heard every now and then. The freedom fighters are celebrating their victory.

The government-sponsored programme that promised to procure Aman paddy directly from marginal farmers has been operating at a slow pace for half a month in eight districts of Rangpur division.

Bangladesh is far from practising ethical recruitment, which requires a zero-cost migration policy and transparency in the entire migration cycle, and also ensures that migrants do not face exploitation, according to researchers.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she was still looking for an answer as to where all Awami League leaders had been when Bangabandhu was assassinated and why none of them came forward to play a courageous role against the killing.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday he wants to reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan “with or without” a peace agreement in order to give higher priority to strategic competition with China.

At least 10 leaders and activists of the BNP were injured as police allegedly obstructed their Victory Day processions and charged baton on them in different areas of Narayanganj city yesterday.

The government has planned to construct a four-storey building on Bhashan Char for the UN and aid agency representatives to ensure effective monitoring of humanitarian activities for one lakh Rohingya refugees to be relocated to the island from Cox’s Bazar.

Temporary President Syed Nazrul Islam says, “This is the time to work as a post-war reconstructive government.” He also says that the Bangladesh government had started preparing the new constitution and an election might be held by mid-1972.

After 34 years, the Joint Rivers Commission of Bangladesh and India will tomorrow update data on six common rivers and discuss a framework on sharing the waters of those.

A homeless child was set on fire by an unidentified man in the capital’s Fakirerpool area yesterday evening.

China yesterday called the expulsion of diplomats from the US a “mistake” following reports that Washington quietly expelled two embassy officials in September after they drove onto a sensitive military base in Virginia.

Lebanon’s president yesterday postponed consultations to select a new prime minister after weeks of largely peaceful street protests descended into violence, leaving dozens wounded in clashes with security forces.

Northern Ireland’s faltering efforts to resurrect its collapsed government resumed yesterday following a general election in Britain that might give rival parties a new incentive to agree.

The UN expert on the right to education yesterday warned that excessive fees charged to the children of migrant workers in Qatar meant that thousands were unable to study.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday threatened to close two strategic military bases used by the United States in Turkey, after Washington warned of sanctions over Ankara buying Russian arms.

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered his support for Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam yesterday, praising her courage in governing the Chinese-ruled financial hub in these “most difficult” times after months of often violent anti-government protests.

Police yesterday arrested two youths in a case filed over raping a ninth-grader in Jashore’s Chougachha upazila on Sunday.

A former ruling party lawmaker was convicted yesterday of raping a teenager in a high-profile case that underscored India’s rampant sexual violence and the impunity enjoyed by the elite.

At least 304 people were killed in Iran during a three-day crackdown against protests across the country in November, according to a new Amnesty International toll published yesterday.

A handful of major states resisted pressure yesterday to ramp up efforts to combat global warming as a UN climate summit ground to a close, angering smaller countries and a growing protest movement that is pushing for emergency action.