Nearly 2.5 million Muslim hajj pilgrims yesterday converged on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia marshalled by tens of thousands of stewards in a bid to prevent any repetition of previous years’ deadly stampedes.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has issued 16 directives to its High Court Division regarding granting anticipatory bail, saying that those accused in cases involving grave offences like murder and rape will not be granted anticipatory bail.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has placed a proposal for having a piece of land stretching one kilometre in Bangladesh’s Brahmanbaria for the expansion of Maharaja Bir Bikram International Airport in Agartala, reported news agency TNN.

A small group of followers of the militant outfit “Neo-JMB” planted the improvised explosive devices that were recovered from the capital’s Paltan and Khamar Bari last month, suspect counterterrorism officials.

The United Nations has called on forces loyal to Libya’s internationally recognised government and a rival administration to commit to a humanitarian truce by midnight yesterday.

The UN rights chief on Thursday intensified criticism of US sanctions targeting Venezuela, condemning the latest measures as “extremely broad” with the potential to exacerbate suffering among an already vulnerable population.

Australia yesterday pledged to stop exporting recyclable waste amid global concerns about plastic polluting the oceans and increasing pushback from Asian nations against accepting trash.

Hundreds of Muslims yesterday held a special prayer session for a Franco-Irish teen who went missing from a Malaysian resort, as a massive search team scoured the jungle for a sixth day.

Malaysia yesterday filed criminal charges against 17 current and former executives of three Goldman Sachs subsidiaries, piling further pressure on the Wall Street titan over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

Nineteen bodies were found Thursday in a turf war between rival drug gangs in the Mexican city of Uruapan, some dismembered and others hanging from bridges, said the state prosecutor.

Venezuela has deployed around 3,500 soldiers and police to its border with Colombia to combat fuel and drug smuggling, a top military official said.

Britain’s economy unexpectedly shrank in the second quarter of the year on Brexit turmoil, official data showed yesterday, placing the country on the verge of recession and sending the pound tumbling to a 2.5-year low.

A Lebanese businessman designated by US authorities as an important financial supporter of Hezbollah was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit $50 million, the Justice Department said Thursday.

A woman was allegedly tortured by some of her relatives over a family dispute in Rangpur’s Gangachara upazila on Wednesday.

Authorities in Kashmir eased some restrictions to allow people to attend Friday prayers but anger was still mounting against India's decision to revoke the special status of the Muslim-majority region, residents and officials said.

A suspected criminal was killed in a “gunfight” with police in Gaibandha’s Gobindaganj upazila early yesterday.

Domestic airfares have shot up significantly ahead of Eid vacation as holidaymakers are rushing to get air tickets to avoid the hassles of a time-consuming journey by road and railway.

Indigenous communities yesterday observed the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples at different parts of the country, demanding recognition as per the constitution and right to land.

With the Eid-ul-Azha only two days away, sale of sacrificial animals at the capital’s cattle markets is yet to pick up pace. Visiting three markets yesterday, this correspondent found low presence of buyers. Sellers were seen spending time gossiping and wiping dirt off their cattle.

Bangladesh and India have agreed to work on water sharing and basin management of eight common rivers, including Teesta, officials said yesterday, adding that it was a significant progress on river talks between the two neighbours.