Unicef Bangladesh yesterday raised concern over the growing number of children in the country being pushed into child labour, as schools are closed since March last year and poverty levels are rising amid the pandemic.

Fishing families in Barishal division are passing hard times. The devastation caused by cyclone Yaas -- that too in the off-season for fishing -- is pushing them to the brink.

Before the pandemic I travelled to many countries in search of birds and wildlife. During the dark days of the pandemic I found myself longing for those places.

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) was killed and a constable injured after a microbus carrying liquor rammed into them in the port city’s Chandgaon area when they were on-duty early yesterday.

Police arrested five people in Barishal on Wednesday night on the charge of attacking the car of an Awami League lawmaker.

Mohammad Abdul Mannan and Md Jahangir Alam were elected president and secretary of Dhaka Sangbadpatra Hawkers’ Bahumukhi Samabaya Samity Ltd respectively.

A mobile court assisted by Rab yesterday jailed 24 “brokers” for harassing and deceiving patients at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) yesterday expressed grave concerns and anger over the return of female migrant workers from Saudi Arabia after being abused physically and mentally.

Proper steps should be taken to end exploitation and torture of Bangladeshi migrant workers at both home and abroad, said speakers in an online discussion yesterday.

Members of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday arrested Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Limited (KGDCL)’s general manager (GM), and its manager in a case filed on charges of installing illegal gas connection to residences and changing gas connections’ holder name to another, violating government directions.

Eight people were killed and eight others injured in road accidents across the country during the last two days, according to reports from our correspondents.

Bangladesh has 150+ universities that are nowhere near the rankings.

As Covid-19 cases are on the rise in the country, doctors are once again mulling over Ivermectin as a possible answer. However, controversy continues to follows this drug.

“They groan and cry out just to get some oxygen. Most of them can do nothing but wait for a patient to get better and be released from the hospital, freeing up a bed. Watching the patients gasping and struggling to breathe is painful. Unfortunately, we can do nothing but watch them suffer.”

The e-sport arena has a new unlikely contender. It’s Microsoft Excel. For the first time ever, Microsoft Excel, the software used for crunching numbers around the globe, is being considered an e-sport and Microsoft is even orgainising a Microsoft Excel Financial Modeling World Cup. The global competition is currently underway, starting June 8, featuring 8 participating countries: India, Malaysia, Canada, Poland, Australia, South Africa, the USA and the UK. 8 champions are representing the 8 countries in the Multiplayer Battle Tournament, called ‘888 Battle’, which is being streamed live on the official YouTube channel of the Financial Modeling World Cup .

Even though Covid-19 cases have been rising alarmingly since the last couple of weeks in Rangpur, there is still no ICU support at the hospitals in six districts of the division.

With the number of Covid-19 patients on the rise, the dedicated hospital for treating coronavirus in Khulna is struggling to cope with the pressure.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will launch 50 out of 560 model mosques today.

A few yards south of the capital’s Bahadur Shah Park, near Sadarghat terminal, is a bend where you will find the age-old Banglabazar Government Girls High School and missionary-run Heed International School. And surrounding them is a long series of book stores and stationery shops, where students and their guardians would throng to on a usual day to buy books, pens and pencils.

Police yesterday seized a consignment of cannabis brownies and arrested three youths for selling, preparing, and consuming those from the capital’s Mohammadpur.