The ruling Awami League picked around 50 new faces to run for the upcoming parliamentary polls and dropped 38 MPs as it handed out nomination letters to its aspirants for 248 constituencies yesterday.

A list of 74 probable polling officials along with their “political leanings” has been “accidentally” emailed by police to local reporters in Khulna.

Some controversial Awami League lawmakers got party tickets for the upcoming election.

Gonoforum President Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday demanded the replacement of Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda with a credible person for holding a free and fair national election.

In a surprise move, the BNP may leave most of the parliamentary seats in the capital to top leaders of its allies for contesting the upcoming election.

Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda yesterday said police were not arresting anyone without any reason going beyond the Election Commission's directives.

The ruling Awami League is yet to finalise its seat-sharing with electoral allies despite having a series of meetings with several of them yesterday. The ruling party could not reach a consensus with its ally Jatiya Party, a major component of the grand alliance that won a landslide in the 2008 polls, insiders said.

The Election Commission yesterday finally clarified its position on the use of electronic voting machines in the December 30 national election, saying EVMs would be used in all polling centres of six constituencies.

The BNP yesterday alleged that “partisan” and “controversial” officials of the police and civil administrations are regularly holding 'clandestine' meetings to ensure Awami League candidates' win in the upcoming general election.

Despite various preventive measures by government and non-government organisations, violence against women in Bangladesh shows little sign of decreasing.

A female colleague has accused the Natore deputy commissioner of harassing her by sending her “indecent” text messages and making “suggestive” proposals.

For the December 30 election, the BNP will be banking on party nominees of 2001 and 2008 parliamentary polls. Over the last few days, the BNP nomination board has finished interviewing potential candidates and finalised around 250 runners,

Two inherently flawed teams each putting in wildly uneven performances over two and a half days, and a pitch that tested participants to the limit all combined to produce an engrossing Test that ended with a 64-run win for Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram yesterday.

A pilot of Bangladesh Air Force was killed when a fighter aircraft on training mission crashed in Tangail's Madhupur upazila yesterday afternoon.

The 14-party alliance yesterday urged the Election Commission not to accept the Jatiya Oikyafront's demand for the withdrawal of 92 top officials from the civil and police administrations.

The UN refugee agency yesterday urged Myanmar to exert all efforts to create conditions for safe return of Rohingyas and address the root cause of their displacement.

If the first day was action-packed, yesterday's second was a blockbuster at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

The last date of filing nomination is just four days away, but the Awami League and the BNP could not finalise their candidates for all 300 seats yet because of disagreements over sharing seats among alliance partners.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday interacted with a diverse group of youths and listened to their dreams, hopes and aspirations about future Bangladesh.

Despite strong opposition from the Jatiya Oikyafront, the election commissioners will sit today and decide how and in which places the electronic voting machines will be used.