Abir* first tried yaba out of curiosity with one of his neighbours. Eight years later, he is now fully addicted to the drug, having taken it regularly for the past seven years.

Two alleged criminals, including a murder suspect, were killed in separate “gunfights” with law enforcers in the early hours yesterday.

Rani Bala cannot remember much about her life before she was brought to a shelter home at Abdullahpur in the capital. After her daughter and son turned her away, homeless Rani wandered around the streets of Shanir Akhra for two years.

The government has initiated a move to cut down around 3,200 trees from the reserve forests in Gazipur and Cox's Bazar to implement two development projects, including building a mini stadium.

With the electioneering for Khulna City Corporation polls ending this midnight, tension has gripped the rival camps of the Awami League and the BNP after police picked up more BNP men yesterday.

The BNP yesterday alleged that the ownership of the country's first satellite, Bangabandhu-1, went to two people.

Banghabandhu-1 is getting closer to its orbit slot at 119.1 degree east and it is on Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP), said officials concerned.

Ishtiaq Ahmed was a ragpicker 18 years back. But now, he is known as a big businessman among locals in Savar and Ashulia on the outskirts of the capital.

The BNP faces a tough challenge ahead of the Gazipur City Corporation election as many of its leaders and activists in the city have gone into hiding following the filing of a vandalism case against them.

Asking students to refrain from resorting to vandalism in educational institutions, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the government would no longer tolerate such activities.

The country's first communication satellite, Bangabandhu-1, is on its way to its orbital slot in space. With the launch of Bangabandhu-1, Bangladesh became the 57th country in the world and fourth in South Asia -- after India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- to have its own satellite in space.

Israel said it attacked nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria yesterday after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time.

Electioneering for the postponed prestigious battle of ballots in Gazipur City Corporation is now set to resume after the Eid-ul-Fitr with the voting to be held any day in the last week of next month.

The figures are alarming. Every year, an estimated Tk 6,000 crore worth of yaba is sold in the country, which would come to 30 crore pieces of the drug. It is a back-of-the-envelope calculation. Last year, 40 million pills were seized by different agencies, which according to standard calculation is about 10 percent of the total drug that got into the market.

Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company Ltd (BIFC), a non-bank financial institution or NBFI, faces liquidation as it has failed to pay back loans and deposits of Tk 640 crore to 19 banks and seven NBFIs.

Bangabandhu-1 is likely to be on the way to its orbit by the time you read this report.

The Election Commission has sent an official of joint secretary rank to Khulna to “assist” the returning officer, who is said to be a former leader of Chhatra Dal, during the upcoming city corporation polls.

Malaysia's veteran ex-leader Mahathir Mohamad, 92, won a shock election victory yesterday, in a political earthquake that toppled the country's scandal-plagued premier and ousted a regime that has ruled for over six decades.

The government is going to hike water, gas and electricity prices soon.

Bangladesh remains an overwhelmingly cash-based society despite a host of measures by the central bank to facilitate digital