More than 1,000kg of gold worth around Tk 450 crore was seized in the last one year by Customs Intelligence and other agencies.

WE condemn the brutal murder of writer and blogger Avijit Roy and attack on his wife, Rafida Islam Banna, in no uncertain terms. The savage act, hauntingly similar to the hacking of critical thinker and writer Humayun Azad, took place right in front of the Ekushey Book Fair, in clear view of law enforcers and other people.

WITH nearly two months of ongoing hartal and oborodh, the academic calendar for millions of children continues to be adversely affected.

The frequency of violation of civil and political rights to people of the ethnic minority in Bangladesh intensified further during last year, a published report says

German parliament has voted to extend financial aid to Greece by another four months.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon remains “very concerned” over heightened tensions and continued violence in Bangladesh, and has renewed his appeal to all political leaders for finding a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis.

THE latest annual report by the London-based human rights watchdog, Amnesty International (AI), echoes the concerns raised by our own human rights organisations regarding enforced disappearances, impunity of law enforcement agencies, circumscribing the freedom of journalists and human rights defenders and violence against women.

Amid denial of responsibilities for launch accidents by the authorities, a report reveals that between 1976 and 2005, 70 per cent launch accidents happened due to design flaws. Nine NGOs working for safe waterway published that report yesterday.

Scientists say they have found the brightest quasar yet in the early universe, a region around a supermassive black hole that blazes with the brightness of 420 trillion suns

Baby born completely encased in his amniotic sac in Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Row between US and Benjamin Netanyahu deepens, with the Israeli leader accusing America and others of "giving up" on trying to stop Iran obtaining nuclear weapons

Dozens of people were made to disappear and journalists and human rights defenders were continued to be attacked and harassed in Bangladesh. Police and other forces committed torture with impunity, says Amnesty International.

“We know what we’ve to do and we’re well prepared. We’re aiming for a win [against Sri Lanka] and our main focus will be to execute the plan well. I’m hopeful we can do that."

WITH the extension of hartal until Friday morning, the country has reached a new record for enforcement of strikes for all working days in a month.

It is disquieting to see that plain land adivasis are increasingly falling victim to land grabbing. A press conference organised by two minority rights groups on Tuesday revealed that in the last two months, two murders, a rape, a rape attempt and looting of 60 Santal houses took place in the northern part of the country.

Contrary to the police claims, morgue sources who conducted autopsies of the bodies of three youths killed in Mirpur found no signs of mob beating, raising serious questions about the motive behind their murders.

The bullet-riddled bodies of the three victims of “mob-beating” send a chill down our spine. We start worrying how safe we are, whether we should trust our police force any more.

“I don't know why, but I am sensing a victory against Sri Lanka.”

AT a hugely attended public lecture by Amartya Sen, courtesy of Prothom Alo and CPD on Monday, the Nobel Laureate, made some path-shinning comments of practical relevance to contemporary affairs in the subcontinent. In precise terms, he advocated development with a strong human content and democracy with liberty and free discourse.

WE find the explanation of the police regarding the death of the three alleged arsonists in Mirpur on Monday hard to believe.