On the opening day of the 49th National Athletics Championships at the National Stadium on Sunday, Sharifa Khatun finished second in the women’s 100m sprint. With the silver medal around her neck, the 28-year-old athlete from Khulna was brimming with joy.

Bangladesh’s first ever female military pilots have joined the peacekeeping mission of United Nations in Congo, the defence ministry says.

The UN will honour more than 100 “blue helmets”, including eight Bangladeshis, who lost their lives while serving the cause of peace.