Today’s Paper

Biman sets Riyadh flight date, resumes Dammam services

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has decided to operate a flight to Riyadh early on October 26 as conditions improve following attacks on Saudi Arabian airports.

Reptile awareness day: Over 9,000 turtles rescued in six years

At least 9,046 turtles have been rescued by the Forest Department’s Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU) in six years since 2021, as illegal wildlife trafficking continues despite repeated enforcement drives.

PM’s Japan tour: Tokyo may push for re-inclusion of India in BIG-B

Japan is expected to push for India’s re-inclusion in its Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) initiative during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s upcoming visit to Tokyo, in keeping with its broader vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP), said foreign ministry officials.

BNP MP receives farming incentive cheque from PM

Rajshahi-6 BNP lawmaker Abu Sayeed Chand was among 15 sugarcane farmers who received government incentive cheques from Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at a rally in Rajshahi on Tuesday, receiving Tk 12,500.

Ctg building itself into climate danger

Nearly a quarter of Chattogram’s built-up area lies in places that would go underwater during a severe coastal flood, yet these are the areas where the city is expanding fastest, according to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) study.

Road safety day: Fatalities jump 26% since 2018

In the eight years after the student-led road safety movement, road fatalities have increased by 26.2 percent, raising questions about the effectiveness of measures introduced to make roads safer.

Can Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing’s Diplomatic Comeback Put the Rohingya Return Back on the Table?

Min Aung Hlaing's diplomatic comeback tests ASEAN ties and raises doubts about promises to repatriate over one million Rohingya sheltering in Bangladesh.

Min Aung Hlaing seized power in Myanmar’s 2021 coup and became president in April, following an election that excluded major opposition parties. His recent visit to Malaysia is an effort to restore regional ties. He has also travelled to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Malaysia’s welcome comes despite ASEAN’s earlier restrictions on his participation in high-level…

France on the Edge

Mass protests in France sparked by student anger over failing schools have spread nationwide as unions and workers demand relief from rising costs.

What started as a student outcry over the state of France's schools has rapidly transformed into a nationwide revolt against the rising cost of living, widening inequality, and failing public services. Teachers, parents, trade unions, farmers, taxi drivers, and veteran Yellow Vest protesters have all…

Egypt’s el-Sisi Seeks Parliamentary Approval To Provide Defense to Saudi Arabia

Egypt’s el-Sisi seeks parliamentary approval to provide defence support to Saudi Arabia amid intensifying Houthi attacks and talks on the Makkah pact.

El-Sisi announced on October 17 that Egypt was prepared to take “any measure” to defend Saudi Arabia if requested, while stressing that Cairo did not intend to attack another country. He called for an emergency parliamentary session as the authorisation requires legislative approval. Egypt has…

Iraq PM Assures Saudi Arabia Its Territory Will Not Be Used for Attacks

Iraq PM Ali Faleh al-Zaidi told Saudi crown prince Iraq will not allow its territory to be used for attacks after a drone strike on a Saudi pipeline.

Since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted a major global route for oil exports from the Gulf.Saudi Arabia has responded by increasing shipments through its East-West pipeline, which carries crude oil to the…

Your Facebook page is not a website

Renting your audience works until the landlord changes the rules.

For many Bangladeshi brands the Facebook page is the shop window, the catalogue and the checkout. It is free, everyone is already there, and inbox orders feel personal. So why bother with a website?

Because a page is rented. Reach goes up and down with decisions…

Getting your shop onto the map

Local SEO in two minutes: claim the profile, keep the hours right, ask for reviews.

When someone searches “pharmacy near me”, Google shows a map before any website. Being on that map is the cheapest marketing you will ever do.

Claim your Google Business Profile, choose the right category, and add real photos of the storefront so people recognise it…

Your Eid campaign starts earlier than you think

Plan in the first week of Ramadan, not the last.

Most brands launch Eid offers when everyone else does, and pay the highest ad prices of the year for the privilege.

Start earlier. Build your audience in the first ten days with useful content, collect messages and sign-ups, then sell to people who already know…

When your business outgrows the spreadsheet

Five signs it is time for custom software.

Spreadsheets are the best first software any business can have. The trouble starts when three people edit the same file and nobody trusts the numbers.

Watch for the signs: copy-pasting between sheets every day, a single person who “knows how the file works”, mistakes that…

AI won’t replace your sales team. It will answer their WhatsApp

The useful kind of automation is boring, and that is the point.

Ask a shop owner where their day goes and the answer is often the phone: the same questions about price, delivery and stock, in Bangla, English and everything in between.

This is where AI earns its keep. An assistant that knows your catalogue can answer…

A brand is a promise you keep

The logo is just the reminder.

People often ask for a new logo when what they want is a new reputation. A logo cannot do that on its own.

A brand is the sum of every experience: how fast you reply, how the parcel arrives, whether the product matches the photo.…

A Blunder brother, a poet of the spoken word

Remembering Rushnaf Wadud, an imaginative Bangladeshi singer-songwriter and spoken-word poet whose fiery spirit and music captured human experience.

Eldest friends or brothers often internalise an unwritten rule that they must ensure the safety of their younger pals. The weight of carrying a deceased younger friend is a distressing, emotional and psychological burden that is disrupting, not only mine, but all the kin of…

Bangladeshi food is ready for its global moment

Bangladeshi food is gaining global attention, from London supper clubs to US top-50 restaurants, as chefs push to build a distinctive restaurant scene.

Earlier this year, shutki made its debut public appearance in the west end of London.

Rez Rahman, originally an east Londoner and now based in Berlin where she runs Bangla supper clubs under her Roti Mami brand, was invited to hold a residency at Carousel…

The Art of October

Inktober turned October into a global creativity month, with artists using ink, colour and mixed media to reimagine daily prompts.

Every October, my feed is filled with art from people participating in drawing challenges (spearheaded by Inktober, of course). I neither identify as an artist nor have the talent to be one. However, I enjoy my occasional doodles (as someone who journals a lot), and…

Cookie-Cutter Lifestyles

Social media algorithms and packaged aesthetics shape tastes, push trend-driven identities and reduce space for surprise and nameless personal discoveries.

I remember scribbling angsty journals in my notebook while hiding behind my cupboard, and being awestruck by the Lais Fita hawkers who would walk through the neighborhood lanes selling colorful accessories. I would genuinely save money to buy them because I loved looking at all…

Coming Up Next: Ganges Treaty

Bangladesh presses India for stronger guarantees and a timetable as the 1996 Ganges water treaty nears expiry, seeking secure dry-season shares.

Bangladesh’s Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with India expires on 12 December. Dhaka says its negotiating team is ready. New Delhi says technical discussions have continued through existing bilateral mechanisms. What remains missing publicly is a timetable for concluding a successor agreement before the next dry…

Bangladesh is being sold again

Opinion: Proposed 15-year concession for Chattogram's New Mooring terminal — the port isn’t for sale; calls for transparency, clear targets and worker protections.

Bangladesh is always being sold. We have apparently been selling it for decades, yet somehow the inventory never runs out.

The latest buyer is said to be DP World. The item for sale is supposedly Chattogram Port. The evidence is a 15-year concession allowing an…

Nepal at the 81ˢᵗ UN General Assembly: From Global Visibility to Active Diplomacy

At UNGA, Nepal PM Balendra Shah linked the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli floods to Himalayan climate risks, urging climate justice, grant-based aid and a regional resilience mechanism.

Nepal’s participation in the 81ˢᵗ Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was marked by both Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s high-profile address and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal’s extensive bilateral and multilateral diplomatic engagements throughout UNGA week.

The two roles complemented each other. The Prime Minister’s speech brought Nepal’s…

A Constitution in Extraordinary Times

Explainer on Bangladesh’s constitutional reform: the July Charter order, referendum and disputes over legality, process and the will of the people.

The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, even if most of us rarely think about it in our daily lives. It affects every citizen in one way or another, which is why any change to it can have consequences far beyond the walls…

Stop boosting posts. Start running campaigns.

The blue button is the most expensive habit in Bangladeshi marketing.

The boost button is easy, and that is the problem. It optimises for likes from people who were never going to buy, and it teaches nothing about what works.

A campaign starts with a goal you can count: orders, bookings, messages that turn into sales.…

Same Script, Different Streets

How everyday grievances in India and France turned into mass protests — and whether governments are listening or just managing the street.

Nothing in these cases shows that governments are deliberately borrowing tactics from Kathmandu, Dhaka or Colombo. That link remains a question, not a finding. But those uprisings offer a useful lens: protests in Maharashtra, France and Bengaluru begin with everyday grievances and develop into confrontations.…

The Camera Is Not the Enemy

Editorial urges an independent probe, preservation of video evidence and accountability after an attack on students and journalists at Rajshahi University.

Four journalists were among at least 10 people injured in an attack at Rajshahi University on Sunday night. Witnesses alleged that Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leaders and activists attacked students and journalists outside Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Hall. Several reporters were reportedly assaulted while trying to record…

The Gate, the Video and the Group Chat: Women's Safety from Delhi to Dhaka

Opinion on threats to women's safety in public and online spaces across Delhi and Dhaka, highlighting urban and digital risks.

India is once again dealing with tensions on several fronts, but some of the most unsettling questions are playing out much closer to home. Scroll through Indian news on any given Monday and you start to notice a pattern. The stories differ, but the reaction…