Investigators in Bangladesh have identified all 10 people killed in the Oct. 17 fire at TupTup Resto & Resort in Cox’s Bazar, The Daily Star reported.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) matched deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples from the charred bodies with samples from relatives. Six victims belonged to one family and four to another.

Bangladesh Bangladesh minister says Saudi entry allowed for workers with expired permits

Bangladeshi workers whose Saudi residence permits expired because flight disruptions prevented their timely return will be allowed to enter Saudi Arabia, expatriates’ welfare minister Ariful Haque Choudhury said Oct. 26. The Financial Express reported his announcement, citing United News of Bangladesh (UNB). Choudhury said entry formalities would be completed automatically through an electronic system. The […]

Bangladesh Bangladesh study detects microplastics in every tested dried seafood sample

Researchers found microplastics in every commercially dried seafood sample they examined from four coastal areas of Bangladesh, The Financial Express reported Oct. 26, citing a study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin. The University of Chittagong team examined six seafood species from the Sundarbans, Kuakata, Teknaf, and Cox’s Bazar. Concentrations ranged from 0.25 to 1.30 particles […]

Bangladesh Bangladesh schedules information complaint hearings after nearly two-year pause

Bangladesh’s Information Commission plans to resume complaint hearings Nov. 16 after a pause lasting nearly two years, The Financial Express reported Oct. 26, citing United News of Bangladesh (UNB). A commission press release said 920 complaints had been lodged during the interruption. The newly constituted body met Monday to review and scrutinize those complaints before […]

Opinion

Pakistan must confront poverty and lower the military rhetoric

Pakistan’s strength should be measured by the well-being of its people. The poverty figures reported by Dawn expose an urgent failure: 38.3 percent of Pakistanis face overlapping deprivation in health, education, and living standards. Another 12.9 percent are vulnerable.

Recent

Bangladesh identity-card correction backlog reaches 117,666 applications

Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) had 117,666 pending National Identity Card (NID) correction applications as of Oct. 18, The Daily Star reported, citing a commission report. Nearly 92% were submitted this year. The largest group, 69,252 applications, involved complex corrections requiring approval from the director general of the commission’s NID wing. These requests can involve dates […]

Bangladesh adds third train pair on Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar route

Bangladesh Railway extended Mohanagar Express service to Cox’s Bazar on Oct. 26, adding a third pair of trains between Dhaka and the coastal tourist destination, The Business Standard reported. The service previously ran between Dhaka and Chattogram. It joins Parjatan Express and Cox’s Bazar Express, with 736 seats in one direction and 706 in the […]

Bangladesh raises bank foreign-currency limits for large import payments

Bangladesh Bank has begun raising selected commercial banks’ foreign-currency exposure limits for the first time since the 2022 dollar crisis, The Business Standard reported Oct. 26. The changes increase banks’ permitted net open position (NOP), the difference between foreign-currency assets and liabilities under regulatory calculations. Higher limits give eligible lenders more flexibility to accumulate dollars […]

Bangladesh marine fish catch falls 16.57% over five years

Bangladesh’s marine fish catch fell 16.57% over the five years through fiscal 2024-25, The Business Standard reported Oct. 26, citing Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) figures. Small and artisanal boats caught 451,661 metric tons in 2024-25, down from 513,819 a year earlier. Industrial trawler catches increased slightly, from 114,804 to 116,651 metric tons, according to […]

Bangladesh ports raise warning signal as Cyclone Arnab strengthens

Bangladesh’s weather agency advised four maritime ports to raise distant warning signal No. 2 on Oct. 26 as a deep depression strengthened into Cyclonic Storm Arnab in the Bay of Bengal. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) forecast further strengthening into a severe cyclonic storm by midnight, The Business Standard reported, citing United News of Bangladesh […]

Bangladesh extends Saint Martin’s tourism season and raises visitor limit

Bangladesh will allow tourists to visit Saint Martin’s Island from Nov. 1 through March 15, 2027, extending the season by 15 days and raising the average daily visitor limit to 3,500 from 2,000. An Oct. 25 environment ministry letter directs authorities to implement the changes, The Business Standard reported. Each visitor must pay a 100-taka […]

Biman Bangladesh extends Riyadh and Dammam flight suspension to November 4

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has extended the suspension of flights from Dhaka to Riyadh and Dammam until Nov. 4, citing passenger safety amid continuing attacks on Saudi Arabian airports. The airline announced the extension in an Oct. 25 statement, The Business Standard reported. The deadline follows Bangladesh’s date and time; it does not confirm that flights […]

Bangladesh bank reform draft would reduce family board seats

Bangladesh Bank has submitted a draft legal amendment that would limit family representation on private bank boards to two members, down from three, The Daily Star reported Oct. 26. The proposal would also cut directors’ maximum consecutive tenure from 12 years to six and require a three-year break before reappointment. It was sent to the […]

Bangladesh secondary school enrollment falls 20% despite more schools

Bangladesh’s general secondary schools lost about 1.78 million students between 2018 and 2025 even as the number of schools increased, The Daily Star reported Oct. 26, citing official education statistics. Enrollment in grades six through 10 fell 20.1%, from 8.857 million to 7.074 million. The number of schools rose from 16,186 to 16,737 over the […]

Bangladesh housing-fraud cases involve nearly 40,000 buyers

Nearly 40,000 buyers in Bangladesh were involved in 9,823 pending cases alleging fraud in land-share housing projects as of Sept. 30, The Business Standard reported Oct. 25, citing Supreme Court and court sources. The projects promise buyers a share of land and an apartment. Complainants alleged that developers sold identical shares to multiple customers, marketed […]

Bangladesh health-worker shortage leaves thousands of hospital posts vacant

Bangladesh had 15.16 doctors, nurses, and midwives per 10,000 people in 2025, far below the World Health Organization (WHO) benchmark of 44.5, The Daily Star reported Oct. 25, citing health ministry data. Staffing improved from 8.3 per 10,000 in 2019, but shortages persist. August figures showed 9,990 doctor posts and 4,870 nurse posts vacant. The […]