A former Bangladesh member of parliament was attacked during a funeral procession Thursday morning in Karnaphuli, resulting in injuries to six individuals, including a journalist, according to local officials and eyewitnesses. Sarwar Jamal Nizam, 65, of Chittagong and a former lawmaker for the Chittagong-13 constituency, was reportedly targeted by political rivals while attending the funeral […]
Poverty is getting worse in Bangladesh. A recent study by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), conducted with the World Food Programme, found that the proportion of poor households rose from 24.73% in 2022 to 26.43% in 2024. Extreme poverty also increased—from 6.06% to 6.63%. This isn’t just a rural issue. Urban extreme poverty […]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus met Thursday on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit, offering a rare moment of diplomacy between the two neighbors at a time of regional flux and mutual anxieties about U.S. stability. It marked Modi’s first meeting with Yunus since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in August […]
Myanmar has finally acknowledged that 180,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are eligible to return home. It’s a small step in the right direction, but not nearly enough to resolve a humanitarian crisis that has dragged on for nearly eight years. The burden of sheltering more than one million displaced people can no longer fall solely […]
India and Bangladesh have sharply criticized recent reports by The New York Times, describing them as “misleading” and “factually incorrect,” reigniting global scrutiny of the publication’s journalistic practices — a concern that echoes past controversies involving the paper. This week, Bangladesh rejected a New York Times article that alleged a resurgence of Islamist extremism in […]
The Bangladeshi government plans to formally appeal to the United States Trade Representative, contesting a new 37 percent reciprocal tariff on its exports as unjustified and based on inaccurate trade data, officials said Wednesday. Mahbubur Rahman, commerce secretary from Dhaka, said the decision came during an emergency inter-ministerial meeting at the Secretariat held hours after […]
Former President Donald Trump has proposed implementing reciprocal tariffs that would match the rates other countries impose on U.S. exports, a move he says is aimed at promoting fair trade. The plan outlines specific tariff rates for a range of countries based on what they currently charge on American goods. Supporters argue the proposal would […]
Survivors of last week’s deadly earthquake in Myanmar are facing a deepening humanitarian crisis, with limited rescue efforts and dwindling resources prompting urgent calls for greater assistance from neighboring countries. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Mandalay and surrounding areas on Friday, toppling buildings and leaving thousands homeless. The full extent of the disaster remains unclear […]
India’s lower house of parliament passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, early Thursday, amending laws that govern land and property donated by Muslims for religious and charitable use. The bill permits non-Muslims to serve on boards managing waqf properties and authorizes the government to determine land ownership in the event of a dispute. Waqf properties, […]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief advisor to Bangladesh’s interim government are expected to hold their first official bilateral meeting during the Bimstec Summit in Bangkok, according to media reports published Wednesday. Prof. Muhammad Yunus, 84, of Dhaka, assumed leadership following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. The meeting, […]
