Bangladesh government ‘doing all it can’ to safely return national football team from Nepal: CAOThe Chief Advisor’s Office (CAO) says the government is doing all it can to get the Bangladesh national football team, which had gone to Nepal ro play friendly games, home safely. The CAO said in a statement on Tuesday that the scheduled return of the team had been temporarily delayed due to the violent protests in Nepal. The team was supposed to head home from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 3pm local time, but the airport authorities canceled all flights amid escalating tensions. The CAO noted that Youth and Sports Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain is monitoring the situation around the clock to ensure the team's safety and smooth return. All flights from Dhaka to Kathmandu have been cancelled due to the suspension of all aircraft operations at Tribhuvan Airport.

Police have urged people not to crowd the entrances of Dhaka University during the ongoing counting of votes in the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election. Although police described the gathering as “curious onlookers,” candidates backed by the BNP’s student wing, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, and Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, alleged that the crowd included activists from political parties. Law enforcers initially tried to disperse them, but as the numbers swelled by evening, police increased deployment at the gates. In a message issued on Tuesday night, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Media and Public Relations division said: “The DUCSU election voting has been completed peacefully, and the counting of votes is ongoing. The DMP kindly requests the curious public not to gather unnecessarily at the entrances of Dhaka University.”

Dhaka University’s long-awaited student union election has been marred by poor management and scattered irregularities, but not to the extent of being deemed unacceptable, a group of teachers has said. The University Teachers’ Network, which observed Tuesday’s Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) polls, gave its preliminary assessment at a briefing at the Senate Building in the evening. Prof Samina Luthfa of the sociology department, one of the organisers of the network, presented their findings. Rules were applied differently across the eight polling centres, she said, with some candidates blocked from entering, despite regulations allowing them inside. Another organiser, Prof Tahmina Khanam, criticised poor facilities inside polling centres, including shortages of lights, fans, and drinking water.

Voting in the long-awaited Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) election has ended largely without incident even as rival candidates traded allegations of electoral code violations. Polls closed at 4pm on Tuesday at the eight centres across the Dhaka University campus. A total of 471 candidates competed for 28 posts in the central union, while 1,035 vied for 234 seats across 18 hall unions. While the 1973 Dhaka University Ordinance stipulates annual polls, students have voted only nine times since independence. More than 470 candidates contested 28 central posts, while over 1,000 others vied for 234 hall union seats.

Source: CollectedA polling officer has been removed from duty after a student at Curzon Hall was mistakenly given two ballot papers during the Dhaka University Central Students‍‍` Union (DUCSU) and hall union elections. In a statement on Tuesday, the university administration said the officer, Ziaur Rahman, had been suspended over the incident at the Curzon Hall polling centre, designated for Amar Ekushey Hall voters, reports bdnews24.com. The statement also underscored the university‍‍`s commitment to "conducting the election in a free, fair and impartial manner”. A total of 471 candidates are vying for 28 DUCSU posts, with over 1,000 others contesting 234 hall union seats. The election is taking place at a time when no single student organisation dominates the campus, and without the influence of a ruling party’s student wing -- a situation many see as unprecedented at Dhaka University.

Protesters storm Nepal parliament, set it on fire after PM resignsSmoke is rising from a wing of Nepal’s parliament building in Kathmandu after hundreds of protesters broke in, BBC reports. Motorcycles are moving through the compound, some loaded with uprooted plants from the garden and paintings taken from inside the building. Protesters are dancing and chanting slogans around a fire at the entrance of the building, many holding Nepal’s flag. One message on the building says: “you took the wrong fight.”Flames are visible and smoke is billowing from the building, as large crowds of protesters gather nearby. Protesters have defied a curfew as their anger against the government following Monday's shootings has showed no signs of abating.

The Bangladesh national football team has been left stranded in Kathmandu after mass protests in Nepal’s capital forced flight cancellations and brought the city to a halt. Captain Jamal Bhuyan and forward Mitul Marma were due to board a 3pm flight to Dhaka on Tuesday, but the players could not even leave their hotel as demonstrators gathered outside in large numbers. “We are stuck here in very difficult circumstances,” team manager Amer Khan told bdnews24.com. “The protesters have gathered in front of our hotel. Because of this, we could not reach the airport, and the flight was cancelled.”(More to follow)

The Bangladesh Embassy in Kathmandu has urged Bangladeshi nationals in Nepal to remain indoors and avoid unnecessary movement as the Himalayan country grapples with mounting political unrest. In an urgent notice issued on Tuesday, the embassy advised all Bangladeshi citizens currently living in or stranded in Nepal to stay inside their residences or hotels until further instructions. CITIZENS STRANDEDThe unrest has stranded dozens of Bangladeshis in Kathmandu. The DSCSC group had travelled to Nepal as part of an overseas study tour, but their daily programmes have been cancelled. The advisory comes against the backdrop of violent anti-government protests in Kathmandu and other parts of Nepal following a ban on social media.

After obtaining information about secret collusion with Latif Siddique, Abu Alam Shahid Khan and others, he was arrested,” said Additional Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam of the Detective Branch. His arrest came just a day after another former secretary, Abu Alam Shahid Khan, was also arrested in connection with the same case. Abu Alam, who regularly appeared on television talk shows as a political analyst, had been present at the Mancha 71 event. Police accused them of conspiring under the banner of Mancha 71 to destabilise the country and overthrow the interim government. Police later said Abu Alam was involved in the same “anti-government conspiracy”.

Losing a National Identity (NID) card will no longer require filing a general diary (GD) with police; citizens can simply pay the fee and reapply online under the existing process. The Election Commission (EC) has confirmed that the step was taken to make NID services easier to access for the public. Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker said on Sunday, “NID services are being simplified. Now there are no longer hundreds of thousands of unresolved applications. We have removed the rule that requires filing of a GD for reissuing lost NIDs.

Nepal’s Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has resigned after protests over a social media ban turned violent, leaving 19 people dead and more than 400 injured across the country. On Monday evening, Lekhak tendered his resignation during a cabinet meeting at Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s residence, according to The Kathmandu Post. A minister present at the meeting said Lekhak stepped down on moral grounds following the casualties in the nationwide demonstrations. Speaking to local outlet Online Khabar, Lekhak said: “Many lives were lost in [Monday’s] protests. For the sake of morality, I do not wish to remain in office.”The demonstrations began across Nepal after the government blocked major social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube and X, later turning into a broader anti-corruption movement.

A man suspected of theft has been beaten to death by a “mob” in the Chandrima Model Town area of Dhaka’s Mohammadpur. 12 Hakkar Par area around 3:15pm on Monday, according to Mehedi Hasan, assistant commissioner of the police’s Mohammadpur Zone. Another man identified by a single name - Fahim, 23 – has been admitted to Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital with critical injuries as well. The two were taken to Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in critical condition, where one of them died.”A stolen phone was recovered from them, he said. “Two cases are being registered over the incident – one over the theft of the mobile phone, the other over the death,” Mehedi added.

The Bangladesh Army says there is no scope to undermine the country’s Liberation War or its freedom fighters through any kind of “mob activity”. This joint effort has already begun, and if continued, I hope law and order will improve further in the coming days.”On attacks against freedom fighters, Shafiqul said: “This country was born through the Liberation War. We honour and respect freedom fighters from the depths of our hearts, as we have always done and will continue to do. “No ‘mob’ or force can diminish the Liberation War or the dignity of freedom fighters,” he added. In response to a question about the national election, Shafiqul said: “We haven’t received any formal instructions yet.

After the changeover of power in the July Uprising, the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) will be held on Tuesday after a six-year gap. The DUCSU Election Commission made last-minute preparations for the polls on Monday, a day without formal election campaigning. Describing the DUCSU election as a “rehearsal” ahead of the national polls in February, he told bdnews24.com, "With the national elections scheduled in five and a half months, how will this DUCSU election go? “I believe Dhaka University students will not sell their votes in exchange for food or money,” he said. But I call on Dhaka University students to respond with ballot attacks.

A Dhaka court has ordered Abu Alam Shahid Khan, a former senior secretary, to jail in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Shahbagh Police Station. Abu Alam’s lawyer, Obaidul Islam, said his client had signed the warrant but a bail hearing could not be held as the court had already ordered him sent to jail. “Abu Alam was present at the programme but could not be arrested then,” Faruqi said. The court has ordered him to be sent to jail.”The case’s investigation officer, Sub-Inspector Toufiq Hasan of Shahbagh Police Station, had earlier sought the court’s order to keep Abu Alam in jail. Abu Alam was arrested at his house on Sunday night, according to a statement from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Media and Public Relations Division.