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BNP Standing Committee Member Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan today submitted his nomination paper at the office of the Assistant Returning Officer for contesting in the Narsingdi-2 constituency. Photo:BSSNARSINGDI, Dec 29, 2025 (BSS)- BNP Standing Committee Member Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan has said BNP as a liberal political party firmly believes in establishing human rights. He made the remarks on Monday while submitting his nomination paper at the office of the Assistant Returning Officer for contesting in the Narsingdi-2 constituency with the party ticket. Khan alleged that a fascist government cling to power and deprived the people of their democratic rights. He emphasized that BNP remains committed to upholding democracy, protecting human rights, and ensuring the people’s right.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has requested airlines to publish their Hajj flight schedules on their official websites and the Hajj portal between January 5 and 7. The ministry sent letters to the Managing Director and CEO of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the Country Manager of Saudi Arabian Airlines, and the Sales and Marketing Manager of Flynas Airlines with the request on Sunday. The letter said, according to Saudi Arabia’s 2026 Hajj roadmap, airlines transporting pilgrims must have their flight schedules finalised and submitted for approval by January 4. Since home rentals in Madinah are slot-based, publishing approved flight schedules is crucial to ensure proper planning of accommodations, it said. The ministry urged airlines to upload their General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) approved flight schedules on their official websites and the Hajj portal between January 5 and 7.

Few relationships illustrate this opportunity better than that with South Korea, a trusted partner since 1973. To that end, outgoing Ambassador Park Young-sik’s reflections offer a timely reminder that the next phase of Bangladesh-Korea ties must move beyond trade figures into deeper cooperation - in investment, technology, and human capital. If we are to have better relations with nations such as South Korea, this is simply non-negotiable. Bangladesh and South Korea have already signed the Trade and Investment Promotion Framework in 2024 that lays the foundation for collaboration in industrial development, human resource training, and the digital and green economy with South Korea. Nations such as South Korea are ready to stand beside us as we take the next step in our development journey.

To Gen Z, governance has not merely failed morally, it has failed operationally. Most contemporary Gen Z movements, by contrast, are born online, scale rapidly, and fragment just as quickly. This does not mean Gen Z movements are failures. The irony is that Gen Z understands this better than it is often credited for. The global rise of Gen Z movements may indeed mark a turning point.

A fire at a nursing home on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi killed more than a dozen people, with three others injured, a local official said Monday. Authorities managed to evacuate 12 people -- all unhurt -- and transfer them to a local hospital, he said. Footage aired by local broadcaster Metro TV showed the fire engulfing the nursing home, while locals helped to evacuate an elderly person. Deadly fires are not uncommon in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. In 2023, at least 12 people were killed in the country’s east after an explosion at a nickel-processing plant.

Independent aspirant Dr Tasnim Jara has successfully collected the required number of voter signatures to qualify for the Dhaka-9 parliamentary seat, marking her first major step in the election process. Under Bangladesh Election Commission rules, independent candidates must gather verified signatures from at least 1% of registered voters in their constituency. By Monday afternoon, officials confirmed that her team had exceeded the required number of signatures in just one day. Once verified, Dr Jara will be able to officially file her nomination papers and move closer to contesting the Dhaka-9 seat. This achievement reflects strong public support and gives her campaign a significant boost as the parliamentary election approaches.

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has said that the government is fully prepared and that any attempt to disrupt peace ahead of the elections will be dealt with firmly. He made the remarks on Monday during a farewell meeting with the United States Chargé d’Affaires to Bangladesh, Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson, at the state guest house Jamuna. The chief adviser thanked the United States for its continued support for the Rohingya people. Professor Yunus said that the United States remains the single largest country providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to more than one million Rohingya living in camps in Bangladesh’s south-eastern region. The chief adviser thanked the US Chargé d’Affaires for her “important work” during her tenure and for being a “friend of Bangladesh” and invited her to visit the country again in the future.

BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman’s nomination papers for the Dhaka-17 constituency were submitted on Monday to contest the upcoming national election from the seat, alongside Bogra-6. Besides, nomination papers for Bogra-7 on behalf of BNP Chairperson and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia will be submitted. Earlier on Sunday, nomination papers for Dinajpur-3 on behalf of Begum Khaleda Zia were submitted by the district BNP president and general secretary. The deadline for the submission of nomination papers expires Monday at 5pm, according to the schedule announced by the Election Commission. According to the election schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination papers is December 29, while the last date for withdrawing candidature is January 20.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSad), a partner of the 14-party alliance, has announced that it will not participate in the upcoming referendum and the 13th national parliamentary elections, describing both as “unconstitutional” and “one-sided.”In a statement issued on Monday morning, the JaSad Central Executive Committee said the party would boycott what it termed an “unconstitutional referendum and one-sided election in the name of the 13th national parliamentary polls.”“The interim government is clearly not neutral. Instead of holding inclusive and participatory elections, it has organised an unconstitutional referendum and a one-sided parliamentary election,” the statement said, adding that the Election Commission was acting to implement the political will of the government. The statement, signed by JaSad Office Secretary Sajjad Hossain, noted that although JaSad is an election-oriented party registered with the Election Commission and has participated in most past elections, it has decided not to take part in the upcoming polls due to the prevailing political situation. However, it alleged that the interim government failed to act as a neutral caretaker administration and instead prolonged its tenure. “For these reasons, JaSad will not participate in the referendum and the 13th national elections,” the statement added.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has postponed its previously announced grand rally due to the upcoming admission test of agricultural and agriculture-focused universities, scheduled for January 3. The party’s Secretary General, Mia Golam Parwar, confirmed this information in a statement on Sunday. The grand rally was originally scheduled to be held on January 3 at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka. Candidates from the cluster admission tests of nine agricultural universities across the country are expected to come to Dhaka on that day.

DHAKA, Dec 29, 2025 (BSS) – Authorities of Bangladesh Railway (BR) today urged all to refrain from damaging the national asset. Railways are country’s national asset,” said a BR press release. The Ministry of Railways and Bangladesh Railway urged everyone to be more careful in fulfilling this moral responsibility,” the release said. The BR is committed to providing quality services to people. It sought cooperation from all to ensure quality services for the passengers.

The ban has slashed poppy production overall to just 10,200 hectares (25,200acres) this year, "one of the lowest levels ever recorded" in Afghanistan,the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said. In Badakhshan on the border with Tajikistan, surveyed in the agency's mostrecent report, poppy production has jumped since the Taliban returned topower in 2021. Many farmers are instead growing wheat and other cereals, but in 2023 "theaverage per-hectare income from wheat was just $770, whereas opium poppyyielded around $10,000 per hectare". Poppy revenues had long been a major source of Afghanistan's economic outputbefore the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Farmers' income from opium sales fell by nearly half, to $134 million thisyear from $260 million in 2024.

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar, Dec 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Myanmar's dominant pro-military party is "winning a majority" in the first phase of junta-run elections, a party source told AFP on Monday, after democracy watchdogs warned the poll would entrench military rule. The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is "winning a majority of seats around the country according to different reports", said a party official in the capital Naypyidaw, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media. The military overturned the results of the last poll in 2020 after Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, trounced the USDP. "We guarantee it to be a free and fair election," he told reporters after casting his vote in Naypyidaw. But amid the war, the military has acknowledged that elections cannot happen in almost one in five lower house constituencies.

Bangladeshi leg-spinner Rishad Hossain. Photo: ESPNDHAKA, Dec 29, 2025 (BSS) - Bangladesh leg-spinner Rishad Hossain continueshis rich vein of form in Big Bash League, guiding his side Hobart Hurricanesto a four-wicket win over Melbourne Renegades today at their home venue inBellerive Oval in Hobart. In this match, Rishad picked up two wickets for 34 runs in four overs but asusual gave the side an impetus in the middle overs, stifling Melbourne forruns. Rishad so far took eight wickets in five matches, second highest behind TomCurran and Haris Rauf who had nine wickets. The victory, however, propelled Hobart to second spot with eight points fromfive matches.