Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman visited the grave of martyred Sharif Osman Hadi at Dhaka University (DU) early Sunday. After offering Fajr prayers at the Central Mosque of the DU, the Jamaat chief, accompanied by party leaders and activists, paid homage at the grave and offered prayers seeking forgiveness for the departed soul and acceptance of his martyrdom. Jamaat Secretary General and former MP Mia Golam Parwar, Assistant Secretary General Maulana Abdul Halim, Islami Chhatra Shibir Central President Zahidul Islam, Jamaat Central Executive Council Member Md Mobarak Hossain, Central Working Committee Member and Dhaka Metropolitan South Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr Advocate Helal Uddin, Central Working Committee Member and Dhaka Metropolitan South Secretary Dr Shafiqul Islam Masud, Islami Chhatra Shibir Central Office Secretary Sibgatullah Sibga, Dhaka University Central Students’ Union Vice President Shadik Kayem, GS SM Farhad, among other central and metropolitan leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir, were present at the prayer session.

The chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force have sat in a meeting with the Election Commission (EC), led by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, ahead of the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad Election and referendum. The meeting is being attended by Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Nazmul Hassan and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan. Earlier, upon their arrival at the Election Commission, Senior Secretary of the EC Secretariat Akhtar Ahmed received the three service chiefs separately. Four election commissioners and senior officials of the EC Secretariat are taking part in the meeting. Meanwhile, a separate EC meeting to review the overall law and order situation will be held today at 2:30pm at the conference room of the Election Commission Secretariat in Agargaon.

DHAKA, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS) - A photo circulating widely on social media, claiming to show the grave of Shaheed Sharif Osman bin Hadi, spokesperson of the Inqilab Mancha, has been confirmed as fabricated and intentionally created to mislead the public. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in a statement today clarified that the viral image does not represent the actual grave. The DMP has urged the public to remain cautious and not to be misled by unverified content shared online. Authorities have also appealed to social media users to rely only on confirmed and credible sources for information and to refrain from spreading misinformation that may cause confusion or unrest.

File photoPATUAKHALI, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS) - Five shops were completely gutted in a devastating fire at Dhulia Bazar in Bauphal upazila here in the district. Locals said that the fire broke out around 3:00 am on Saturday night. The shops those were destroyed include a pharmacy owned by Rakib Hossain, a tea stall of Sultan Melkar, a grocery and variety shop of Belal Melkar, a grocery shop of Amin Hossain and a food hotel of Nayan Sharif. Later, two units of Bauphal Fire Service reached the scene and brought the fire under control. By that time, the shops had already been completely turned into ashes.

JHENAIDAH, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS) - A youth was killed and another injured after a motorcycle lost control in front of the Cadet College of the district town last night. The deceased was identified as Tanvir Rahman, 25, while the injured pillion rider is Akash Hossain, 22. Tanvir Rahman is the son of Abul Basar of Hamdah Mollapara in Jhenaidah Poura area, while Akash Hossain is the son of Abdul Majid of Ghorshal village in Sadar upazila. Officer-in-Charge of Arappur Highway Police Mritunjoy Biswas said Tanvir Rahman went out riding a motorcycle with his friend Akash Hossain on Saturday evening. The OC said the body was recovered and sent to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital morgue.

What they said as Australia retain Ashes - reactionADELAIDE, Australia, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Australia retained the Ashes with an 82-run victory against England in the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday for an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. -- Australia captain Pat Cummins. A bit of a flat wicket and they played pretty well but another Ashes win and it's been a great atmosphere all week, all series." He goes down in history as the man who took the wicket to win the Ashes. -- Former England captain Alastair Cook commentating on TV as the final wicket fell"It has been a thoroughly professional.

SAN FRANCISCO, United States, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A huge electricity outage hit San Francisco on Saturday, leaving 130,000 residents without power, the city's main electric utility company said. "We are working with first responders and city officials on an outage in San Francisco affecting approximately 130,000 customers," said Pacific Gas & Electric Company in a statement on X. The city's mayor told residents to stay home and off roads if possible, adding some traffic signals were not working and reporting disruptions to public transport.

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Unknown gunmen killed 10 people and wounded 10 others in an attack at a township outside Johannesburg, police said Sunday, in the second mass shooting in South Africa this month. "Some victims were randomly shot in the streets by unknown gunmen," a police statement said. The shooting took place near a tavern or informal bar in Bekkersdal, an impoverished area near some of South Africa's major gold mines. On December 6, gunmen stormed a hostel near the capital Pretoria, killing a dozen people including a three?year?old child. South Africa, home to 63 million people, suffers from a high crime rate, including one of the highest murder rates in the world.

MADRID, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Kylian Mbappe matched Cristiano Ronaldo's club record for goals in a calendar year and Jude Bellingham also scored as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday in La Liga. French superstar Mbappe levelled Ronaldo's tally of 59 goals in 2013 by stroking home a late penalty, after Bellingham sent Madrid ahead with a first half header. Courtois twice denied Isaac Romero early in the second half, while Mbappe intensified his search to emulate Ronaldo's record. The forward sent Vlachodimos the wrong way as he stroked in his 59th of the year, to match Ronaldo's record. Elsewhere Celta Vigo rose to seventh even though they could only draw 0-0 at struggling Real Oviedo, while Levante held Real Sociedad 1-1.

LIVERPOOL, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said his side have to learn to kill games off while they are winning after reclaiming top spot in the Premier League with a 1-0 win at Everton. Viktor Gyokeres scored the only goal from the penalty spot to register his first goal since November 1 as the Gunners moved two points clear of Manchester City. Arteta, though, praised the consistency of his players to continue pushing for a first league title in 22 years. "It gives me belief and confidence the performances and consistency of the team," Arteta told AFP. It was just a bit of quality or trying to hurt Arsenal a bit more."

North Korea says Japan's nuclear ambitions must be stopped 'at any cost'SEOUL, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - North Korea said on Sunday that Japan's nuclear ambitions "must be prevented at any cost", after a Tokyo official reportedly suggested the country should possess atomic weapons. Pyongyang said the remarks showed Tokyo was "openly revealing their ambition to possess nuclear weapons, going beyond the red line". "This is not a misstatement or a reckless assertion, but clearly reflects Japan's long-cherished ambition for nuclear weaponization," said the North Korean official, who was not named. The official added that if Japan acquired nuclear weapons, "Asian countries will suffer a horrible nuclear disaster and mankind will face a great disaster". North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has also said he is open to talks with Washington, provided Pyongyang is allowed to keep its nuclear arsenal.

Pressure on Morocco to deliver as Africa Cup of Nations kicks offRABAT, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Morocco carry a huge weight of expectation into their opening game at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday as the hosts, with star man Achraf Hakimi returning from injury, aim to see off stiff competition to claim continental glory. There is huge pressure on the Atlas Lions, semi-finalists at the 2022 World Cup who come into the Cup of Nations on a world-record run of 18 consecutive victories. They could not wait until next June because of the World Cup, and they can no longer stage the Cup of Nations in January and February because of the new UEFA Champions League format. Runners-up last year, Nigeria will hope to make amends here for missing out on World Cup qualification. In contrast, Ghana and Cape Verde are both going to the World Cup but neither are present in Morocco.

The hall union of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall at Dhaka University has erased the hall's nameplate and replaced it with “Osman Hadi Hall” on the main gate. At the same time, several students are painting over the graffiti mural of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that was on the hall's main building. Musaddiq Ibn Ali Mohammad, Ducsu's secretary for cultural affairs, announced that the nameplate would be removed using a crane at 9:30pm on Saturday. Multiple attempts to reach Provost Professor Aktaruzzaman by phone to confirm whether the hall administration had granted permission for the erasure were unsuccessful. When asked whether the hall council leaders had obtained permission to erase the graffiti and name, Hall Council VP Muslimur Rahman told the media: "The students demanded that this be removed.

Zelensky says US must pile pressure on Russia to end warMIAMI, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday called on the United States to put more pressure on Russia to end the war, as diplomats converged on Miami for fresh talks. Zelensky also said that Washington had proposed the first face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in half a year, but later expressed skepticism that would help. Zelensky said that only the United States was capable of persuading Russia to end the war, and he called on Washington to increase pressure on Moscow to make that happen. Earlier Saturday, Zelensky had revealed Washington had proposed negotiations that would include Ukraine, the United States and Russia. Putin however suggested that Russia could pause its devastating strikes on the country to allow Ukraine to hold a presidential ballot -- a prospect which Zelensky rejected.

US again seizes oil tanker off coast of VenezuelaWASHINGTON, United States, Dec 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The United States "apprehended" an oil tanker off Venezuela on Saturday, a move Caracas deemed a "theft and kidnapping," in the latest salvo of a pressure campaign by Washington, the US government said. "The United States will continue to pursue the illicit movement of sanctioned oil that is used to fund narco terrorism in the region. Centuries is a Chinese-owned, Panama-flagged oil tanker, according to TankerTrackers, an online service monitoring oil shipments and storage. - 'Waging a battle against lies' -On December 10, US forces seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, which the attorney general said was involved in carrying sanctioned oil from Venezuela to Iran. Caracas views the operation as a campaign to push out leftist strongman Nicolas Maduro -- whom Washington and many nations view as an illegitimate president -- and to "steal" Venezuelan oil.