Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. Photo: CollectedCOPENHAGEN, Jan 24, 2026 (AFP) - Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen onSaturday slammed US President Donald Trump for saying NATO allies had shiedaway from the front line in Afghanistan. "I fully understand that Danish veterans have said no words can describe howmuch this hurts," she said on Facebook. "Denmark has always stood by the United States, and we have shown up incrisis zones around the world when the United States asked us to," theassociation said in a statement. "Denmark is one of the NATO countries that has suffered the highest lossesper capita," the Danish prime minister underscored.

DHAKA, Jan 24, 2026 (BSS) - The Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) has urged voters registered through the "Postal Vote BD" mobile application to cast their ballots promptly after receiving them. They should submit the yellow envelopes to the nearest post office or letter box within the stipulated time, a PID release said. EC said only those postal ballots that reach the Returning Officer by 4:30 pm on February 12, 2026 will be considered for counting.

Photo: BSSRAJSHAHI, Jan 24, 2026 (BSS)- The ‘B’ Unit admission test for the first year of the undergraduate (honours) programme of the 2025–26 academic session at Rajshahi University (RU) was held today (Saturday) smoothly. In the B Unit, 55 candidates are competing for each seat. According to university sources, the B Unit consists of six departments under the Faculty of Business Studies as well as the Institute of Business Administration (IBA). So far, no untoward incidents have occurred. We have also not received any reports of untoward incidents from other centres across the country.

CARACAS, Jan 24, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez said Friday that over 600 inmates have been released, far more than estimated by rights groups, who are demanding the liberation of all political prisoners. The announcement, which was hailed by Washington, created expectations of large groups of prisoners walking free. Rodriguez said 626 prisoners have been released since December and said she would ask the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to verify the number. Foro Penal, a leading Venezuelan rights group, said it had counted 155 political prisoners released, mostly since Maduro's overthrow, and estimated that over 700 people were still being held. Marlene Blanco, a 65-year-old accountant, was particularly critical of Trump's grab for Venezuelan oil.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman today addressed a rally of 10-party electoral alliance at the SM Pilot High School ground in Palashbari upazila this morning. Highlighting employment and education, the Jamaat Ameer said unemployed youths would be brought under technical training to turn 'idle hands into productive hands'. At the end of the rally, the Jamaat Ameer introduced the alliance-backed candidates of Gaibandha district and sought votes for them. The candidates are Professor Majedur Rahman (Gaibandha-1), Jamaat district Ameer Abdul Karim (Gaibandha-2), Principal Maulana Nazrul Islam (Gaibandha-3), Dr. Abdur Rahim Sarker (Gaibandha-4) and Bir Muktijoddha Abdul Wares (Gaibandha-5). Chaired by Gaibandha district Jamaat Ameer Md.

WASHINGTON, United States, Jan 24, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The US military will prioritize protecting the homeland and deterring China while providing "more limited" support to allies in Europe and elsewhere, a Pentagon strategy document released on Friday said. "As US forces focus on homeland defense and the Indo-Pacific, our allies and partners elsewhere will take primary responsibility for their own defense with critical but more limited support from American forces," the strategy said. Both the Biden and Trump strategies say homeland defense is important, but their descriptions of the threats facing the US differ significantly. Like Trump's national security strategy, which was released last month, the NDS elevates Latin America to the top of the US agenda. We will use it to protect our Homeland and our access to key terrain throughout the region," the NDS said.

A show-cause notice has been issued to Sarjis Alam, the candidate of the 10-party alliance in the Panchagarh-1 constituency, over allegations of violating the electoral code of conduct. The notice was issued on Saturday afternoon by the office of the Panchagarh Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer, Kazi Md Sayemuzzaman. The matter was later confirmed to Dhaka Tribune by the Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer himself. According to the notice, on January 23, Sarjis Alam used banners, billboards and arches displaying photographs of a political party chief other than his own—specifically Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman—at an election rally organized by the 10-party alliance in Panchagarh. The notice further states that Sarjis Alam constructed three arches in defiance of restrictions, which violates Section 13(a) of the code of conduct.

Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma -File photoDHAKA, Jan 24, 2026 (BSS) - Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma today said India and Bangladesh, as fast-growing economies, are well positioned to act as catalysts for each other's sustainable growth and anchors of robust regional integration. "Bangladesh has been an important co-traveler in this journey of ours," he said at a reception marking India's Republic Day at a city hotel. Verma said Dhaka and Delhi seek "forward-looking and future-ready collaborations," describing a partnership "rooted in trust, driven by innovation and technology, and nurtured and sustained by mutual interest, mutual benefit and mutual sensitivity." Highlighting bilateral ties, Verma said, Bangaldesh and India share "a special relationship, along with an indelible history of shared sacrifices during Bangladesh's Liberation War of 1971." He said together India and Bangladesh can build "regional value chains, shared digital ecosystems, and energy corridors," ensure a "clean, affordable and secure" energy future and jointly address environmental sustainability and climate change.

We oppose any action that would undermine our country’s sovereignty,” Fakhrul said referring to BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman’s statements while making the remarks. He spoke during an election outreach and street meeting at Jatibhanga, one of Thakurgaon’s bonded lands dating to 1971. Recalling the 1971 Liberation War, Fakhrul said: “Here in 1971, a brutal genocide took place, and these bonded lands bear witness to it. We cannot elect anyone who has not recognized our independence.”Fakhrul outlined several initiatives planned under Tarique Rahman’s leadership. Highlighting Thakurgaon’s agricultural profile, Fakhrul said: “This is an agriculture-dominated area, currently producing large quantities of vegetables, mangoes, lychees, oranges, and other fruits.

Irina Vaynerman, one of the family’s lawyers, told The Guardian late Friday that immigration authorities later flew both back to Minnesota. The two-year-old was released into the custody of her mother, while the father remains detained in the state. Agents refused to allow the father to bring the girl to her mother or to other family members “waiting terrified inside the home”. The father and daughter were then placed in an immigration agent’s vehicle, which, according to the filing, did not have a car seat. At around 8.10pm, a Minnesota-based federal judge issued an order prohibiting the government from transferring them outside the state.

PARIS, France, Jan 24, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - At least two European airlines suspended flights to cities in the Middle East on Friday, with Air France saying it will temporarily stop service to Dubai due to the geopolitical situation. Dutch airline KLM also halted flights until further notice to cities in the Middle East and would not fly through the airspace of several countries in the region, including Iraq and Iran, according to the Netherlands' state broadcaster. "Due to the current situation in the Middle East, the company has decided to temporarily suspend its service to Dubai," France's national carrier said in a statement to AFP. "Air France is monitoring the situation in real time and will provide further updates on its flight schedule," the French airline said. Trump has repeatedly threatened US strikes on Iran over the crackdown on the protest movement that recently erupted across the Islamic republic.

JAMALPUR, Jan 4, 2026 (BSS) – Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-14 arrested three drug peddlers along with a large quantity of Indian-made liquor in Sherpur district last night. RAB-14 in Jamalpur said in a press briefing, acting on a tip-off, a team of the elite force conducted a raid in the Mokchhedpur Nayapara area in Sherpur Sadar Upazila and detained a Jamalpur-bound truck at around 8: 30pmRAB members recovered 1301 bottle wine from the truck and arrested Md Minal Miah, 32, Md Riyad Hossain, 28 and Md Nurul Amin, 34, inhabitants of Jhinaigati upazila of Sherpur district. A case was registered with Sherpur Sadar Police Station in this connection.

Pirates operating in the Sundarbans abducted at least 18 fishermen on Thursday, sparking fear among local communities that rely on the forest for their livelihoods, officials and locals said. The fishermen were seized while fishing in canals and rivers deep inside the Sundarbans, including the Mamundo and Malancha rivers. Most of the abducted fishermen live in Harinagar, Kadamtala, Mathurapur, Mukhali, and Chhoto Bhetkhali areas of Munshiganj Union in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira. Fazlul Haque, forest ranger of the West Sundarbans Satkhira Range, said the Forest Department was alerted Friday and informed the Coast Guard and other law enforcement agencies. He noted that the Coast Guard had not yet received instructions from higher authorities to launch an operation, leaving families in distress.

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today said Michael Madhusudan Dutt is a luminous name in the history of Bengali literature as his literary works and creative genius opened new horizons of modernity for the Bengali language and literature. He said this in a message on the eve of 202nd birth anniversary of great poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt to be celebrated tomorrow. “I am delighted to know that Madhusudan Birth Festival will be celebrated on January 25 at Sagardari village in Keshabpur upazila of Jashore district on the occasion of the 202nd birth anniversary of the great poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt, one of the stalwarts of Bengali literature,” he said. This initiative to remember such a great literary figure is undoubtedly commendable, he said. Prof Yunus said the great poet elevated the Bengali language to a position of honor on the global stage through the introduction of blank verse, epic-style composition, and new trends in dramatic literature.

French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: CollectedPARIS, France, Jan 24, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron onSaturday vowed to speed up the legislative process for a social media ban onunder-15s, with the goal of enacting it in September this year. He said he wanted it to be "applied from the start of the next school year",in September. Macron said that, on top of a ban on children under 15 accessing socialmedia, he also backed a ban on pupils having on mobile phones in schools. "The brains of our children and our adolescents are not for sale or formanipulating, not by US platforms, not by Chinese algorithms," the presidentsaid.