Along with the lower class, the middle class is also flocking to these sidewalk shops. Most of the buyers of these footpath and make-up shops are lower and lower middle class and working class people. However, the middle class is also rushing to these footpath shops due to financial constraints for their Eid shopping. That is why our buyers are not only for the lower class, but many middle class people also come to buy clothes,” he said. “Low-income and lower middle-class people are buying Eid items at affordable prices within their reach from sidewalk hawkers in the city,” he added.

DHAKA, March 05, 2026 (BSS) – The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), during its countrywide drive, especially in border areas, seized various types of smuggled goods worth about Taka 131 crore, 19 lakh and 72 thousand in February last. “In separate drives, the BGB arrested 141 smugglers on charges of drug trafficking, including Yaba and other contraband items,” said a BGB release, this afternoon. Of the arrestees, 76 are Bangladeshi citizens, 02 Indian citizens and 135 Myanmar citizens. Meanwhile, the recovered weapons include 13 foreign/homemade pistols, one rifle, 16 magazines, 160 rounds of ammunitions, 16 crude bombs, 82 electric detonators, 3 kg of gun powder, 24 other weapons and 5 kg of Indian chemical substances. Besides, in last month the para-military force also sized huge amount of drugs and narcotics, including 17,09,080 pieces of Yaba tablets, 2 kg 268 grams of heroin, 2,199 bottles of Phensedyl, 1 kg 244 grams of crystal meth ice, 6,458 bottles of foreign liquor, 100 liters of local liquor, 1,368 bottles of canned beer, 937 kg 350 grams of marijuana, 1,61,853 packets of bidi and cigarettes, 212 kg of bidi making materials, 1,99,054 contraband tablets/injections, 2,477 bottles of Escafe syrup, 9,361 Anegra/Senegra tablets and 250 grams of cocaine and 3,19,863 pieces of various medicines, the release added.

DHAKA, Mar 5, 2026 (BSS) – The energy ministry today issued a set of emergency directives for energy conservation as part of government’s energy security campaign fearing disruptions of global supply chain due to Middle East crisis to affect the country as well. The power, energy and mineral resources ministry statement today issued the directive asking every government, autonomous, and private institutions, commercial establishments and citizens to adopt immediate precautionary measures to ensure the best use of energy resources. The ministry encouraged the use of public transport instead of private vehicles and adoption of car-pooling systems if possible to reduce liquid fuel consumption in the country. Ther ministry simultaneously urged commercial entities to implement economical practices and avoid any form of excess fuel consumption. The government also called for increased public awareness to safeguard the nation’s energy security during this volatile period.

The Middle East edged closer to a wider regional war as Israel expanded airstrikes into Lebanon and Iran launched fresh missile attacks on US bases and Gulf targets. The warning followed a fresh wave of Israeli attacks on Iran, which again lashed out at Gulf nations Qatar and Bahrain as the Middle East war reverberated throughout the region and far beyond. The war has also dragged in NATO member Turkey after alliance air defences destroyed a missile launched from Iran heading towards Turkish airspace. AFP reporters in Jerusalem heard explosions following warnings of incoming Iranian missile fire. ‘Catastrophic’The war could usher in a “prolonged period of flux” for the global economy, warned International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva.

“To maintain uninterrupted supply, letters of credit have already been opened for seven oil shipments by March 2,” he said. LNG shipments also uncertainThe disruption has also raised concerns about liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. Gas supply adjustmentsTo manage the uncertainty, Petrobangla has decided to reduce gas supply by around 200 million cubic feet per day, which is expected to save roughly 1,400 million cubic feet of gas over the next week. According to Petrobangla sources, about 170 million cubic feet of gas per day is currently supplied to fertilizer plants. Authorities are considering suspending that supply temporarily while also reducing gas allocation to the power sector from 870 million cubic feet to 820 million cubic feet per day.

TEHRAN, March 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday accused Israel of launching a drone attack in Azerbaijan that was blamed on Iran, describing it as an attempt to harm Tehran's relations with its neighbour. In a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, Araghchi "denied that Iran fired any projectiles" at Azerbaijan. He also condemned "the role of the Israeli regime in such attacks in order to divert public opinion and destroy Iran's good relations with its neighbours", according to a statement from Iran's foreign ministry. Four people were wounded in the midday drone attack in Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhichevan near the Iranian border.

Son of last shah says Iran clerics' next leader will be illegitimateWASHINGTON, United States, March 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The son of the last shah toppled in Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution said Thursday that whoever the clerical government chooses to succeed the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be illegitimate. Khamenei was Iran's top leader since 1989, pursuing a hardline policy of repressing dissent at home, developing a contested nuclear program and confronting regional rivals led by Israel. Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Khamenei, is among the contenders to succeed his father. He has said that he wants to be a transitional leader before a referendum is called to establish a secular democracy. The lion was a symbol of the ousted monarchy while the sun has deep resonance in Iran' pre-Islamic Zoroastrian tradition.

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Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain on Thursday warned that the licence of any government doctor found seeing patients outside during official duty hours will be suspended or cancelled. Sakhawat Hossain said Rajesh Majumder, a doctor at the 250-bed District Sadar Hospital in Shariatpur, had been summoned to the ministry on Wednesday for seeing patients at a private chamber in the local Modern City Hospital during office hours. He said the doctor will be suspended from his job and a departmental case will be filed following due procedures. The health minister said intelligence surveillance is being conducted across the country to ensure that government medicines reach the public and that doctors remain present at their workplaces. He warned that if any government doctor is found absent during office hours in the future, their licence will be suspended and disciplinary action will be taken.

Photo: BSSDHAKA, March 5, 2026 (BSS) - Bangladesh's legendary table tennis player Zobera Rahman Linu is among the 15 distinguished individuals selected for the Independence Award 2026. Inspired by her father, she started playing table tennis at the age of eight at the Shahajibazar Officers Club in Sylhet. She finished fifth in the 1980 Asian Table Tennis Championships and was runner-up in the mixed doubles at the 1982 Pentangular Championships held in Hyderabad, India. She also represented Bangladesh in the World Table Tennis Championships organized by the International Table Tennis Federation in 1977 and 2000. Bangladesh Table Tennis Federation congratulated Linu for this prestigious award.

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - EU and Gulf ministers called following crisis talks Thursday for Iran to immediately end "indiscriminate" attacks across the region in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, warning global security was at stake. "The ministers strongly condemned the unjustifiable Iranian attacks against the GCC countries which threaten regional and global security and called on Iran to cease immediately its attacks," said a joint statement issued afterwards. Addressing the fallout of "indiscriminate" Iranian attacks, they also "affirmed that the GCC states have the right to take all necessary measures" to defend themselves. As Iranian missiles and drones have slammed Gulf states' cities and infrastructure, upending relations with Tehran, the neighbours have been put on a potential course for greater confrontation. But EU and Gulf ministers jointly reaffirmed their "unwavering commitment to dialogue and diplomacy" as a means to resolve the crisis.

Assistant Secretary Kapur and US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T Christensen honored the legacies of former president Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia at Zia Udyan. Assistant Secretary Kapur and Ambassador Christensen held "productive meetings" with leaders from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. US Ambassador Christensen, AmCham President Syed Ershad Ahmed and its executive committee members joined the reception at a city hotel on Wednesday evening. Assistant Secretary Kapur and Ambassador Christensen met with Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman on Wednesday. Assistant Secretary Kapur arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday night from New Delhi on a two-day visit to "strengthen strategic ties" between Bangladesh and the United States.

Most professional women leave their jobs due to family responsibilities and maternity, according to recent data. To support women in returning to the workforce, BRAC has launched the Bridge Returnship program. Analysis of applicant data revealed that 38.8% of women cited family responsibilities and 36% cited maternity as the primary reasons for leaving their jobs. During a panel discussion at the event, Bridge Returnship participants Elizabeth Marandi and Farah Mahbub shared their experiences. Feeling discouraged, she eventually discovered BRAC’s Bridge Returnship program.

Through tropes like these, books are reduced to marketing stunts, no longer the products of genuine, artistic craft. That being said, reliance on popular tropes is not always an act of reducing the art of literature. It is this reinforcement that allows tropes to dig their poisonous roots further into the soil of good storytelling. Think of hooks and share a sentence or two of summary that tantalizes the prospective reader with the book’s world and the characters’ main challenges. This way, maybe we can save the book world from the blight of the trope — our own noble quest as readers.

Lebanon says three killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut airport highwayBEIRUT, Lebanon, March 5, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Lebanon's health ministry said late on Wednesday that three people were killed in Israeli strikes on vehicles on Beirut's airport highway. The strikes came after a third day of Israeli bombardments in response to renewed Hezbollah attacks. "Two Israeli air strikes on the airport highway killed three people and wounded six," the ministry said. Israel's military said it had targeted two people in the Beirut area, without immediately offering further details. The group stepped up its attacks on Wednesday, saying it targeted Israeli positions as far as Tel Aviv in at least 15 attacks.