Symbols for contesting candidates in the upcoming 13th national elections will be allotted today across constituencies. According to the Election Commission (EC), a total of 305 candidates withdrew their nominations by the deadline at 5pm on Tuesday. With these withdrawals, 1,967 candidates remain in the race nationwide. An EC circular earlier had stated that symbols must be allotted and candidate lists published on the day following the deadline for withdrawal of nominations, which is January 21. Balloting will be conducted using transparent ballot boxes and printed ballot papers for both the 13th National Parliament (JS) elections and the referendum.

Expatriate voters registered through the “Postal Vote BD” app will be able to cast their ballots for the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) elections and referendum from 5pm Wednesday. According to the EC schedule, expatriates must send their completed postal ballots to the office of the returning officer of their constituency in Bangladesh by January 25. In a message issued today, the EC informed registered expatriate voters that they may exercise their franchise from January 21 by following the designated process on the mobile app. Another EC message assured that the “Postal Vote BD” app has adequate security measures in place, ensuring that no voter’s ballot can be cast by another person and the secrecy of the vote remains protected. Salim Ahmad Khan, Team Leader of the “OCV-SDI” project on expatriate voter registration, told BSS that the EC has completed the distribution of postal ballots to 767,028 expatriate voters across 121 countries.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul on Wednesday said the E-Bail Bond management system is a landmark step in the digital transformation of the country's judiciary, significantly improving transparency, accountability and efficiency in the bail process. "The E-Bail Bond system is a landmark step in the digital transformation of the judiciary. The law adviser made the remarks while virtually launching the E-Bail Bond system in eight additional districts from his secretariat office. Under the new system, he said, once a judge digitally signs a bail order, the bail bond is automatically and instantly transmitted to the jail authorities. The E-Bail Bond system was first launched in Narayanganj on October 15, 2025, and has been operating successfully since then, he added.

Recently I asked the Family Recipe Box community to remember their early years away from their family home. I was completely ill-equipped to make any food more complex than a grilled-cheese sandwich — which was absolutely fine, as it turns out. I basically lived on cucumbers and apples during the day, and a slice of pizza from Despina’s on Mass. Easy Bread PuddingINGREDIENTS:4 cups cubed bread2 beaten eggs2 cups milk¼ cup melted butter½ cup sugar1 teaspoon cinnamonDIRECTIONS:Put bread cubes in a loaf pan. I didn’t remember how easy this recipe is — as long as you have a lot of stale bread!

NEW YORK, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - United Airlines offered a sunny outlook on travel demand Tuesday as it reported higher quarterly profits despite a hit from the US government shutdown. The big US carrier scored fourth-quarter profits of $1 billion, up six percent from the year-ago period. "Strong revenue momentum has continued into 2026," said United, which projected higher first-quarter profits than in the 2025 period. While United's international planes saw an increase in customer occupancy related to capacity, the domestic percentage declined from the year-ago period. Major US carriers trimmed some capacity in the first half of 2025 amid a glut of tickets for the domestic market, but airlines have described the market as being in better balance in recent months.

MELBOURNE, Jan 21, 2026 (AFP) - A "super-happy" Aryna Sabalenka surged past China's Bai Zhuoxuan into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday ahead of fellow world number one Carlos Alcaraz resuming his quest for tennis history. "Super-happy to close the (first) set, it gives me confidence that my game is there, my focus is there," said the Belarusian, who is bidding for a third Australian Open title in four years. Alcaraz started his bid for a career Grand Slam with a three-set defeat of home hope Adam Walton and faces hard-hitting German Yannick Hanfmann later Wednesday. If he does complete the career Grand Slam of all four majors he will be the youngest man to do it. Zverev is in action in an evening match against France's Alexandre Muller, the latest challenge in the German's decade-long quest for a first Grand Slam title.

Families often turn instead to forest "prayer camps" and spiritual healers, driven by beliefs that mental illness is rooted in curses, witchcraft or possession. Meanwhile, at the Pure Power Prayer Camp in Adeiso, attendant Augustina Twumasi argued that faith-based centres help keep Ghana's weak health system together. "If not for prayer camps, the hospitals would collapse under the numbers," she told AFP. But "people don't know the law, so they don't use it", said Lady-Ann Essuman, an attorney and mental health advocate. Stigma remains a key barrier to treatment: a 2022 Afrobarometer survey revealed 60 percent of Ghanaians believe mental health conditions are caused by witchcraft or curses.

The death toll between 2015 and 2025 reached 305,156, down from 354,428 in the previous decade, the analysis showed. It is "very clear" that extreme heat is becoming deadlier, said Theodore Keeping, researcher at Imperial College London. He said that for extreme heat events, there are robust scientific studies and models that can attribute additional deaths to the specific increase in temperature caused by climate change. The death toll from storms totalled 36,652 in 2015-2025 compared to 184,237 in the preceding decade. Thousands of deaths from major earthquakes in Myanmar and Afghanistan caused the death toll to spike year-on-year.

WASHINGTON, United States, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump's plane was forced to return to an air base late Tuesday due to a "minor electrical issue" shortly after departing for Switzerland, the White House said. Air Force One returned to Joint Base Andrews out of an abundance of caution, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. With its classic blue and white livery, Air Force One is arguably the world's most iconic plane and an instantly recognizable symbol of the US presidency. Trump has long been unhappy with the current Air Force One jets -- two highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft that entered service in 1990 under president George H.W. In May, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth accepted a Boeing 747 that the Gulf emirate of Qatar offered to Trump for use as Air Force One.

WELLINGTON, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called general elections for November 7 on Wednesday, touting his government's record on the economy and crime. Luxon said the election date, which lands a month after the All Blacks play at home against Australia, was swayed in part by the sports-mad country's fixtures. "When we took office the country was going in the wrong direction, and it's taken a lot of hard work in the last two years to start turning things around," the prime minister told reporters. The prime minister said inflation had dropped from seven percent under the previous government to less than three percent. The New Zealand leader commended his government's efforts to combat crime.

MADRID, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Kylian Mbappe struck twice against his former side Monaco as Real Madrid romped to an emphatic 6-1 Champions League victory on Tuesday to ease tensions around the club. "I loved their attitude and their quality, this mentality and ambition is what all Madrid fans want to see." There were still a few boos for Vinicius at the start but they dried as he reminded Madrid's fans how good he can be. - 'This is my Vinicius' -After 55 minutes Madrid had four, with Kehrer turning Vinicius's raking low cross into his own net as Monaco crumbled. Teze pulled one back for Monaco after a mistake by Dani Ceballos, before Madrid struck again to round off the rout.

KYIV, Ukraine, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Overnight Russian strikes on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig killed two people and injured a woman, authorities said Wednesday, while officials in Russia said a drone strike by Ukraine had wounded 11. A 53-year-old woman was wounded" in the Russian strikes on Kryvyi Rig, said Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the regional military administration, in a statement posted on Telegram. Kryvyi Rig, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the frontline and the hometown of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, has been frequently targeted by Russian strikes since Moscow launched its February 2022 invasion. The region, which sits near the strategically important Black Sea and Sea of Azov, is a frequent target of Ukrainian strikes. Ukraine says its strikes target the oil- and gas-industry infrastructure that Russia depends on to finance its offensive.

Italy’s Undersecretary for Defence (Deputy minister for defence), Matteo Perego di Cremnago, called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna. Photo : Chief Adviser's Press WingDHAKA, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS) - Italy has expressed its full support for Bangladesh’s democratic transition and the July Charter, which aims to introduce sweeping reforms for the country’s democratic renewal, said Italian deputy minister. Praising the July Charter, the visiting minister said Italy supports the comprehensive reforms outlined in the document. He also reaffirmed Rome’s backing of Bangladesh’s democratic transition through the February 12 vote. He also sought Italy’s support for Bangladesh’s democratic transition and for strengthening cooperation in defence, trade, and investment.

SEOUL, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A South Korean court sentenced former prime minister Han Duck-soo to 23 years in prison on Wednesday for aiding and abetting a declaration of martial law that briefly suspended civilian rule. Judge Lee said the martial law decree -- declared by Han's boss Yoon Suk Yeol in December 2024 -- was intended with the "aim of subverting the constitutional order" and amounted to insurrection. Yoon's stunning imposition of martial law saw armed troops deployed to the National Assembly and the National Election Commission before it was vetoed by the opposition?led parliament. Han is one of many former officials -- including Yoon -- who have stood trial over their roles in the martial law attempt. During the course of the trial, Han denied wrongdoing, insisting he had never supported or helped the martial law declaration.

DHAKA, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS) - Expatriate voters registered through the “Postal Vote BD” app will be able to cast their ballots for the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) elections and referendum from 5:00 pm today. According to the EC schedule, expatriates must send their completed postal ballots to the office of the Returning Officer of their constituency in Bangladesh by January 25. In a message issued today, the EC informed registered expatriate voters that they may exercise their franchise from January 21 by following the designated process on the mobile app. Another EC message assured that the “Postal Vote BD” app has adequate security measures in place, ensuring that no voter’s ballot can be cast by another person and the secrecy of the vote remains protected. Salim Ahmad Khan, Team Leader of the “OCV-SDI” project on expatriate voter registration, told BSS that the EC has completed the distribution of postal ballots to 767,028 expatriate voters across 121 countries.