Trending Analysis
LIVEFoodpanda Bangladesh incurs €111m losses since 2016
BMD forecasts five days of rain, heavy downpours
Our digital evidence framework must evolve with AI
Iran says no current negotiations with US
National & Politics
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Bengal's forgotten slave trade: Portuguese, Arakanese and Dutch trafficking networks
We tend to equate economic growth with social and political vitality in conventional history-writing, but this was not the case in southeast Bengal. Environmental pressures led to a social crisis in the seventeenth century, manifested through slave raids by a Portuguese-Arakanese combine (Magh). Subsequent slave trading by Arakan and Portugal, and later by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), unveiled the paradox of social breakdown during a period of economic growth, as the active delta generated new rice-producing lands.
Onion growers breathe easier as prices rebound
Onion farmers in several major producing districts have been grappling with low prices and mounting losses for months. But wholesale prices have risen by as much as twofold in some areas over the past two weeks, bringing much-needed relief to growers.
Will there be no end to this farce?
It is deeply concerning that illegal sand extraction continues unabated inside the Ramgarh-Sitakunda Reserve Forest despite repeated enforcement drives by the Forest Department. According to a report by this daily, authorities conducted at least 21 raids between June 2025 and May 2026, seizing excavators, dredgers, trucks, and more than 1,07,000 cubic feet of illegally extracted sand, while arresting six people. Unfortunately, these drives have failed to stop the illegal trade, as the miners return to the same areas soon after the raids. This shows that the authorities’ approach has failed to make any lasting impact.
Gazi Nazrul’s case raises bigger questions for parliament
The controversy surrounding Satkhira-4 MP Gazi Nazrul Islam poses two questions that must not be confused. Can Jamaat-e-Islami, by expelling him, make his parliamentary seat vacant? And can parliament ignore any serious misconduct merely because no express ground for disqualification has yet arisen? Under the law, the first answer is no. In a credible democracy, the second must also be no.
Capital markets gain momentum following the central bank's updated monetary policy guidelines and targeted export incentives.
Business & Economy
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The strange grief of seeing our parents age
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Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury and the idea of Bangladesh
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Reports of Tk 120cr VAT evasion by Transcom unsubstantiated
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Will there be no end to this farce?
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Lifestyle & Perspective
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Women built the RMG might. Now they are losing ground
When Nasima got a text from her employer during the Eid holidays, she expected another routine message. Instead, it told her she had been fired.
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The narcotics trail: Traffickers tap 105 border points across 18 districts
Bangladesh faces a growing drug crisis, with an estimated 8.2 million users. As the country does not produce narcotics, most are smuggled in from abroad. In a four-part series, The Daily Star explores the trafficking routes, the threats and the impacts of drug abuse. The first instalment looks at the key entry points.
1 day ago
Onion growers breathe easier as prices rebound
Onion farmers in several major producing districts have been grappling with low prices and mounting losses for months. But wholesale prices have risen by as much as twofold in some areas over the past two weeks, bringing much-needed relief to growers.
Education & Career
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1 day ago
Red Sea shipping slows after Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia, data shows
Ship traffic through Bab el-Mandeb fell on Sunday after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, while transit through the Strait of Hormuz stayed low over the weekend, shipping data from Kpler showed on Monday.
1 day ago
3 held over alleged attempted rape on moving bus in Ashulia
Police have arrested three people, including a bus driver and his helper, in connection with the attempted rape of a woman on a moving bus in Ashulia.
1 day ago
We need stronger digital systems to seize the China-plus-one opportunity
Between April and June last year alone, Bangladesh received more than $53 million in fresh Chinese investment, nearly $30 million of it flowing straight into textiles. More than twenty apparel factories here now carry Chinese capital, some brand new, others leased from local owners squeezed for capacity. This is not an act of charity, but a calculation. Faced with tariff pressures in their largest markets, Chinese manufacturers are doing what manufacturers have historically done when the math no longer adds up: relocating their production bases. The question is whether Bangladesh is actually built to catch the shift.
1 day ago
Reports of Tk 120cr VAT evasion by Transcom unsubstantiated
Reports claiming Transcom Group evaded Tk 120 crore in VAT remain unverified as NBR continues its regulatory review without issuing any official demand notice.
Tech & Innovation
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1 day ago
Politics and religion has now gotten mixed with support for WC team: Kazi Sabir
"We are ruining our relationships because of Ronaldo and Messi."
BMD forecasts five days of rain, heavy downpours
Study finds microplastics in 3 out of 4 toothpaste samples
Gazi Nazrul’s case raises bigger questions for parliament
Presidential election: EC to meet acting Speaker tomorrow
Our forestry policy must be rooted in local evidence
Culture & Entertainment
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Rain, floods damaged crops worth Tk 478cr
Women built the RMG might. Now they are losing ground
Iran says no current negotiations with US
Presidential election: EC to meet acting Speaker tomorrow
Health & Wellbeing
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3 held over alleged attempted rape on moving bus in Ashulia
Police have arrested three people, including a bus driver and his helper, in connection with the attempted rape of a woman on a moving bus in Ashulia.
Chattogram port’s empty-container problem needs more than quick fixes
A recent dispute over empty containers at Chattogram port has brought to renewed focus a deeper problem in Bangladesh’s trade logistics system: when legitimate interests collide, there is no neutral, technically competent authority to resolve the situation.
Foodpanda Bangladesh incurs €111m losses since 2016
Foodpanda Bangladesh’s losses rose 40 percent to €11.76 million last year, extending a losing streak that now stretches back a full decade, according to parent company Delivery Hero’s annual financial statements.