A new study has warned of rising physical and digital risks for journalists during the 2026 national elections in Bangladesh. The statement said the study draws on a survey of 201 journalists from 19 districts and 10 in-depth interviews. Threats are more acute for women journalists, with 50 percent fearing sexual harassment and 40 percent fearing sexual assault. Respondents said there is often no designated person or system to manage safety threats, and less than one in four journalists report receiving safety gear or training from their employers. Rising risks were linked to “political labelling, declining trust in media, extremism, mob violence, weak law enforcement responses, and targeted disinformation campaigns”.

Train services between Dhaka and Mymensingh have resumed nearly three hours after the engine of the “Balaka Commuter” train broke down in Gazipur’s Sreepur. According to Sreepur Railway Station Master Md Shamim, services restarted around 7:15pm on Saturday after a replacement engine was brought in and attached to the train. The engine malfunction occurred near Satkhamair Railway Station around 4:30pm, causing panic among passengers. Faisal Khan Turja, a local, said the train, bound for Dhaka from Mymensingh, entered Kawraid Station in the afternoon. The engine failure left several trains stranded at nearby stations, leaving passengers stranded and frustrated.

Describing the bond between Bangladesh and India as “eternal”, Indian High Commissioner to Dhaka Pranay Verma said mutual benefit and interdependence will advance the relationship. He made the remarks at an event organised to mark India-Bangladesh Friendship Day or Maitri Diwas at Gulshan on Saturday. “We always seek a stable, positive, constructive, forward-looking and mutually beneficial relationship with Bangladesh which is based on equality, mutual sensitivity and mutual respect and understanding,” Verma said. The Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) of the High Commission of India organised a cultural programme to mark the day. Highlighting the significance of the day, Verma said: “This date marks the beginning of a relationship based on empathy and trust that has sustained despite changes and occasional challenges and ups and downs.

A video of the heated arguments between the doctor and Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Professor Dr Md Abu Jafor went viral on social media. Photo: UNBA physician of Mymensingh Medical College (MMC) was suspended for misbehaving with the Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Professor Dr Md Abu Jafor this afternoon (6 December). Earlier in the morning, the DGHS director general visited Mymensingh Medical College Hospital to attend a seminar on the recent progress and challenges in treating bladder and reproductive system diseases in children. Assistant Director (Administration) Dr Mohammad Main Uddin Khan said Dr Barman had a heated conversation with the DG during the inspection over the quality of services. Further action will be taken following departmental procedures," Dr Main Uddin said.

Bangladesh’s judiciary has entered what the Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed has described as a “new institutional era”, marking a fundamental shift in how the justice system operates over the past 18 months. The seminar was organised jointly by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), according to a Supreme Court media statement. With the enactment of the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance 2025, the longstanding dual administrative structure has been removed, giving the Supreme Court full administrative and financial autonomy for the first time, he added. The chief justice added that the business community had long sought a dedicated commercial court for faster and modern resolution of commercial disputes, a demand that is now on the verge of being realised. He said a Supreme Court research team drafted the initial commercial court law, which was later refined through roadshows across the country, close engagement with BIDA, and inputs from business law experts and commercial stakeholders.

A train engine malfunction in Gazipur’s Sreepur Upazila has brought rail services between Dhaka and Mymensingh to a halt, leaving passengers stranded and frustrated. The incident occurred near Satkhamair Railway Station around 4:30pm on Saturday, according to Sreepur Station Master Md Shamim. A Local, Faisal Khan Turjo said the “Balaka Commuter” train, bound for Dhaka from Mymensingh, entered Kawraid Station in the afternoon. As the train was about to depart, a loud noise erupted from the engine, causing it to slow suddenly. Station Master Shamim said, “The train engine breakdown suspended rail connections between Dhaka and Mymensingh.

Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter spoke at a seminar titled 'Voices for Change: Putting Climate Action, Women Entrepreneurs, and SMEs in Bangladeshi Public Policy' held at a city hotel on Saturday (6 December 2025). Photo: UNBFisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akhter has stressed the need for additional financing from global public-sector climate-risk funds to support women entrepreneurs and all others facing climate-induced vulnerabilities. Farida said promoting women entrepreneurs should not only be about increasing numbers, but ensuring their visibility in economic activities. "Although institutions like Bangladesh Bank and SME Foundation provide special support for women entrepreneurs, the overall scope is still insufficient despite women making up 51% of the population. Turning to the impact of climate change, the adviser said earthquakes may strike once, but climate change is a daily crisis.

Transparency International Bangladesh’s Executive Director Ifthekharuzzaman has said he has repeatedly appealed to members of the interim government for action after hostility grew around the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission, but received no redress. On Saturday, speaking at the opening session of the Bangladesh Energy Summit at the Military Museum in Dhaka, he said he had approached at least seven advisors directly as “abusive” campaigns surged against the commission and its members faced security concerns, bdnews24.com reports. The TIB chief said he had asked the advisors to set out the government’s position in support of the commission but was told only that the report was “not a government report”. He asked why any commission’s findings should be dismissed on that basis and said the reaction had emboldened the groups attacking the body’s work.

Authorities have managed to bring the lioness that escaped at Mirpur Zoo back into its cage. The zoo’s Director Rafiqul Islam Talukder said the animal was tranquilised and returned to its cage at 7pm on Friday. The director had said immediately after the escape the lioness was roaming in the zoo premises. The zoo authorities said it took a while to bring the situation under control as they did not want to render the lioness completely unconscious. Rafiqul suspects the door to the animal's cage must have been left open as there was no other way to escape with the cage secured with grills.

The Qatar government has arranged for an air ambulance from Germany to take BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia from Dhaka to London for medical treatment. Asadur Rahman Asad, a spokesman for the Qatar Embassy in Dhaka said the aircraft is to land in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon. BNP chief Khaleda was scheduled to take a special air ambulance from the country’s royal fleet to London. Asad said, “The Qatar government is renting an air ambulance. It will come from Germany to Dhaka.

Family members of the 14-year-old victim allege she committed suicide “out of shame” after being raped by the superintendent of her madrasa, who was allegedly aided by one of the female teachers of the institution. Angered by the news, villagers detained the superintendent of Ayesha Siddika Mohila Madrasa and beat him up on Wednesday, according to Muksudpur Police Station's Inspector Shital Chandra Paul. The rape suspect, 51-year-old Mahmudul Hasan Shikder, was later rescued by police and sent to a local hospital for treatment. Shital said the victim’s mother filed a complaint against Mahmudul and his alleged abettor, Khadiza Begum, on Wednesday. According to the victim's brother-in-law, Khadiza had also threatened the child's mother with her life if she disclosed the matter to anybody.

News Desk :Environment Advisor Syeda Rizwana Hasan has said, although the Special Security Force (SSF) has been assigned to protect “critically ill” BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia during her treatment in hospital, no other member of her family will receive the same security. A government gazette formalising SSF protection for Khaleda in her capacity as a VVIP was issued on Tuesday. Following that, discussion emerged over whether SSF security would also be provided to her son Tarique Rahman upon his return to the country from London. Khaleda has been undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital since her admission on Nov 23, after her health deteriorated. When asked at that time, Foreign Advisor Touhid Hossain said he had not yet applied for a travel pass.

Bangladesh’s export earnings have fallen for four consecutive months, though the cumulative total for the first five months of the fiscal year remains marginally above last year. Compared with October, however, earnings rose 1.77 percent, following $3.82 billion in exports the previous month. The ready-made garment sector, a key contributor, generated $3.14 billion in November, down from $3.30 billion a year earlier, marking a roughly 5 percent decline. The export target for FY2026 has been set at $63.50 billion. In the previous fiscal year, total export earnings reached $48.28 billion, up 8.58 percent from $44.28 billion in FY24.

DHAKA: A medical board looking after critically ill former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia on Thursday decided to send her to London for advanced treatment, her personal physician AZM Zahid Hossain said. Zia, the 80-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, will be flown in an air ambulance late after midnight or early Friday to London, where her elder son and acting BNP chief Tarique Rahman lives. "The medical board has unanimously decided that she will be taken to London via the Qatar Royal Air Ambulance, either after midnight tonight or early tomorrow morning," Hossain told reporters during a briefing outside the hospital. During the last such briefing on Tuesday, he said Zia was responding to the treatment. The BNP also issued a list saying 14 people, one of them being Syeda Shameela Rahman, wife of Zia's deceased younger son Arafat Rahman and six being doctors, who will accompany Zia to London.

Critically ill former Bangladesh PM Zia to be taken to London: Reports“If madam's (Zia) health is suitable for travel, we plan to take her to London tomorrow morning. It all depends on her health,” Zia’s adviser Enamul Haque Chowdhury told.