A Bangladesh Biman aircraft has collided with a boarding bridge at Sylhet’s Osmani International Airport. The accident occurred around 10:30am on Wednesday, according to Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, director of the airport. The flight was to carry 262 passengers to London. The passengers are now waiting at Osmani Airport.”The airport authorities said that flight BG-201, a Boeing-787 Dreamliner, hit the boarding bridge during passenger boarding. Biman Bangladesh Airlines’ engineering department said that necessary repairs will be made after examining the engine and structure of the damaged aircraft.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has called the recommendations made by the National Consensus Commission on the implementation of the July National Charter “deceptive” and demanded their immediate amendment. He made the call at a discussion on Thursday, while sharing the party’s reactions to the recommendations made by the National Consensus Commission, bdnews24.com reports. He said, "Our National Consensus Commission has given its recommendations to the chief adviser… it bears the signature of the chief advisor…. They (National Consensus Commission) had a commitment to record those notes of dissent." Therefore, I hope that they (National Consensus Commission) will come to this realisation.

The National Citizen Party (NCP) has called on Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus to sign the July Charter implementation order in public at the Central Shaheed Minar to remove all uncertainty surrounding the issue. He said, “In continuation of the NCP’s uncompromising stance, the National Consensus Commission yesterday recommended the outline for the implementation of the July Charter to the government. The legal basis of the July Charter must be ensured by accepting the first draft of the July Charter Implementation Order (Proposal-1) recommended by the National Consensus Commission. The NCP believes that progress will be made in signing the charter if the government accepts the draft order with a legal basis for implementing the July Charter. That is why I will say the BNP was coming to the Consensus Commission during the day and then going to various embassies at night to try and to bring back the fascist forces.

Travel pass required to visit St Martin's Island, 12 directives must be followedSt Martin's Island will open to tourists on a limited scale for four months starting Nov 1 ahead of the tourist season after a nine-month closure. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), however, will not permit any vessel to operate to St Martin's without the approval of the environment ministry. This means that even if a ship leaves St Martin's by 5pm, it will be midnight by the time it reaches Cox's Bazar. The government issued 12 directives to preserve the environment, ecology, and biodiversity of this coral island. To protect biodiversity, the government declared a 590-hectare area of St Martin's an “ecologically critical zone” in 1999.

Rule amended: No recommendations for candidates already working in the same cadreThe government has brought about a major change to the public sector recruitment process as a provision has been added stating that any candidate previously selected for or currently working in a cadre or service will not be recommended for that same cadre again in future BCS examinations. The notice said the government made the decision based on Section 59 of the Public Service Act, 2018, and Article 140(2) of the Constitution, in consultation with the Public Service Commission (PSC) and that it will take effect immediately. The new rule states that the PSC will now select suitable candidates from among the successful examinees and recommend them to the government. It means if a candidate was recommended for a specific cadre in a previous BCS exam, they will not have the opportunity to be selected for the same cadre again. In this case, recommendations can be made from the newly successful candidates according to merit and preference order.

Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has chaired the first coordination meeting for the upcoming parliamentary elections in February. The high-level meeting held at the State Guest House Jamuna on Wednesday discussed the overall progress of election preparations and the activities necessary for its organisation in detail, the Chief Advisor's Office said. The CAO has called a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy at 4pm to share details following the meeting. Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Cultural Affairs Advisor Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, National Security Advisor and High Representative for Rohingya Affairs Dr Khalilur Rahman attended the meeting, alongside Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief advisor on ICT. In addition, senior officials from the Army and law enforcing agencies were also present.

A man stands next to stranded cars, in the aftermath of floods caused by heavy rains, in Sedavi, Valencia, Spain, October 31, 2024. Almost 240 people died in Spain after torrential rains in October 2024 triggered floods that swept through eastern and southeastern Spain. REUTERSA man stands next to stranded cars, in the aftermath of floods caused by heavy rains, in Sedavi, Valencia, Spain, October 31, 2024. Almost 240 people died in Spain after torrential rains in October 2024 triggered floods that swept through eastern and southeastern Spain. Flash floods caused by torrential rains swept away bridges, cars and people and swamped homes and underground car parks on Oct 29, 2024.

REUTERS/Aline MassucaAt least 64 people died on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro's most deadly police operation ever, which targeted a major gang days before the city hosts global events related to the United Nations climate summit known as COP30. Police have often conducted large-scale operations against criminal groups ahead of major events in Rio, which hosted the 2016 Olympics, the 2024 G20 summit and the BRICS summit in July. The programming is part of the run-up to COP30, the United Nations climate summit held in the Amazon city of Belem from Nov 10 to Nov 21. The death toll confirmed by Rio Governor Claudio Castro on Tuesday, which included four police officers, was more than twice Rio's most deadly previous police operation. After the most intense fighting subsided, a Reuters journalist saw police from a special operations unit rounding up dozens of shirtless men.

REUTERSThe Nepali and Chinese sides of the Everest region were closed to tourism on Wednesday due to unseasonably heavy snow, and a helicopter crashed in deep snowdrifts as it tried to rescue stranded trekkers. A small private helicopter flying to Lobuche near the Everest Base Camp to rescue stranded trekkers crashed when it tried to land, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal spokesperson Gyanendra Bhul said. It was unclear if there were tourists trapped inside the Everest region in Tibet. In early October, a blizzard stranded hundreds of trekkers near the eastern face of Everest on the Tibetan side. In Nepal, more than 50 people had died due to floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains.

Floods triggered by record heavy rains have killed at least nine people and left five others missing in central Vietnam, the government said on Wednesday. The floods have also inundated more than 103,000 houses, mostly in the country's top tourist sites of Hue and Hoi An, the government's disaster agency said in a separate report. Vietnam is prone to often deadly storms and flooding that cause widespread property damage, especially during the storm season from June until October. In nearby Danang, water in most of its reservoirs has reached maximum depths, while water levels in its rivers also continued to rise, the government said. "Widespread flooding continues in low-lying areas along rivers and in urban areas, with high risks of flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas of Danang," it said.

REUTERSThe US dollar hovered close to a one-week low versus major peers on Wednesday ahead of a widely expected interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve later in the day. "The interest is in the guidance provided by (Fed) Chairperson Jerome Powell at his press conference," said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com. "A lot of dovishness is baked into the curve, with a cut in December almost fully discounted," he said. Takaichi, viewed as a fiscal and monetary dove, has asked the BOJ to maintain an easy monetary environment, but has said the conduct of monetary policy is up to the central bank. The European Central Bank also decides policy on Thursday, and is expected to leave rates unchanged.

Oil prices edged up on Wednesday morning after three straight days of declines, with market sources citing a decline in US crude inventories, while investor concerns about Russia sanctions and a potential OPEC+ output increase capped gains. US crude, gasoline and distillate stocks fell last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks fell by 4.02 million barrels for the week ended October 24, the sources said, requesting anonymity. However, state-run Indian Oil on Tuesday said it would not stop buying Russian oil as long as it was complying with sanctions. On Tuesday, the CEO of Saudi state oil giant Aramco said crude oil demand was strong even before sanctions were imposed on Russian oil majors and Chinese demand was still healthy.

The prospect of lower US rates this week supported bonds, while the dollar sustained losses as investors bet Wednesday's expected Fed cut would not be the last for the year. "Investors want to see not just solid numbers but evidence of sustained AI monetisation and broadening demand beyond the initial boom. The Fed cut expectations in turn left the dollar weak on Wednesday, with the euro and sterling firming at $1.1652 and $1.3272, respectively. The Aussie dollar rose 0.17% to $0.6598, after data showed domestic inflation rose by the most in over two years in the September quarter. A shockingly sharp jump in core inflation seemed to rule out a near-term interest rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Even so, Microsoft will hold a 27% stake in OpenAI and remain a significant player in its future. OpenAI and Microsoft expect to end the revenue-share agreement once an independent panel declares AGI, but OpenAI can also make those payments later. The OpenAI Foundation has a 26% stake in OpenAI Group and a warrant to receive additional shares if the company hits certain milestones. Microsoft also said that it has secured a deal with OpenAI where the ChatGPT maker will purchase $250 billion of Azure cloud computing services. In exchange, Microsoft will no longer have the right of first refusal to provide computing services to OpenAI.

Talks aimed at securing a long-term truce between Afghanistan and Pakistan concluded in Istanbul without a "workable solution", Pakistan's information minister said on Wednesday, in a blow for peace in the region after deadly clashes this month. "Instead of accepting any responsibility, the Afghan Taliban resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses. The October clashes began after Pakistani air strikes this month on Kabul, the Afghan capital, among other locations, targeting the head of the Pakistani Taliban. On Saturday, Pakistan's defence minister said he believed Afghanistan wanted peace but that failure to reach an agreement in Istanbul would mean "open war". Despite a ceasefire between Pakistan and the Taliban, weekend clashes killed five Pakistani soldiers and 25 Pakistani Taliban militants near the border with Afghanistan, the military said on Sunday.