Jordan Intercepts Iranian Missiles Following Joint U.S. and Saudi Strikes in Iraq
Jordanian air defenses shot down five Iranian ballistic missiles following joint U.S. and Saudi air operations against militia positions in Iraq. The renewed clashes disrupt a short-lived pause in hostilities, putting global energy transit through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea at further risk.
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LIVERain, floods damaged crops worth Tk 478cr
Gas crisis strikes paracetamol API, other industries
Onion growers breathe easier as prices rebound
BRAC Bank's Q2 profit jumps 73% on higher investment income
National & Politics
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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.
A trillion-dollar ambition needs a stronger investment climate
The other day, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman reaffirmed his government’s commitment to transforming Bangladesh into a $1 trillion economy by 2034. While the ambition is welcome, there is a policy puzzle that needs to be encountered: how will the economy double in size when domestic private investment has weakened, foreign direct investment remains modest, and many existing businesses are reluctant to expand? Private investment fell to 22.03 percent of GDP in FY2024-25, its lowest level in 11 years. Net FDI recovered to $1.77 billion in 2025, but this was less than 0.4 percent of an economy estimated at around $510 billion. Even the recovery deserves to be viewed with caution, since it was driven mainly by reinvested earnings and intra-company loans, while new equity investment increased only marginally.
25th The Daily Star Prime Bank O&A Level Awards 2026
A total of 2,545 students were recognised at the 25th The Daily Star-Prime Bank O and A Level Awards, themed “Saluting the Nation Builders of Tomorrow” on July 25, 2026 at at Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center, Purbachal.
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.
Capital markets gain momentum following the central bank's updated monetary policy guidelines and targeted export incentives.
Business & Economy
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Presidential election: EC to meet acting Speaker tomorrow
4 weeks ago
Kafrul Swechchhasebak Dal leader hired hitmen to kill Jubo Dal rival: DB
4 weeks ago
BMD forecasts five days of rain, heavy downpours
4 weeks ago
When the river takes everything, even a girl's childhood
3 weeks ago
Lifestyle & Perspective
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4 weeks 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.
4 weeks ago
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.
3 weeks ago
Who writes the history of the July Uprising?
Every mass uprising has two histories. One is written in the language of power; the other is preserved in the memories of the people who lived it. The first is established quickly, as states, governments, or newly empowered political actors construct a narrative that legitimises their authority. The second emerges more gradually—from eyewitness accounts, organisational records, news reports, and the lived experiences of those who occupied the streets. For that reason, the struggle that follows a popular uprising is never confined to control of the state. It is also a struggle over political memory. Those who seek to consolidate power often attempt to monopolise that memory, reducing a complex collective experience to a single official story.
Education & Career
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4 weeks ago
Citizens have already answered the ‘amendment or reform’ question
In his column published on July 24, titled “July charter implementation: Growing distance between BNP and the opposition is worrisome,” The Daily Star’s Editor Mahfuz Anam voiced a concern every democrat shares: that the hard-won consensus of our post-uprising transition is fraying. He is right to worry. But his prescription—for the opposition to join the government’s special committee on constitutional amendment and hold its objections in reserve—rests on a premise I must respectfully contest: that the choice between “amendment” and “reform” remains open for negotiation. It does not. The people closed that question on February 12, 2026.
4 weeks ago
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.
4 weeks ago
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.
4 weeks 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."
Tech & Innovation
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4 weeks 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.
Will there be no end to this farce?
Our forestry policy must be rooted in local evidence
Gazipur Agricultural University wins patent for jackfruit seed nutrition technology
Technology cannot compensate for the missing trust in land offices
The strange grief of seeing our parents age
Culture & Entertainment
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Tigers and the empire: A history of hunting, power and resistance
Rain, floods damaged crops worth Tk 478cr
Reports of Tk 120cr VAT evasion by Transcom unsubstantiated
Madhupur pineapple prices crash as rain, flood dampen demand
Health & Wellbeing
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Study finds microplastics in 3 out of 4 toothpaste samples
Microplastics were detected in 26 of 34 toothpaste samples tested in Bangladesh according to a new study, raising serious concerns about potential risks to human health and the environment.
Gas crisis strikes paracetamol API, other industries
A worsening gas crisis has significantly slashed domestic production of paracetamol API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) while also severely disrupting production at factories across Bangladesh’s manufacturing sector.
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.