Dhaka, Monday, Mar 02, 2026
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s former president, was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.The reports said the attack targeted the Narmak neighborhood in eastern Tehran and that Ahmadinejad was killed along with several of his bodyguards.Ahmadinejad, 69, served as Iran’s sixth president from 2005 to 2013, leading the country’s ninth and tenth administrations. His presidency was marked by confrontational rhetoric toward the West and escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.Born in 1956 in the village of Aradan in Semnan Province, he moved to Tehran with his family as a child. Before becoming president, he served as governor of Ardabil Province and later as mayor of Tehran.In 2013, after leaving office, he was appointed by Iran’s supreme leader to the Expediency Council, an advisory body that mediates disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council. He had continued to serve as a member ...
Stocks witnessed a sharp downturn on Sunday as major indices of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) closed significantly lower amid widespread selling pressure.At the DSE, the benchmark DSEX plunged 138 points. The Shariah-based DSES lost 26 points, while the blue-chip DS30 index fell 52 points.Most listed companies ended in the red, with 353 issues declining against 30 gainers and six remaining unchanged.Turnover also dropped sharply. The DSE recorded transactions worth Tk 775 crore, down from Tk 947 crore in the previous session.In the block market, shares of 23 companies worth Tk 24 crore were traded. Orion Infusion posted the highest block turnover at Tk 4.60 crore.Shinepukur Ceramics PLC topped the gainers’ chart on the DSE, advancing nearly 10 percent, while Bangladesh Welding Electrodes Limited languished at the bottom, shedding around 8 percent.The CSE also experienced a major slide, with its benchmark CASPI index plunging ...
The attack on Iran by the United States and Israel disrupted flights across the Middle East and beyond Saturday as countries around the region closed their airspace and key airports that connect Europe, Africa and the West to Asia were directly hit by strikes.Airports across the Middle East remained closed Sunday as the conflict moved into its second day. Emirates Airlines suspended all flights to and from Dubai until at least Sunday afternoon. The Qatar airport was closed until at least Monday morning, according to Qatar Airways. Israeli airspace also remained closed Sunday.The closures have stranded tens of thousands of travelers around the world.Hundreds of thousands of travelers were either stranded or diverted to other airports Saturday after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace. There also was no flight activity over the United Arab Emirates, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said, after the government there announced ...
Trading at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed a sharp downturn on Sunday, the first trading day of the week, with major indices posting significant losses in the first half.At the DSE, the benchmark DSEX plunged 120 points by midday. The Shariah-based DSES index shed 20 points, while the blue-chip DS30 index fell 50 points, reflecting broad-based selling pressure.Most listed companies saw their share prices decline. Of the traded issues, only 29 advanced, while 348 declined and 11 remained unchanged.Turnover at the DSE stood at nearly Tk 500 crore in the first half of the session.The downturn was also pronounced at the CSE. The overall CASPI index dropped 230 points during the same period.Out of the traded issues at the port city bourse, 23 advanced, 106 declined and 11 remained unchanged.The CSE recorded a turnover of Tk 6 crore in share and unit transactions ...
Iranian news agencies Tasnim and Fars have confirmed the death of the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying he was killed at his office in the early hours of Saturday while “performing his assigned duties”.According to Fars, the Iranian government has announced 40 days of public mourning following Khamenei’s killing, along with seven days of public holidays.An IRGC-aligned outlet reported that the supreme leader’s daughter, son-in-law and grandson were also killed in the strike. The reports came after US President Donald Trump and Israeli officials claimed that Khamenei had been killed, allegations that Iranian officials had earlier dismissed as “psychological warfare”.Following the reports, people were seen pouring into the streets of the Iranian capital, Tehran, Al Jazeera reported.Public ceremonies are expected in the coming days as part of the 40-day mourning period, even as bombardments continue across the country. A few hours earlier, a loud explosion was heard again ...
Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim has been left stranded in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, along with thousands of other passengers, following widespread flight cancellations sparked by the escalating conflict in the Middle East.Returning from Saudi Arabia after performing Umrah, Rahim was scheduled to fly back to Dhaka via Dubai. However, his Emirates flight was forced to turn back mid-journey due to severe airspace security risks. Sharing the ordeal on his verified Facebook page today, Rahim detailed the sudden disruption to his travel plans.“Assalamu Alaikum. I came to Makkah a few days ago to perform Umrah,” Rahim wrote.“Alhamdulillah, after completing it, I was scheduled to return to Bangladesh today via Emirates. We took off from Jeddah for Dubai on flight EK0806 this morning. But unfortunately, due to the war involving the US, Israel, and Iran, all flights have returned to Jeddah,” he added.The cricketer expressed deep uncertainty about his return, noting that he ...
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, has been an inveterate foe of the West, crushing internal opposition while supporting proxy forces across the region in the hope of making his country respected and feared.U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday declared that Khamenei died in the conflict that had defined his rule of Iran, and a senior Israeli official told Reuters his body had been found following U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran.Iranian authorities had not confirmed his death but satellite images showed significant damage to the leader's Tehran compound, one of the first targets of the bombing campaign.Khamenei's death would represent a massive blow to the Islamic Republic that he had led since 1989, a decade after rising to prominence in the theocratic revolution that toppled Iran's monarchy and rocked the Middle East.MOUNTING CRISES OF KHAMENEI'S RULEHe survived foreign pressure before but, even before Saturday's attack, was facing the gravest crisis ...
Gold prices in Bangladesh surged by Tk 7,640 per bhori in a single day as the Bangladesh Jewellers Association (BAJUS) revised rates twice on Saturday, setting the price of 22-carat gold at Tk 268,680 per bhori (11.664 grams).BAJUS first announced a Tk 4,374 hike in the morning and later raised the price by another Tk 3,266 at night, resulting in a cumulative increase of Tk 7,640 in a day.In a late-night statement, BAJUS said the new rates were fixed considering the rise in the price of pure gold (tejabi gold) in the local market and the overall market situation.Under the revised rates, 21-carat gold will cost Tk 256,433 per bhori, while 18-carat gold has been set at Tk 219,808 per bhori. The price of gold produced under the traditional method has been fixed at Tk 179,859 per bhori.The association said a mandatory 5 percent government VAT and a minimum 6 ...
Iran has launched missile attacks targeting United States military bases in several Middle Eastern countries in response to what it described as Israeli and American military aggression. The strikes have prompted swift and strong reactions from governments across the region.Bahrain confirmed that its territory had been targeted, describing the attack as a “clear violation” of the country’s sovereignty and security. Authorities labelled the incident a “treacherous assault”, warning that it posed a direct threat to national security and the safety of citizens and residents.The United Arab Emirates said it had been targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles, adding that its air defence systems successfully intercepted several projectiles.In a statement, the UAE Ministry of Defence reported that debris from a missile fell in a residential area of Abu Dhabi, causing some material damage. One foreign national was killed in the incident.The UAE strongly condemned the attack, stating that targeting civilian facilities, infrastructure and ...
Iranian state media reported that an Israeli strike hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab, Hormozgan province, killing at least 51 students.Iran's state news agency IRNA reported this information.The massive joint attack by the United States and Israel on Iran has escalated tensions across the Middle East, raising fears of a broader regional conflict.Iranian retaliation has targeted US assets in several Gulf Arab states, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, where American military bases are hosted.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for strikes against “all Israeli and US military targets in the Middle East,” vowing that the operation “will continue relentlessly until the enemy is decisively defeated.”At least one person was reported killed in Abu Dhabi after Iranian missiles were intercepted, while Bahrain reported a missile attack on the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.The attacks have triggered widespread disruption of civil aviation. At ...
The Bangladesh Jewellers Association (Bajus) on Saturday raised gold prices by Tk 4,374 per bhori, setting the rate of 22-carat gold at Tk 265,414.In a statement, Bajus said the new prices were fixed in view of the increase in the cost of pure gold (tejabi gold) in the local market. The revised rates have come into effect immediately.Under the new rates, a bhori (11.664 grams) of 22-carat gold will cost Tk 265,414, while 21-carat gold has been set at Tk 253,342 per bhori. The price of 18-carat gold stands at Tk 217,125 per bhori, and that of traditional-method gold at Tk 177,701.A mandatory 5 percent VAT, set by the government, and a minimum 6 percent making charge fixed by Bajus will be added to the selling price. However, making charges may vary depending on design and quality.The latest adjustment came just five days after the previous revision on February 23, ...
The country’s two main bourses closed the week on a positive note, with all major indices rising on both the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), although overall turnover declined significantly.According to the DSE weekly review, the benchmark DSEX advanced by 134 points during the week, marking a 2.5 percent gain over the previous week and a 15 percent rise compared to the same period in 2025.The DSEX, which began the week at 5,465 points, closed at 5,600 points. The Shariah-based DSES index also rose by 21 points, up nearly 2 percent week-on-week.The blue-chip DS30 index climbed 71 points, posting a gain of around 3.5 percent over the previous week and standing 17 percent higher than the corresponding period last year.Despite the upward trend in indices, average daily turnover at the DSE dropped to Tk 724 crore, down from Tk 1,050 crore in the previous week ...
As global geopolitical tensions have intensified, fuelling widespread public anxiety that a third world war could be on the horizon, analysts and policymakers offer divergent views on how close the world actually is to such a conflict and most stop short of declaring that a global war is imminent.Ukrainian President Calls Conflict ‘World War III’Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has already started World War Three,” saying Russia seeks to reshape global norms and that preventing further territorial gains is crucial to global security (The Times, 2026). His comments were made on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and he urged deeper long-term commitments from Western allies. Ukrainian officials have also raised alarms about involvement by foreign actors, including Chinese and North Korean personnel and Iran’s provision of armed drones, framing the ongoing war in Ukraine as part of a wider conflict dynamic (News.com.au, ...
Tensions across the Middle East have escalated after a series of strikes involving the United States and Israel against Iran, with explosions reported in multiple countries.According to reports, Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones towards Israel, prompting further instability across the region.In Bahrain, a missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet. The Bahrain Ministry of Interior had earlier issued an urgent alert advising residents to move to the nearest safe locations.Al Jazeera reports that explosions have also been heard in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. On Saturday (28 February), Qatar’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that its defence systems intercepted a missile believed to have originated from Iran.In Kuwait, explosions were heard and precautionary sirens were sounded, according to local reports. Meanwhile, Reuters has reported a loud explosion in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.Earlier on Saturday morning, joint operations against Iran ...
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Saturday has called for sweeping reforms in tax mobilisation, business climate, trade agreements and foreign investment governance, warning that Bangladesh’s post-election economic transition could be undermined without evidence-based decision-making and institutional accountability.CPD said, Bangladesh must urgently overhaul its revenue system, ease the cost of doing business, review recently signed trade agreements and strengthen foreign direct investment (FDI) facilitation to ensure sustainable growth and smooth graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status.Presenting the study titled “New Government’s Priorities in Addressing Socio-economic Challenges: Introducing Knowledge-based Decision Making in the Executive and Legislative Process” at its Dhanmondi office, CPD Research Director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem highlighted structural weaknesses in Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the report covering revenue mobilisation, business environment, trade policy and FDI.Tax-GDP RatioCPD said Bangladesh’s tax-to-GDP ratio has fallen to approximately 6.8 percent, the lowest in South Asia, significantly weakening fiscal ...
Israel carried out a daytime assault on Tehran on Saturday, sending smoke billowing from the city center.The initial strike targeted areas near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The United States is participating in the operation, though the exact scale of its involvement remains unclear, according to a U.S. official and a source familiar with the mission, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of military operations.It is not known whether the 86-year-old Khamenei was present at his offices during the attack.He has not been seen publicly for several days amid escalating tensions with the United States.The strikes come as Washington has deployed a large fleet of fighter jets and warships to the region to pressure Iran into a nuclear deal.Authorities had closed roads leading to Khamenei's compound in central Tehran as other blasts were reported across the city.US President Donald Trump had aimed for a ...
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has urged the government on Saturday to immediately halt new fossil fuel-based power projects, revise inflated demand projections and strengthen parliamentary oversight to steer Bangladesh’s power and energy sector toward a fiscally sustainable and climate-aligned transition.The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Saturday said Bangladesh’s power and energy sector is at risk of fiscal stress, stranded assets and stalled renewable energy transition due to overestimated demand projections, fossil fuel lock-in and weak regulatory transparency.Presenting a research paper titled “New Government’s Priorities in Addressing Socio-economic Challenges: Introducing Knowledge-based Decision Making in the Executive and Legislative Process” at CPD’s Dhanmondi office, CPD Research Director Khondaker Golam Moazzem outlined a series of structural weaknesses in the sector and recommended urgent reforms within the first 180 days of the new government.The study identified “Power and Energy: Reviving for Energy Transition” as the seventh priority sector and found that ...
Pakistan and Afghanistan are fighting yet again. On Friday morning (February 27), Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed that his country is in an ‘open war’ with its neighbour.Pakistan has reportedly claimed that 133 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed and more than 200 others were wounded in its latest military offensive. Pakistan military spokesperson, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, also told reporters in a press conference that Pakistan’s armed forces had destroyed 73 posts and had captured 18.But Kabul refutes these figures, claiming no loss of lives.According to AFP reporters on the ground, new rounds of gunfire and shelling erupted near the strategic Torkham border crossing.Amid rising tensions between the two neighbours, here’s a look at how Pakistan and Afghanistan’s militaries stack up against one another.OverviewBacked by steady recruitment and retention, Pakistan’s military is reinforced by hardware from its primary defence partner, China. Islamabad is pressing ahead with investment in ...
A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck near Khulna today (27 February), with tremors felt in different parts of the country, including Dhaka and surrounding areas.According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the quake occurred at 01:52pm (07:52:29 UTC).The epicentre was located at Assasuni Upazila of Satkhira, according to the Met Office. There were no immediate reports of casualties or significant damage. The latest tremor comes a day after a 5.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar was felt in Dhaka and several other parts of Bangladesh on Tuesday night (25 February). That quake occurred at 10:51pm, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department's earthquake monitoring centre.
Bangladesh Bank has decided to reduce liquidity support to commercial banks from May this year. From 3 May, banks facing liquidity shortages will be able to access only seven-day repo facilities from the central bank. The move is aimed at reducing the flow of liquidity into the market compared to previous levels.Currently, banks can receive liquidity support from the central bank through both seven-day and 14-day repo facilities. Earlier, 28-day repo support was also available, but that was discontinued in April last year.When commercial banks face liquidity shortages, they borrow from the central bank through a facility known as repo. Yesterday, Bangladesh Bank published the Guidelines for Open Market Operations, which state that from 3 May this year only the seven-day repo facility will remain in effect. The new guidelines also stipulate a 5% haircut on the market value of securities.When banks face short-term liquidity shortages, they borrow from the central bank ...