The information and broadcasting ministry yesterday placed the draft Press Council (Amendment) Act-2022, before the cabinet with a provision for the council to fine media outlets up to Tk 10 lakh for compromising state security, harming public harmony, and unethical journalism.

The health directorate has ordered closure of all unregistered private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres by tomorrow afternoon.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the international community to urgently deal with the disruptions in global logistics and supply chains as Ukraine war has seriously strained the already fragile pandemic-hit global economy.

Incidents of brutalities have increased alarmingly in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country in recent months with killing, sexual abuse and torture becoming rampant.

The same old pictures of thousands of people leaving the capital have returned as the country braces for another lockdown.

The government is working to take necessary measures to provide cash assistance and food, including rice, edible oil and other commodities to poor who are affected during the countrywide “strict lockdown” to be imposed from Thursday.

Compared to June 1, the number of beds occupied at hospitals in the capital more than doubled as of yesterday, showing how fast the health crisis induced by the Covid-19 is deepening across the city.

The government has rescheduled its countrywide lockdown from June 28 to July 1.

Faced with the harsh reality of vaccine nationalism, the government has planned to set up its own vaccine producing plant so that it is not dependent on other countries in future.

A government official of the food department was assaulted in Shaynalpara area in Natore’s Bagatipara upazila allegedly by the men of the local ruling party lawmaker on Thursday night.

At least 264 Bangladeshis were rescued in the Mediterranean off the Tunisian coast on Thursday when they were trying to sail across the sea to Europe, according to the Bangladesh embassy in Libya.

Bangladesh recorded 108 more deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours ending at 8:00am yesterday, which was the second highest death in a single day since the first positive cases were confirmed in the country on March 8 last year.

The prime minister has approved a proposal to scrap 10 coal-fired power plants that were okayed earlier.

A man killed in a “gunfight” between police and criminals in Rajshahi’s Godagari upazila early yesterday might have been involved in the rape and murder of a class-IV female student on Sunday, the law enforcers said.

Bangladesh will get 2.5 million doses of Moderna Covid vaccine within 10 days under the Covax facility, a global vaccine alliance.

The country will be put under a complete lockdown for seven days from Monday to stem the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Between April and October last year amid the pandemic, around 34 percent of households surveyed had a family member who became unemployed, finds a new study by New York University, Brac and UN Women Bangladesh.

Savar police disclosed the identity of a rape victim on their Facebook handle yesterday, violating the law and a court verdict.

Outbound migrant workers’ registration for Covid-19 vaccine is expected to begin sometime next week, the expatriates’ welfare ministry said yesterday.

Online shoppers can now make purchases with confidence after a commerce ministry decision yesterday that stipulated holding the payment of local e-commerce platforms until confirmation of safe delivery of items, adding a layer of consumer protection to the transaction.