Chief Adviser’s Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi has said that, as part of a ‘comprehensive refresh’ of the Bangladesh-UAE bilateral relationship, covering trade, investment and people, the two governments will continue to build goodwill and trust to make progress on the visa issue. “I had a long, open and frank discussion with Major General Suhail Saeed Al Khaili, ...

A London Council has warned it is having to spend an extra £8.5 million to plug the gap created by the Government’s “cruel” cuts to disability benefits. A new analysis by Tower Hamlets Council has found that 16,388 households in the borough will be directly affected by changes to Personal Independent Payments (PIP) and Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA). ...

Israel has attacked the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and interrupted a live broadcast with an explosion, marking another escalation in the conflict with Tehran and replicating its previous attacks on news media targets in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon. TV anchor Sahar Emami denounced Monday’s “aggression against the homeland” and the “truth” as a blast went off and ...

Power connections to 25 stone crushers in Dhopagul area of Sadar upazila in Sylhet district have been severed. A taskforce committee conducted the drive on Monday, two days after the incident of blocking the motorcade of two government advisers in protest against the decision to permanently ban stone extraction leases in Sylhet’s Jaflong area. The taskforce committee, comprising police, Rab ...

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched a formal investigation into allegations of embezzlement and money laundering involving nearly Tk 2,000 crore against Bangladesh’s former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Saida Muna Tasneem, and her husband, Generation Next Fashions Ltd Chairman Towhidul Islam Chowdhury. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, ACC Chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen confirmed the initiation of ...

A bus driver and his assistant raped a college student inside a bus belonging to ‘Maa Enterprise’ in Habiganj’s Nabiganj upazila on Sunday night. Police and Bangladesh Army personnel, however, managed to detained bus driver Md Sabbir Miah from the spot. But the helper of the bus, Liton Miah, fled the scene. Confirming the incident, Nabiganj Police Station OC Sheikh ...

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has ordered the publication of newspaper notices summoning ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to aapear before the court within one week to face charges of crimes against humanity. The directive was issued on Monday by a three-member bench of the tribunal headed by Justice Golam Mortoza Mojumder. The court ...

Sir Keir Starmer has hit back at potential rebels in the Labour Party over his plans to cut the benefits bill, insisting “we have got to get the reforms through.” MPs will vote in the coming weeks on a package of measures aiming to cut the benefits bill by £5bn by 2030 – including making it harder for disabled people ...

MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time in the foreign intelligence service’s 116-year history. Blaise Metreweli, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, will become the 18th chief of the organisation and take over from Sir Richard Moore later this year. She is currently responsible for technology and innovation at the service and said she ...

A project to build the UK’s largest road tunnel has been granted £590m by the government. Constructing the Lower Thames Crossing, linking Tilbury in Essex and Gravesend in Kent, will cost an estimated £10bn. Plans for the 14.5-mile (23km) route were approved in March after a 16-year process that has already cost £1.2bn. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the crossing would ...