Last week, the commerce ministry sent a letter of consent to the foreign ministry, requesting Bangladesh's entry into the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). It is the first formal step Bangladesh has taken to join the RCEP, as the move is expected to unlock numerous trade and investment benefits for the country. RCEP is the first agreement of its kind involving some of the most substantial Asian economies. Members under the agreement will progressively lower tariff and nontariff barriers to allow freer movement of goods and boost investment within their territories.

Today is October 24, the day the United Nations (UN) came into being in 1945. From the ashes of World War II, the UN was established to rebuild anew the war-ravaged world and to ensure for humankind the freedom from fear and the freedom from want. For more than eighty years, this global organisation has been working for world peace and global development. Yet, whenever the issue of the UN is raised, everyone talks of its failures, which definitely overshadows its successes.

গত বছরের ৭ অক্টোবর ২০২৩-এ হামাস ইসরাইল ভূখণ্ডে অতর্কিত হামলা চালানোর পর ইসরাইল কর্তৃক নজিরবিহীনভাবে গাজা উপত্যকায় যুদ্ধাপরাধ ও গণহত্যা চালানোর ১ বছর হয়ে গেছে। কিন্ত জাতিসংঘের মহাসচিব আন্তোনিও গুতেরেস যেমন বলেছেন, হামলাটি কোনো অকারণ ঘটনা নয়। সেভাবে দেখলে এটাই প্রতীয়মান হয় যে, যুগ যুগ ধরে ইসরাইল কর্তৃক অন্যায়ভাবে জোরপূর্বক চাপিয়ে দেওয়া দখলদারিত্বমূলক আচরণ এবং প্রচ- নিপীড়নের এক কড়া জবাব এই হামলা।

Africa has opened the eyes of the rest of the world. Ongoing violence, climate change, desertification, and tension over natural resources are all worsening hunger and poverty across Chad—and also across Africa.

A year has passed since the war of genocide in Gaza was unleashed by Israel. It has taken a toll of 42,350 lives to date, more than 50 per cent of which are those of women and children. According to UNICEF, the number of children dead in Gaza exceed that in any armed conflict in recorded history. Out of 32 hospitals in Gaza not a single exists with their former facilities for treatment of critically ill patients and the growing number of injured. Hundreds of doctors, nurses and medical assistants have either been killed in indiscriminate bombardments or taken as detainees by Israeli army. 70 per cent of buildings and infrastructures have been totally destroyed by bombs and artillery shells leaving the rest in conditions not fit for habitation. Industries, farmlands and shops selling sundry items, including bread and medicines, have been razed to the ground, stopping production of food and other items of daily necessities. Water supply through pipes, electricity generated in power plants and sewerage systems disposing of effluents have been bombed out of existence. Roads and parks in every towns and highways connecting them have deliberately been bulldozed rendering unfit for vehicular traffic.

শুধু একটি ছোটগল্প এবং এ একই গল্পের ভাবকাঠামোর পরিশীলিত উপন্যাসেরুপর একজন লেখকের ভাগ্যকে কতটা সুপ্রসন্ন করতে পারে, তার এক বিরল দৃষ্টান্ত দক্ষিণ কোরিয়ার কবি ও কথাশিল্পী সিউল ইনস্টিটিউট অব আর্টসের ক্রিয়েটিভ রাইটিং বিভাগের সাবেক প্রফেসর হ্যান কাং। তার সে ছোট গল্পটির নাম ‘দ্য ফরুটু অব মাই ওম্যান’ আর পূর্ণাঙ্গ উপন্যাসটি হলো ‘দ্য ভেজিটেরিয়ান’।

২২ থেকে ২৪ অক্টোবর রাশিয়ার কাজানে শুরু হতে যাচ্ছে ১৬তম ব্রিকস শীর্ষ সম্মেলন। এবারের সম্মেলনের বিশেষ গুরুত্ব রয়েছে। প্রতিষ্ঠার পর থেকে এই জোটটি পাশ্চাত্যের আধিপত্যবাদ মোকাবেলায় নানাভাবে চেষ্টা করে চলেছে। অর্থনৈতিকভাবে সদস্য দেশগুলোর মধ্যকার সুসম্পর্ক জোরদার হচ্ছে।

There is much to learn from both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, two South Asian countries, as they navigate their shifting landscapes. While political changes swept through Bangladesh a few months ago, Sri Lanka experienced a political earthquake in 2022. Both countries grapple with an economic crisis, governance challenges, and social unrest. These comparative experiences hold a number of valuable lessons about resilience, managing crises, rebuilding stability, and recovering lost public trust.

Bangladesh, as a developing country with a strategic location in South Asia, faces numerous challenges in crafting and maintaining a balanced and consistent strategic and defensive policy, especially in the context of frequent political regime changes or for being ruled by an autocrat over a longer period of time. Therefore, to establish and maintain a robust balance of power, Bangladesh must develop a policy framework that ensures its national security and foreign policy objectives remain stable and are not subject to drastic shifts with leadership changes. Here’s how the country can achieve such a balance, along with the democratic practices needed to uphold this continuity:

The back-to-back summits of two key regional groupings, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asian countries, held in Vientiane last week have failed to raise any hope for resolving the seemingly intractable problem in Myanmar, a country where the raging war between its military junta and rebel groups continues, leaving democracy in limbo.