From late Thursday night through the early hours of Friday, December 19, my colleagues at The Daily Star were trapped on the roof of their burning workplace, unsure if they would survive.

The image of a burnt copy of The Daily Star, dated Victory Day, is difficult to shake off. It stays with you long after you scroll past it on your social media newsfeed—not because it is dramatic, but because of what it reveals.

In July 2024, we, the Gen-Z, stepped into the streets, frightened yet resolute, wounded yet unwilling to break, because we believed Bangladesh could be rewired around dignity.

For Bangladesh, 2026 will be a complicated concoction of post-LDC graduation.

During the last election cycle, the country witnessed a relatively small but calculated deployment of deepfakes.

Bangladesh's gig economy, such as ride-sharing, food delivery, courier services, has mushroomed in the last decade.

In the bargain for a new future, I did not consent to the erasure of the history that made this republic possible.

The surest sign of a liberal democracy is not a flag, nor a constitution framed behind glass. It is the quiet competence of institutions—and the political culture that keeps them honest. One shapes the other the way a river shapes its banks, and the banks, in turn, discipline the river.

Regarding the Phulbari Open-Pit Coal Mining Project, the chief adviser's press secretary recently made a Facebook post suggesting that Bangladesh is facing a severe power crisis because coal at Phulbari was not extracted.

More than 1.3 crore Bangladeshi workers support economies across the Gulf, Southeast Asia, and beyond.

The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) produced a lacklustre outcome by any measure, as reflected in many post-COP analyses. This remains significant because COP outcomes continue to shape the direction, pace, and credibility of global climate diplomacy, even when they fall short.

The limited success of technical transport plans in Dhaka is a predictable outcome of deep-seated political-economic dynamics.

The strongest national interest lies elsewhere: expanding employment and training opportunities for Bangladeshi cadets and officers.

"Data is the new oil," a truth the world has embraced, but Bangladesh is still learning to harness its potential. From banks predicting loan defaults to democratising access to healthcare through telemedicine and health apps, the scope of data science across socio-economic and public sectors is vast.

Unplanned urbanisation, violations of the National Building Code and the Detailed Area Plan (DAP), and rampant filling of wetlands with sand for housing projects have made Dhaka the riskiest city in the country.

When I first heard about the desecration of Roquiah Sakhawat Hossain, popularly known as Begum Rokeya, at Dhaka University in the aftermath of the July uprising,

The razakar, Al-Badr, Al Shams and similar groups, who collaborated with the Pakistani army, will always be remembered for their sinister role during 1971.

The trauma of surviving a genocide is passed down through generations.

The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War was not merely a military conflict; it was a civilisational rupture that tore through the social fabric of an entire nation, leaving scars that have never properly healed.

The erosion of democracy became most pronounced between 2014 and 2024.