Bangladesh is not unfamiliar with the image of women in power. In fact, two women have governed this country for nearly the entirety of its democratic era.

The road to Bangladesh’s next general election, due on February 12, could decide far more than who governs next. It could determine whether the country restores its democratic soul or slips further into polarisation.

There is a widespread fear across US campuses, businesses, and industries that the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its rapid integration into all spheres of our lives will lead to job losses and a lifestyle where robots control our daily routines.

As the country moves towards what could be the most consequential election in decades, Dr Md Abdul Alim, election specialist and former member of the Electoral Reform Commission, spoke with Monorom Polok of The Daily Star about the Election Commission’s readiness, the referendum process, and overall preparation for the poll.

Bangladesh’s export economy now moves faster than its railways can carry it. Factories, ports and private logistics firms have modernised to meet global demand.

US presidents are not known for telling the truth. From Thomas Jefferson’s denial of a relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemings onwards, there has been no shortage of political distortions emanating from the Oval Office.

Bangladesh’s poverty rate declined from approximately half of the population in the 1990s to one-fifth by 2019.

Students need to read the public pulse.

In the 18th century, the “enclosure movement” swept across Europe. Powerful landlords fenced off common lands, pastures and forests that communities had used collectively for generations.

Somewhere between the headline and the comment section, Bangladeshi women were recently told a right had been snatched away.

The world today has changed the fundamental premises and contours of global politics from what was established and has guided international relations since the end of World War II.

Grievance is often spoken of as excess these days—too emotional, too resistant to pragmatism. In political life, it is frequently treated as something to be managed or simply waited out.

A total of 3,407 aspirants collected nomination papers after the schedule for the 13th national election and the July Charter referendum was announced.

The world has felt the tremor. In a move ripped from a darker, forgotten chapter of history, the United States under President Donald Trump invaded Venezuela, abducting its leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

While 2025 was a year marked by despair over the paralysis of Bangladesh’s right to information (RTI) regime, the beginning of 2026 has brought a welcome note of resistance and resolve.

It has been 17 months since the interim government assumed office.

Bangladesh’s constitution promises equal legal protection for all, yet millions of citizens, especially in the rural areas, are left out of the justice process due to distance, delay, and exploitation.

Human life is not a calm, still lake; rather, it is a vast and often storm-tossed sea. In this sea, favourable winds sometimes blow, while at other times sudden cyclones disrupt everything and throw life off course.

As the World Bank’s sector director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM), I worked very closely on the reform programme in Bangladesh led by former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia in 2001-06.

People are increasingly weary and frustrated with the pace of improvement in law and order. This is reasonable given the little visible remission in nationwide crime, with gun shootings, knife killings, beatings with sticks and rods, street clashes, and mob attacks continuing to punctuate public life.