Asia

Sirens cut through the night like a scream that has forgotten how to end. Children cry in basements and stairwells; mothers clutch trembling hands; fathers scan the sky as if their eyes alone could shield their homes from fire. Across…

by Asif Showkat Kollol (Dhaka Bureau) Bangladesh’s banking sector recorded a significant drop in defaulted loans in the final quarter of 2025, offering a measure of relief after months of steep deterioration. Yet economists and banking experts caution that much of…

As we celebrate International Women’s Month, toxics watchdog BAN Toxics has issued a consumer alert on the illegal sale of prohibited beauty products containing mercury—a highly toxic heavy metal that poses serious risks to the nervous, digestive, and immune systems.…

Iran and the UAE have polar opposite security interests vis-à-vis the US, while India took the UAE’s side over Iran’s arguably due to its nearly 100x greater trade with the Emirates than with the Islamic Republic, all of which proves…

When a major power normalizes the use of force during ongoing negotiations, it erodes trust — not only between the parties involved, but within the global system as a whole. BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) — At a moment when diplomacy…

The Landscape of the 13th Parliament and Barriers to Equality by Rita Bhowmick (Dhaka Bureau) In the political history of Bangladesh, women played a pioneering role in the ’24 Mass Uprising. From the streets of the capital to the courageous…

by Asif Showkat Kallol (Dhaka Bureau) Bangladesh has urged a diplomatic resolution to the escalating conflict involving Iran and the wider Middle East, stressing dialogue over confrontation as regional tensions intensify. After a high-level meeting at the Secretariat, Adviser Humayun…

Group urges the Government of Pakistan to crack down harder on violators of the global ban on the manufacture, import, and export of mercury-added cosmetics 1 March 2026, Quezon City.  Ahead of the International Women’s Day on March 8 and…

The goal is to obtain proxy control over Iran’s enormous oil and gas reserves so that they can be weaponized as leverage against China for coercing it into a lopsided trade deal that would derail its superpower rise and therefore…

China has expressed strong concern over military strikes against Iran launched by the United States and Israel, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, calling for an immediate halt to all military actions. On Sunday, China’s Foreign Minister…