Good evening. Here are some historical dramas you can watch tonight. If you're more of a present day type of person, we recommend our Star Crime Files' latest episode on victims of enforced disappearances. And here's other news of what's happening around, to catch up on before bed-time.

1. World Population

As of today, there are 8 billion human beings living on the planet, according to the United Nations in their latest report. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres termed this as a "milestone," and "an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements." The population increased by 1 billion people in the last 12 years. Middle-income countries in mainly Asia accounted for that growth; India alone added about 180 million people and is set to surpass China by 2030. According to Aminul Haque, professor of Dhaka University's population sciences, the report represents 3 key messages for Bangladesh's future: increasing ageing population; still a huge young population, giving us the opportunity to increase human resources, and the need to reduce maternal mortality and child marriage. 

2.  BNP

BNP leaders today urged Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to ensure that ruling Awami League leaders and activists don't incite chaos and violence during the party's divisional rally in Dhaka on December 10. BNP rallies across the nation have been marred with transport strikes and rife with clashes with the ruling party and police. The venue for the Dhaka rally is still undecided. Meanwhile, BNP activists are preparing for their Sylhet rally — campaigning hard to amass a crowd of over "four lakh people" — set to be held on November 19.

3. RMG workers

About 1,000 garment workers of a garment factory owned by Momo Fashion Limited in Dhamrai protested its sudden shutdown, which would deprive them of wages. Yesterday, the RMG workers organised a strike pressing that their employers uphold labour laws. To calm them down, the factory owners had said they'd respect the workers' demands. But they didn't. Today when the RMG workers arrived to work, they were welcomed with a notice: the factory would be closed indefinitely, under section 13/1 (labour law). The reasons behind the closure are yet to be determined. 

4. G20

The annual G20 began today in the shadow of war and looming global economic recession. In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged countries to work together and end Russia's "destructive war" to "save thousands of lives." He also implored introducing price restrictions on Russian energy resources, and expanding a grain export initiative. The United States and its allies backed a resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. China's leader, Xi Jinping, did not directly mention the war in his remarks but said, "All countries should replace division with unity." Sharp disagreement emerged from Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov — in place of Putin — who dismissed the talks of war, as unwarranted politicisation of Russia's "special military operation."

5. Saturday Afternoon

130 cultural activists and artistes have given a statement expressing their concerns regarding the censor board halting the release of Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's film, "Saturday Afternoon," — a one-shot political thriller inspired by the July 2016 terror attack in Holey Artisan. The Film Censor Board of Bangladesh's reasoning was that the film would hurt "the image of the country." The joint statement released today, condemning the censorship, termed the situation, as "an indication of the regressive approach taken by the state and the narrow minded approach from all concerned authorities." The film, which won two independent jury awards at the Moscow International Film Festival in 2019, stars Zahid Hasan, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Iresh Zaker, Mamunur Rashid, among others. Farooki previously issued a letter to the board and said, "Freedom of expression is fundamental and non-negotiable."