5 News

5 things to know this Nov 20: World Cup, Energy crisis and more

Good afternoon. As you excitedly wait for the curtain to be lifted on the FIFA World Cup today at 10pm (Bangladesh time), here's a number of places where you can watch the matches together on giant screens. A quick heads up for those on the road tomorrow: the traffic movement will remain restricted in Dhaka's Cantonment area. And here's everything else you need to know to keep yourself caught up.

World Cup fever

It's time for that World Cup craze, where streets (and Facebook feeds) are painted with the passionate rivalry between Argentina and Brazil fans in Bangladesh. A rickshaw puller in a small northern village, borrowed Tk 20k to paint his small-tin house in Argentinian flag colors. Star players — Messi and Ronaldo's photoshoot has broken the internet. Some other big-names in the football world are missing out on their biggest event due to injuries: Benzema, star player of the defending champion France's team, is now ruled out.

Russian Foreign Minister's Dhaka trip canceled

After his trip to the G20 meeting in Indonesia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to visit Dhaka on November 23, for the Indian Ocean Rim Association's meeting. Today, his meeting was canceled, though the reason is still unknown. The visit would've been the first by any Russian foreign minister, and was considered significant given the mounting Western pressure on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. "Russia has become somewhat isolated in the global stage and Lavrov's visit here could have been to find new friends," said Prof Syeda Rozana Rashid, International Relations Department of Dhaka University. Read more for updates.

Death-row convicts escape prison 

Two Ansar Al-Islam men in death row, for killing the secular publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan, have fled from the prison cell of a Dhaka court. In October 2015, Dipan was hacked to death by militants in a series of attacks on secular writers and publishers after Avijit Roy's brutal murder. The Ansarullah Bangladesh Team was outlawed in 2017 after the killings shook the world. On February 10 last year, a Dhaka tribunal sentenced eight members, including the two who fled today, of the banned militant group to death for killing Dipan. Since December last year though, counter-terrorism agencies have warned about the possible resurgence of Ansar al-Islam Bangladesh, and the police estimated that around 40 militants affiliated with AIB were arrested in 2021 alone.

Trump's twitter ban lifted

Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, has restored former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, after running a poll on the platform where users narrowly (51.8 percent) backed his return. But whether Trump — who is running for the presidency again — will return is not clear yet. Trump's Twitter account was suspended in 2021, days after his supporters stormed the US Capitol. His Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts were also suspended. Then Trump launched Truth Social, in which he has a financial stake. According to a SEC filing, Trump is obligated to post exclusively on Truth Social, six hours before posting to any other social platform, unless the messaging pertains to politics. During Musk's takeover, Trump had said, "I like Elon, but I'm staying on Truth."

Energy Crisis

The PM has said that people will not have to suffer from electricity and fuel from next month. The PM also said today that fuel import from India through the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline project will likely begin next year. But can Bangladesh truly find a way out of this energy crisis? Here's what experts are saying:

Comments

5 things to know this Nov 20: World Cup, Energy crisis and more

Good afternoon. As you excitedly wait for the curtain to be lifted on the FIFA World Cup today at 10pm (Bangladesh time), here's a number of places where you can watch the matches together on giant screens. A quick heads up for those on the road tomorrow: the traffic movement will remain restricted in Dhaka's Cantonment area. And here's everything else you need to know to keep yourself caught up.

World Cup fever

It's time for that World Cup craze, where streets (and Facebook feeds) are painted with the passionate rivalry between Argentina and Brazil fans in Bangladesh. A rickshaw puller in a small northern village, borrowed Tk 20k to paint his small-tin house in Argentinian flag colors. Star players — Messi and Ronaldo's photoshoot has broken the internet. Some other big-names in the football world are missing out on their biggest event due to injuries: Benzema, star player of the defending champion France's team, is now ruled out.

Russian Foreign Minister's Dhaka trip canceled

After his trip to the G20 meeting in Indonesia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was scheduled to visit Dhaka on November 23, for the Indian Ocean Rim Association's meeting. Today, his meeting was canceled, though the reason is still unknown. The visit would've been the first by any Russian foreign minister, and was considered significant given the mounting Western pressure on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. "Russia has become somewhat isolated in the global stage and Lavrov's visit here could have been to find new friends," said Prof Syeda Rozana Rashid, International Relations Department of Dhaka University. Read more for updates.

Death-row convicts escape prison 

Two Ansar Al-Islam men in death row, for killing the secular publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan, have fled from the prison cell of a Dhaka court. In October 2015, Dipan was hacked to death by militants in a series of attacks on secular writers and publishers after Avijit Roy's brutal murder. The Ansarullah Bangladesh Team was outlawed in 2017 after the killings shook the world. On February 10 last year, a Dhaka tribunal sentenced eight members, including the two who fled today, of the banned militant group to death for killing Dipan. Since December last year though, counter-terrorism agencies have warned about the possible resurgence of Ansar al-Islam Bangladesh, and the police estimated that around 40 militants affiliated with AIB were arrested in 2021 alone.

Trump's twitter ban lifted

Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, has restored former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, after running a poll on the platform where users narrowly (51.8 percent) backed his return. But whether Trump — who is running for the presidency again — will return is not clear yet. Trump's Twitter account was suspended in 2021, days after his supporters stormed the US Capitol. His Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts were also suspended. Then Trump launched Truth Social, in which he has a financial stake. According to a SEC filing, Trump is obligated to post exclusively on Truth Social, six hours before posting to any other social platform, unless the messaging pertains to politics. During Musk's takeover, Trump had said, "I like Elon, but I'm staying on Truth."

Energy Crisis

The PM has said that people will not have to suffer from electricity and fuel from next month. The PM also said today that fuel import from India through the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline project will likely begin next year. But can Bangladesh truly find a way out of this energy crisis? Here's what experts are saying:

Comments

আমরা রাজনৈতিক দল, ভোটের কথাই তো বলব: তারেক রহমান

তিনি বলেন, কিছু লোক তাদের স্বার্থ হাসিলের জন্য আমাদের সব কষ্টে পানি ঢেলে দিচ্ছে।

৭ ঘণ্টা আগে