Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur has firmly denied rumors about his resignation or taking leave. Speaking at an emergency press conference at Bangladesh Bank on Thursday, January 29, 2026, he stated that he neither applied for leave nor had any intention to do so. Mansur emphasized that his work schedule keeps him busy until late at night, leaving no scope for taking leave.

During the briefing, Mansur alleged that a certain group, driven by jealousy, was spreading misinformation and inciting unrest by distributing money related to Sammilita Islami Bank. He claimed that this group was deliberately running a campaign against the newly established Islamic bank. Mansur reiterated his belief in democratic practices and the right to protest but said the bank’s performance would prove its commitment to customer satisfaction.

The governor’s remarks directly addressed circulating rumors and sought to reassure the public and banking sector stakeholders about the stability of Bangladesh Bank’s leadership.

The Workers Party has announced a two-day strike protesting the lease of Chittagong port’s New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to a foreign company. The strike will halt all operations on Saturday and suspend administrative activities on Sunday. The announcement came Thursday through separate press conferences by the Workers Party and the Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP), which expressed support for the protest.

Earlier in the day, the High Court declared the process of appointing a foreign operator at the NCT terminal legal. Following the ruling, port branch leaders and activists of the Workers Party held a protest march and later a press conference in Agrabad. They warned that handing over the terminal to a foreign operator would endanger national security, cause job losses for Bangladeshi workers, and result in significant foreign currency outflow.

SKOP leaders, speaking at the Chittagong Press Club, urged the interim government to withdraw from the leasing decision and warned of tougher action, including a complete shutdown of the port, if the decision is not reversed.

Fifteen passengers were injured when a Mamun Express bus lost control and overturned on the Dhaka-Rangpur Highway at Pantapara in Gobindaganj, Gaibandha, on Thursday morning. The accident occurred near the Hamko Battery showroom at the southern bus stand area of the municipal town. Witnesses said the Kurigram-bound bus from Chattogram lost control in front of a sand mound near Uttara Flour Mills and overturned, trapping passengers inside.

Highway police and fire service personnel rushed to the scene after receiving the report and rescued the injured passengers, sending them to the Upazila Health Complex for treatment. Gobindaganj Fire Service Station Officer Masud Rana said initial observations suggest the bus may have lost control due to excessive speed or the driver falling asleep, though an investigation is underway.

Gobindaganj Highway Police Officer-in-Charge Mozzafar Hossain confirmed the incident, noting that traffic on the highway was briefly disrupted but returned to normal after the rescue operation.

Three murder suspects were mistakenly released from Mymensingh Central Jail on Tuesday, January 27, without any bail documents. The incident was not immediately reported to the district administration or police and became public only after confirmation on Thursday, January 29. Following the revelation, Deputy Jailer Zakaria Imtiaz was temporarily suspended for negligence, and a three-member committee was formed to investigate the matter.

Prisons DIG Mohammad Touhidul Islam stated that the release occurred because a production warrant was mistakenly treated as a bail order. Senior Jail Superintendent Aminul Islam described the incident as an “accidental release,” saying the responsible officer freed the inmates by mistake. The released individuals—Anis Mia, Rashedul Islam, and Jakirul Islam—were all residents of Tarati in Tarakanda and accused in a murder case.

Police officials said they were not informed in time, which hindered efforts to re-arrest the suspects. Authorities have pledged strict legal action if further involvement or intent is found during the investigation.

A Dhaka court has again postponed the submission date for the further investigation report in the murder case of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson Shahid Sharif Osman Bin Hadi. On Thursday, January 29, 2026, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Muhammad Jonaid set February 3 as the new date after the investigating officer, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Abdul Kadir Bhuiyan, failed to submit the report.

According to court sources, Hadi was shot by assailants on a motorcycle in the Box Culvert area of Paltan on December 12, 2025, while traveling to Suhrawardy Udyan after Friday prayers and election campaigning in Motijheel. He was first treated at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, then transferred to Evercare Hospital, and later sent to Singapore for advanced treatment, where he died on December 18. The case was subsequently reclassified as a murder case.

Earlier, on January 6, detectives filed charges against 17 people, including former ward councilor Taizul Islam Chowdhury Bappi and Faisal Karim Masud. Following dissatisfaction with that report, the court ordered the CID to conduct further investigation on January 15.

The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) has temporarily suspended its previously announced plan to shut down all textile mills across the country from February 1. The decision followed clear government assurances and positive progress in ongoing discussions. BTMA stated that the move was made considering national interests, the upcoming election, and the need to maintain industrial stability.

A key meeting was held on January 27 at the Ministry of Commerce, chaired by Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin, to address the ongoing crisis in the ready-made garment and textile sectors. The meeting reviewed the challenges facing the spinning sector, with the adviser acknowledging their legitimacy and promising swift, fair, and practical solutions. Senior officials from the National Board of Revenue, the Ministry of Finance, and industry associations including BGMEA and BKMEA attended the session.

BTMA expressed hope that resolving the spinning sector’s crisis would enhance export competitiveness, safeguard employment, and strengthen overall economic stability. The association said future programs would be announced after reviewing the situation.

After nearly two months of suspension, rice imports through the Sonamasjid land port in Shibganj, Chapainawabganj, have resumed. As part of trade activities with India, a total of 1,188 metric tons of non-basmati parboiled rice entered Bangladesh by Thursday afternoon. The information was confirmed by Kamal Khan, Operations Manager of Panama Sonamasjid Port Link Limited, who detailed the import schedule between January 24 and 28.

According to customs officials, the average cost per kilogram of the imported rice ranged between Tk 50 and Tk 70, depending on the type. Samir Chandra Ghosh, Deputy Director of the Sonamasjid Plant Quarantine Center, said the last rice consignment through this port arrived on December 3 of the previous year, totaling 563.7 metric tons. Import operations had remained halted since then.

The resumption marks a continuation of bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India through one of the country’s key land ports, potentially stabilizing local rice supply after the import gap.

The interim government of Bangladesh has issued the 'Microfinance Bank Ordinance, 2026' to strengthen microcredit operations, create employment, reduce poverty, and ensure ownership for small borrowers. According to the ordinance, published in a gazette by the Legislative Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, microfinance borrowers will now become shareholders, holding at least 60 percent ownership in the new bank. The bank will be established with an authorized capital of Tk 500 crore and a minimum paid-up capital of Tk 200 crore, under a license from Bangladesh Bank.

The ordinance defines the Microfinance Bank as a social business institution, requiring profits to be reinvested in social and poverty alleviation sectors rather than distributed as dividends. The nine-member board will include four borrower-elected directors, three nominated directors, two independent directors, and a managing director without voting rights. The bank will provide loans for self-employment, accept deposits, and offer technical and administrative support to small entrepreneurs.

Bangladesh Bank will act as the licensing authority and may dissolve the board or remove directors if necessary. The government will announce the effective date of the ordinance through a separate notification.

The prosecution has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division chamber court seeking the highest punishment for five convicts who received lesser sentences in the Chankharpul killings case linked to the July uprising. The International Crimes Tribunal had earlier sentenced former DMP Commissioner Habibur Rahman and two others to death, while five others, including Constable Sujon Hossain, received prison terms ranging from three to six years. The court has scheduled a hearing on the appeal for next Sunday.

Prosecutor Gazi M H Tamim confirmed the appeal on Thursday, stating that the prosecution challenged the tribunal’s observations that led to reduced sentences. He said the petition requests that the convicts with lighter sentences remain in custody until the appeal is resolved. The case is recognized as the tribunal’s second verdict concerning crimes against humanity committed in Chankharpul.

The tribunal had earlier sentenced former Assistant Commissioner Md Imrul (absconding) to six years, Inspector Arshad Hossain to four years, and Constable Sujon Hossain, Imam Hossain Iman, and Md Nasirul Islam to three years each.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has extended the deadline for individual taxpayers to file their income tax returns for the 2025–26 fiscal year by one month. According to a special order issued on Thursday, taxpayers can now submit their returns online without any penalty until February 28. This marks the third time the NBR has extended the filing period for the current tax year.

The NBR has also made online submission of tax returns mandatory for individual taxpayers, except for five specific categories. The extension aims to provide additional time for taxpayers to complete their online filings under the new mandatory system.

The decision reflects the NBR’s ongoing efforts to facilitate compliance and streamline the digital tax filing process for individuals across the country.

A specialized team of RAB-10 CPB-3 recovered a large cache of weapons and ammunition that had been looted from Faridpur’s Kotwali Police Station. According to a RAB statement issued at 11 a.m. on Thursday, the recovery took place around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday night near the BADC office in Faridpur town. The items were found abandoned in bushes beside an electric pole along the road toward Char Kamalapur, south of the BADC office wall.

The recovered materials include three unexploded grenades with steel handles, 41 shotgun cartridges, 30 fresh gas gun cartridges, and several cartridge-like objects. RAB suspects that these items are part of the weapons and ammunition previously stolen from the Kotwali Police Station in Faridpur.

The discovery marks a significant step in recovering stolen police armaments, though further investigation is likely to determine how the items ended up abandoned at the site.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 has issued arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former Additional IGP Monirul Islam, and three others in a case related to the killing of nine youths in Mirpur’s Jahazbari area in 2016. The tribunal, chaired by Golam Mortuza Majumdar with two other judges, passed the order on Thursday after taking formal charges into cognizance.

A total of eight individuals have been accused in the case. Former IGP A.K.M. Shahidul Haque and former DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia are already in custody in other cases, and production warrants have been issued for them. Prosecutor Gazi M.H. Tamim submitted the formal charges and sought arrest warrants, which the court granted. The next hearing has been scheduled for February 8.

The case stems from a July 25, 2016 police operation at a building known as Jahazbari in Mirpur’s Kalyanpur area, where nine young men were shot dead during what was described as a counterterrorism raid named “Operation Storm-26.”

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 has ordered publication of a newspaper notice to summon former mayor Fazle Noor Taposh, former textiles and jute minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak, and 22 others in connection with the killing of nine people during the July Revolution in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area. The order was issued on Thursday by a three-member judicial panel led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumdar, with Justices Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud and retired district judge Md Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury as members.

Earlier, on January 18, the tribunal had issued arrest warrants against the accused and set January 29 for the next hearing. The case involves 28 leaders and activists from the banned Awami League, Jubo League, and Chhatra League, including former senior police officials such as the then DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former additional DIG Proloy Kumar Jowardar, and former joint police commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarkar.

Four accused are currently in custody: Mohammadpur Chhatra League president Naeemul Hasan Russell, vice president Sajjad Hossain, Omar Faruk, and Fazle Rabbi, who were produced before the tribunal from jail in the morning.

China has executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family, who operated a large-scale fraud and gambling network in Myanmar. The executions followed a September verdict by a court in Zhejiang Province, which sentenced the group for crimes including murder, illegal detention, fraud, and running gambling dens. The family had managed a scam center in Laukkai, near the China-Myanmar border, and was extradited to China after being arrested by Myanmar authorities under Beijing’s pressure.

According to the court, the Ming family’s criminal operations between 2015 and 2023 generated over 10 billion yuan (about 1.4 billion dollars) and led to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens, with many others injured. In total, 39 family members were convicted, with 11 receiving death sentences, 11 life imprisonment, and the rest prison terms ranging from 5 to 24 years.

The case highlights China’s ongoing crackdown on cross-border fraud networks that have trapped thousands of Chinese workers in Myanmar’s border regions.

At least five people have been killed as powerful storm Christine swept through central and northern Portugal, causing widespread flooding, landslides, and severe damage. The storm, which struck on Wednesday, left more than 850,000 people without electricity and forced the closure of schools and colleges. Civil Protection authorities reported wind speeds reaching up to 150 kilometers per hour and more than 3,000 incidents across the country.

According to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC), the Leiria district was the hardest hit, where three deaths occurred. One person was struck by a metal sheet, another was trapped under a collapsed house structure, and a third died when a tree fell on a car in Vila Franca de Xira. Another fatality was reported in Marinha Grande. The storm also severely disrupted transportation, blocking major highways and rail lines between Lisbon and northern regions.

The event follows a series of storms that have battered Portugal in recent days, including one over the weekend that caused flooding and claimed another life.