HealthCholera deaths rose 30% in 2025, the most reported to WHO since 1999
Forty-seven countries reported 451,499 cases and 7,870 deaths; seven, including Bangladesh, account for about 90 per cent, WHO says.
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HealthEvery upazila health complex to grow to 151 beds, with dialysis in district hospitals
Health minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain says every upazila health complex is to be expanded from 50 to 151 beds, with 10 dialysis machines in each district hospital and 50 in each medical college hospital.
EnvironmentTwelve-foot python caught in fishing net in Tetulia, sent to Singra National Park
A python about 12 feet long and weighing 10 to 12 kg came up in fishermen's net on the Mahananda river in Tetulia, Panchagarh, near the Indian border; the forest department rescued it and sent it to Singra National Park in Dinajpur.
Health
Babies of anaemic mothers have 4 percent smaller brains on average, study finds
Researchers from King's College London and the University of Cape Town, studying 394 mother-child pairs, found that babies of mothers anaemic in pregnancy had total brain volumes about 4 percent smaller on average, a difference also picked up by portable low-cost MRI scanners.
AgrotechDanone and Michelin open a shared precision fermentation plant in France
France's Biotech Open Platform, founded by Danone, Michelin and partners with over EUR 20 million, has opened a 15-cubic-metre fermentation facility to help start-ups scale food and material ingredients from lab to industry.
Health
Shrinking thyroid nodules without surgery is now possible in Bangladesh
Benign thyroid nodules that cause symptoms can be shrunk without a neck incision by radiofrequency or microwave ablation, now offered at some centres in Dhaka and Chattogram, endocrinologist Dr Muhammad Abu Bakar writes in Prothom Alo.
CropsBYDV-tolerant barley cuts risk but is no full answer, Irish trials show
Teagasc trials over four years found tolerant winter barley varieties showed fewer virus symptoms and held yield without insecticide in a high-pressure year, but were not immune.
LivestockNew MLA guide shows cattle producers how to prepare animals for the feedlot
Written by feedlot vet Dr Kev Sullivan, the guide brings together research on reducing stress and disease in newly arrived cattle, from weaning and yard education to time off feed in transport.
HealthAbout 240,000 plastic particles in a litre of bottled water, mostly nanoplastics
Columbia University scientists using a special laser technique found an average of about 240,000 plastic particles per litre of bottled water, most of them nanoplastics, against earlier estimates of around 5,000, Indian Express Bangla reports.
AgribusinessAustralian farmers ask carbon policy review to protect food-producing land
The National Farmers' Federation told the Safeguard Mechanism review that carbon offsets can take farmland out of production and that lower thresholds could pull grain and fertiliser sites into the scheme.
LivestockAustralian beef should go premium, not fight Brazil on price, BeefEx panel says
Industry leaders at BeefEx said more grainfed beef and growing feedlot capacity are Australia's answer to cheap South American beef, with Southeast Asia and the Middle East the markets to win.
WorldEl Nino droughts and floods put 25.8 million Latin American children at risk: Unicef
Unicef says 25.8 million children in Latin America, one in seven, face growing risks from droughts and floods brought by a record El Nino, with harvest losses raising malnutrition risk in Central America.
LivestockFirst stretch of Queensland's A$500m Beef Roads upgrade is sealed
A 3km section of the Clermont-to-Alpha Road is complete, the first early works under a programme to seal nine cattle freight corridors in Central and Western Queensland.
BangladeshActive Tista Floodplain (AEZ-2): Farming Where the Teesta Gives and Takes Land
Bangladesh's second agro-ecological zone is a narrow, restless belt along the Teesta, Dharla and Dudhkumar rivers. Here the river builds new land and takes old land away, and farmers grow maize, potatoes, chillies and carrots on chars that may vanish in the next flood. Understanding it takes village-level records, and satellite images and machine learning can help only when they are checked in farmers' fields.
FisheriesWhy aquarium fish die suddenly, and how to keep them alive
Poor water quality, overfeeding, low oxygen, sudden temperature changes, overcrowding and disease brought in by new fish can kill aquarium fish; regular partial water changes and measured feeding are the main remedies.
AgrotechNative soil bacteria could help Brazil double farm output without clearing forest
A University of Sao Paulo geneticist says biological pest and disease control, such as the bacteria strains his university's company Genica develops, could double output on existing land.
EnvironmentTeesta master plan: Tk 23 crore study proposed for 224 km embankment, dredging
The water resources ministry has sent a proposal for a feasibility study of about Tk 23 crore on the Teesta master plan to the Planning Commission; the plan covers bank protection, dredging, embankments and reclaiming 170 sq km of land.
FlowersRelentless rain ruins Howrah's flower fields, but lotus thrives
Weeks of rain have destroyed marigolds, roses, tuberoses and other flowers in the flower-growing villages of Bagnan and Uluberia in Howrah, West Bengal, while lotus grown in canals and fallow land has done well.
Livestock
A small chicken farm at home: housing, litter and choosing breeds
Families can raise chickens on little space, labour and money to meet their needs for eggs and meat and earn extra income; guidance on house size, floor litter and sourcing birds for a small farm.
Environment
Sirajganj tree planting: Tk 400 a sapling on paper, and many dead within a month
Many saplings planted under Sirajganj's government tree-planting drive have died within six weeks for lack of care, while one Ullapara union shows a cost of about Tk 399 per tree against a market price of Tk 50 to 60.