The Association of Universities of Bangladesh (AUB) announced that residential hall dormitories will reopen on May 17 and classes will resume on May 23, in line with the government's previous decision. AUB President and Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Md Rafiqul Alam chaired a meeting this week where the decision was made.

"Since the government hasn't announced any change in its previous decision, we're preparing to open the halls and campuses in due time," he said. Education Minister Dipu Moni had earlier said that teachers, residential teachers, students and officials would be vaccinated before the dormitories of the public universities were reopened. The VCs also discussed holding a uniform admission test for all universities. However, the AUB president said that admission tests would be delayed because of the need to prepare question papers and print them.

Some 160 Bangladeshi migrant workers, including a woman, returned home from war-torn Libya under a repatriation programme arranged by the Bangladesh mission to the country in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration. The IOM says at least 2,942 Bangladeshi migrants have returned home from the North African country under its Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programme since 2015.

The migrant workers had been stranded due to the pandemic and also the protracted political situation in Libya. They were repatriated from Benghazi. In a statement, IOM Bangladesh said prior to their departure, the returnees underwent health checks, were offered pre-departure transportation assistance, counselling services and screened for underlying protection vulnerabilities. Upon return, the migrants each received cash for transportation from IOM. They will receive reintegration grants from the organisation in future, the statement adds. Reintegration support is particularly important for migrants who, in some cases, have experienced physical and psychological trauma while being stranded in Libya.

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) submitted a chargesheet against six people, including five police officials, in a case filed over the custodial death of Rayhan Ahmed in Sylhet. PBI Special Superintendent Mohammad Khaled-uz-Zaman said that the charge-sheet was submitted to the prosecution section of the police, who will place it before a virtual court. In the chargesheet, PBI has accused Bandarbazar police outpost's suspended in-charge and sub-inspector Akbar Hossain, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Ashek-e-Elahi, constable Harunur Rashid, constable Titu Chandra Das, sub-inspector Hasan Uddin, and local youth Abdullah Al Noman. Among the accused, all except Noman are in jail.

Rayhan Ahmed, 33, a youth of Neharipara area in Sylhet city, was tortured at Sylhet's Bandarbazar Police Outpost and died an hour after he was admitted to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical Hospital by police personnel last October. The 1,962-page chargesheet listed 69 witnesses. Among them, seven police personnel and three others already testified before the court as witnesses under section-164 of the Penal Code.

Family members of Khaleda Zia went to Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal's house and gave an application to take her abroad for better treatment. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told The Daily Star that they received the letter and are considering it 'positively'. Khaleda was admitted to Evercare Hospital on April 27 night for diagnosis after testing positive for Covid for the second time on April 24. She first tested Covid positive on April 11.

On Monday afternoon, she was shifted to the coronary care unit at the hospital with breathing difficulties. Law Minister Anisul Huq said that his office is yet to take any decision about allowing Khaleda Zia to go abroad for better treatment. He said the file regarding her treatment abroad was sent from the Home Ministry to the secretary of the Law Ministry at 11:00pm on Thursday.