Bangladesh

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The Economist Picks Its Country of the Year

Bangladesh gets the honors over Syria

(Newser) - The Economist has selected its 2024 country of the year, and the honor goes to a nation that overthrew its autocratic leader. But maybe not the one you think. The magazine selected Bangladesh, which ousted Sheikh Hasina in August following mass protests led by students. Syria, which got rid of...

Under Her Rule, Hundreds Were Taken to a Dark Secret Prison

With Sheikh Hasina no longer in Bangladesh, prisoners' stories are emerging

(Newser) - Sheikh Hasina led an authoritarian regime in Bangladesh for 15 years before fleeing the country in August . As she left, Mir Ahmad Quasem Arman came back to life. The New York Times reports he was one of three prisoners who had long been held at a secret underground prison called...

Bangladesh PM Resigns, Flees Nation Amid Protests

Current whereabouts of Sheikh Hasina are unknown

(Newser) - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned on Monday, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defied a military curfew and stormed her official residence. Shortly after local media showed the embattled leader boarding a military helicopter with her sister, Bangladesh's military chief, Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman, announced plans to...

Dozens Die, Hundreds Are Hurt in Anti-Government Protests

Demonstrators in Bangladesh want prime minister to resign

(Newser) - Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured Sunday as renewed anti-government protests swept across Bangladesh, with protesters calling for the prime minister to resign and the prime minister accusing them of sabotage and cutting off mobile internet in a bid to quell the unrest. The country's leading Bengali-language...

Nestle Allegedly Pumps Sugar Into Baby Products in Poor Nations

The food giant is being accused of a 'harmful double standard' that could lead to obesity

(Newser) - The Nestle brand may be associated with comfort food and drink, but its infant eats are getting an uncomfortable amount of scrutiny over sugar content. Per a new report from the nonprofit Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network, the Swiss food conglomerate adds more sugar to its...

With No Options Left, They Keep Risking Lives by Boat

But 1 in 8 Rohingya refugees who flee Myanmar or camps in Bangladesh are lost at sea

(Newser) - Across a treacherous stretch of water, the Rohingya came by the thousands, then died by the hundreds. Last year, nearly 4,500 ethnic Rohingya Muslims—two-thirds of them women and children—fled their homeland of Myanmar and refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh by boat, the United Nations' refugee agency reported....

Boy Playing in Shipping Container Ends Up in Another Country

He entered container in Bangladesh, exited in Malaysia 6 days later

(Newser) - A 15-year-old boy apparently playing hide and seek entered a shipping container in Bangladesh ... and didn't exit until six days later, when the container had been transported to Malaysia. That's 1,600 nautical miles, or more than 1,840 miles, according to maritime tracking site FleetMon . The Malaysian...

Killers of Popular Blogger Escape in Police Ambush

2 men who murdered Avijit Roy were on their way to court in Bangladesh

(Newser) - Two of the men who murdered a popular Bangladeshi American blogger are on the lam after a police ambush in broad daylight. The fugitives, already convicted in the 2015 murder of Avijit Roy, were being taken to court for a hearing on Sunday when multiple motorcycles disrupted their police escort...

Floods, Lightning Strikes Kill at Least 18 in India, Bangladesh

And with expected rain over weekend, more flooding looms

(Newser) - At least 18 people have died as massive floods ravaged northeastern India and Bangladesh, leaving millions of homes underwater and severing transport links, authorities said Saturday. In India's Assam state, at least nine people were killed in the floods, and 2 million saw their homes submerged, according to the...

Depot Fire Kills Dozens in Bangladesh
Bangladesh Fire
Kills at Least 49
Jun 5, 2022 10:35 AM CDT

Bangladesh Fire Kills at Least 49

Victims of depot blaze include firefighters, and more than 100 people are injured

(Newser) - A massive fire at a container depot near a port city in southeastern Bangladesh killed at least 49 people, including nine firefighters, and injured more than 100 others, officials and local media reported Sunday, as efforts to extinguish the blaze continued into a second night. The inferno at the BM...

They Escaped Certain Death Only to Face It Again

For some Rohingya refugees, assassins lurk

(Newser) - As the New York Times tells it, they've gone from one hell to the next. The first would be Myanmar, the country Rohingya Muslims fled en masse in 2017 to escape ethnic cleansing. Where most have landed is Bangladesh, which is home to what is the biggest single refugee...

17 Dead After Lightning Strikes Boat Carrying Wedding Party

Another 14 were injured in tragedy in Bangladesh

(Newser) - What was supposed to be a day of celebration turned into a day of mourning in Bangladesh, after a lightning strike killed more than a dozen people in a wedding party. Authorities say a boat headed toward the bride's house on Wednesday had just reached the banks of the...

Locked Factory Door Blamed in Bangladeshi Deaths

Officials say at least 52 are dead in fire

(Newser) - A fire engulfed a food and beverage factory outside Bangladesh's capital, killing at least 52 people, many of whom were trapped inside by an illegally locked door, fire officials said Friday. The blaze began Thursday night at the five-story Hashem Foods Ltd. factory in Rupganj, just outside Dhaka, sending...

Poacher Accused of Killing 70 Tigers

Bangladesh man finally in custody after 20 years

(Newser) - A poacher suspected of killing a significant proportion of his country's population of wild Bengal tigers is finally in custody, authorities in Bangladesh say. Habib Talukder, 50, is believed to have killed up to 70 endangered tigers over the last 20 years, the BBC reports. The pelts and other...

For One Neighbor of India, Worries of a 'New Wave'

Bangladesh just detected variant originally IDed in India

(Newser) - India's surge in coronavirus cases is having a dangerous effect on neighboring Bangladesh. Health experts warn of imminent vaccine shortages just as the country should be stepping up its vaccination drive, and as more contagious virus variants are beginning to be detected. On Saturday, health authorities said that for...

Bangladesh's Death Penalty for Rape Isn't Enough: Advocates

Rights groups say system doesn't support victims or hold rapists accountable

(Newser) - From now on, rapists could face the death penalty in Bangladesh. The government is making the change in the face of public outrage over a series of well-publicized attacks on women, the New York Times reports, though human rights groups said the change in the law won't solve the...

Teens Thought They'd Found Love. Instead, a Terrible Turn

'Nat Geo' tells the stories of 2 sex slaves fighting against the odds

(Newser) - They thought they'd found love. But Sayeda and Anjali, pseudonyms given to two teenage girls born into poverty and sold to the same Indian brothel, were fooled, as Yudhijit Bhattacharjee writes in an expose of child trafficking for National Geographic . Sayeda, an aspiring dancer from Khulna, Bangladesh, who by...

Gas Line Explodes Near Mosque, Killing 16

Dozens of injuries also reported after blast in Bangladesh

(Newser) - An underground gas pipeline near a mosque exploded during evening prayers outside Bangladesh's capital, leaving 16 Muslim worshipers dead and dozens injured with critical burns, officials say. The blast occurred Friday night as people were finishing their prayers at Baitus Salat Jame Mosque at Narayanganj, per a local police...

China Gets Worst Virus News in 2 Months

57 new cases on Sunday

(Newser) - China on Sunday reported its biggest one-day jump in coronavirus cases in two months after closing the biggest wholesale food market in Beijing and locking down nearby communities. The 57 new confirmed infections included 36 in Beijing. The Xinfadi market on Beijing’s southeastern side was closed Saturday and neighboring...

2.6M Forced to Flee Super-Cyclone —in a Pandemic

Amphan makes landfall around India-Bangladesh border

(Newser) - A process is underway to move 2.6 million people from isolation to shelters in India and Bangladesh with a super-cyclone making landfall. Amphan, the first super-cyclone in the Bay of Bengal since 1999, has already claimed one life as it plowed into the India-Bangladesh border on Wednesday morning. A...

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