Bangladesh

A man was killed and about 300 people were injured on Wednesday as a student protest that began at Bangladesh’s Dhaka University spread to other institutions in the city and across the country, witnesses said. The victim, a rickshaw-puller, was caught in clashes between police and students at a university in the north-western city of Rajshahi.

The death toll from floods in Bangladesh rose to 65 on Friday as relief workers struggled to reach millions of people stranded in their villages without food or clean water, officials said. Twenty-three of the country’s 64 districts in the north, centre and east were at least partly submerged by the flooding caused by snow melt and heavy monsoon downpours.

Floods in Bangladesh have killed at least 38 people and left 4,5-million others displaced or marooned in their homes in north and central Bangladesh, officials said on Wednesday. People crammed into 600 relief centres or sought higher ground to escape rising water levels, said Shafiqul Islam, a spokesperson for the Food and Disaster Management Ministry.

Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, is the world’s fastest growing major city, drawing 300 000 to 400 000 mostly poor migrants annually, a World Bank study said. These migrants provide critical manpower for the city’s industries and services, but also put pressure on the city’s infrastructure, public services and habitable land, said the report.

Rain and landslides have killed at least 68 people in Bangladesh as early monsoon showers swept the country, officials said on Monday. Heavy rains triggered landslides that buried hillside homes, killing 55 people and leaving scores of others missing on Monday in the port city of Chittagong, police and witnesses said.

Bangladesh crumbled to 58 runs for five wickets on Saturday after India’s four top batsmen smashed confident centuries to build a massive first-innings total in the second and final Test. Opener Dinesh Karthik hit 129, captain Rahul Dravid made 129 and Sachin Tendulkar was unbeaten on 122 when India declared their innings at 610-3.

Opener Wasim Jaffer hit an unbeaten 138 to help India pile up 326 without loss at the close of play on the opening day of the second and final Test against Bangladesh on Friday. Resuming on 175-0 after the tea break, opener Dinesh Karthik retired hurt on 82. Captain Rahul Dravid, who joined Jaffer, was unbeaten on 88.

A government ban on public gatherings was quickly forgotten in Bangladesh as thousands of jubilant fans partied into the night after their cricket team’s shock World Cup victory over India. Thousands roared and waved flags in Dhaka to celebrate the country’s success over cricketing giants India.

<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=cwc_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/300732/Icon_CWC.gif" align=left border=0></a>A Bangladeshi firm has sent what it says is the world’s biggest cricket bat on a signature tour to drum up support for the national team at the Caribbean World Cup, a company official said on Thursday. The 22m-long bat has been signed by thousands since its began its nationwide journey from the northern city of Rangpur.

Tired of trying to get a bit of peace and quiet in one of the world’s most densely populated countries, a Bangladeshi man with a head for heights has hit on the perfect solution. Each day carpenter and aspiring writer Salim Hossen Gaus, aged 25, winches himself 30m in a precarious home-made pulley to a small wooden platform he has built at the top of a palm tree.

Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed on Thursday declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the country ahead of disputed elections on January 22, state television reported. ”The President, Professor Iajuddin Ahmed, has declared a state of emergency in the country,” the state-owned BTV said.

At least 20 people died from cold weather in northern Bangladesh in the past 24 hours, taking the confirmed death toll from the frigid conditions to 110 in the past week, officials said on Monday. The victims, most of them beggars and the homeless, died as the mercury dropped to five degrees Celsius.

Thousands of security personnel patrolled Bangladesh’s capital on Sunday as opposition parties began a nationwide transport blockade to try and force electoral reform ahead of polls this month. Dhaka’s usually bustling streets were empty of cars and buses on Sunday, a working day in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, and schools and colleges were shut.

Bangladesh moved to within one win of a series sweep over Zimbabwe after they eased to an eight-wicket victory over the tourists in the fourth match at Mirpur Stadium on Friday. An unbeaten half century (58) by man-of-the-match Aftab Ahmed helped Bangladesh reach 147-2 in 32.2 overs, with Saqibul Hasan hitting the winning run for the hosts to end the contest not out on 31.

At least 20 people were wounded in gun battles between rival activists as a transport blockade to force the removal of controversial election officials paralysed Bangladesh on Monday, police and witnesses said. The wounded, including a police officer caught in crossfire, were taken to hospitals following battles in western Natore, 230km from the capital Dhaka.