Bangladesh
Man throttles wife, daughters to death in Jashore
A man allegedly throttled his wife and their two daughters to death over a family feud in Avhoynagar upazila of Jashore district on Friday.
The deceased were identified as Sabina Yeasmin Bithi, 28, wife of Zahirul Islam Babu, and their two daughters -- Sumaiya Khatun, 9, and Safia Khatun, 2.
Kamruzzaman, a sub-inspector at Basundia police camp, said Zahirul had a conflict with his parents-in-law.
On Friday morning, Zahirul, along with his wife and their two daughters, were returning home from his parents-in-law’s house in Kalatala.
"When they reached Chapatala village, Zahirul first strangled Sabina to death and then killed their two daughters in the same way. Later, he informed the matter to his family," the officer said.
Read: Dentist murder in city: Prime accused held
On information, police arrested Zahirul from his house and recovered the bodies later that night. "The bodies have been sent to Jashore hospital morgue for post-mortem," the officer said.
Dhaka-Tangail highway groans under traffic woes
Commuters returning to Dhaka after Eid holidays had to endure a 20km-long tailback on the Dhaka-Tangail-Bangbandhu Bridge Highway in the district on Saturday morning.
Vehicles began piling up on the high-speed corridor on Friday night. By this morning, traffic on the highway almost came to a standstill, triggering the long tailback.
Ataur Rahman, in-charge of Elenga highway Police, attributed the tailback stretching from Bangabandhu Bridge point to Jolfoi point on the highway to heavy pressure of Dhaka-bound vehicles.
Also read: Gazipur gridlocked: Traffic crawls on Dhaka-M’singh highway
Our correspondent reports that the desperation to return to Dhaka prompted many to get off public transport vehicles, walk a few kilometres and then hitchhike on passing bikes to reach the capital.
The highway police and the district police are working together to bring the traffic situation under control, said Ataur.
Hindu houses, shops vandalised in Narail
An angry mob went on a rampage in Lohagara upazila of Narail district on Friday night, damaging at least two houses of the Hindu community and several shops in Digholia Bazar.
Haran Chandra Pal, officer-in-charge of Lohagarha Police Station, said a college student belonging to the Hindu community made a Facebook post "hurting religious sentiments" on Friday.
As the news spread like wildfire, a group of local people thronged Digholia Bazar and vandalised two houses and six shops that night. They also set one of these houses on fire over the issue, the OC said.
Read:Narail teacher's humiliation: Sadar thana OC stand-released
On information, police rushed to the spot and fired in the air to bring the situation under control. "Additional police force has been deployed in the area to avert further trouble," the officer added.
4 killed, 15 injured in Tangail road crash
At least four people were killed and more than 15 others injured when a commuter bus crashed into a truck parked along the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Mirzapur upazila early Saturday, police said.
The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.
Molla Tutul, officer-in-charge of Gorai Highway Police Station, said the accident occurred around 4.30am when the ‘Binimoy Paribahan’ bus hit the stationary sand-laden truck from behind in the Dulla Mansur area.
Read:Three bike riders killed in Gazipur road crash
"The impact left three passengers dead on the spot and 16 others injured. The injured were rushed to a local hospital where one of them was declared dead on arrival," he added.
Dhaka’s rail link with northern districts restored after 5 hrs
Rail communications between Dhaka and northern districts were restored Saturday morning after five hours of suspension following derailment of a bogie of a train in Joypurhat.
A bogie of Dhaka-bound ‘Ekota Express’ train from Joypurhat veered off the tracks at Tilakpur railway station in Akkelpur upazila around 5am onn Saturday, halting rail communications between the capital and the northern Bangladesh," said station master Tofazzal Hossain.
also read: Derailment snaps Sylhet's rail links with other parts of country
The rail communications resumed around 10:45 am after a relief train from Ishwardi removed the bogies from the track.
Dhaka-bound ‘Nilsagar Express’, Panchagarh-bound ‘Drutojan Express’ and Chilahati-bound ‘Simanto Express’ got stranded at Akkelpur and Santahar railway stations respectively following the derailment.
35-yr-old stabbed to death in Dinajpur
A 35-year-old man was stabbed to death allegedly by a group of drug peddlers in the district's Hakimpur upazila on Friday night.
The deceased was identified as Bardin Islam Baten, a construction worker and son of Abu Taleb of Mathpara village.
Shariqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Hakimpur Police Station, said that Baten's younger brother Insan had been at loggerheads with a local drug peddler, Imon, over sharing profits from drug sales.
On Friday morning, Baten intervened and apparently ensured a patch-up between Insan and Imon. However, Imon was not satisfied with the settlement.
Read: Elderly man stabbed to death in Dhaka
The same night, Imon along with his two associates, waylaid Baten on a bike and stabbed him indiscriminately, leaving him injured. "He was taken to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival," said the OC.
“Police are trying to arrest the culprits,” he added.
Global Covid cases top 566 million
The overall number of Covid cases has now crossed 566 million amid a rise in new infections in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 566,332,174 and the death toll from the virus reached 6,385,825 Saturday morning.
The US has recorded 91,170,571 cases so far and 1,048,693 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
India Friday recorded over 20,000 fresh cases of Covid-19 for the second straight day, officials said.
According to federal health ministry data released on Friday morning, 20,038 new cases of Covid were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,710,027 in the country.
With this, India's active caseload currently stands at 139,073.
The country also logged 47 related deaths during this period, which has pushed the overall death toll to 525,604 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
Also read: Covid: Bangladesh logs 4 months’ highest 12 deaths with 2,285 cases
Covid in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged two more Covid-linked deaths with 1,051 cases in 24 hours till Friday morning amid a surge in cases again in the country.
The new numbers took the country's total fatalities to 29,225 and its caseload to 1,994,433, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case positivity rate however declined to 11.55 per cent from Thursday’s 11.89 per cent as 9,130 samples were tested during the period.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.47 per cent. The recovery rate rose to 96.32 per cent from Thursday's 96.28 per cent.
Dhaka’s air quality remains ‘moderate’
Dhaka's air quality continues to be in the 'moderate' zone.
With an air quality index (AQI) score of 59 at 8.56am Saturday, the metropolis ranked 23rd in the list of world cities with the worst air quality.
An AQI between 50 and 100 is considered ‘moderate’ with an acceptable air quality. However, there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
South Africa’s Johannesburg, Pakistan’s Lahore and Iran’s Tehran occupied the first three spots in the list, with AQI scores of 172, 160, 148, respectively.
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups.
Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon.
A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites".
Read Also: Operate mobile court to stop air pollution: HC
With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction work, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
Bangladesh media delegation on tour of Indian capital
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has welcomed a Bangladesh media delegation to New Delhi.
Arindam Bagchi, joint secretary and spokesperson at the ministry, hosted a dinner in honour of the visiting delegation at Taj Mahal Hotel in the city Friday.
Bagchi hoped that the familiarisation visit would help the delegation members know more about the variety and diversity of India.
Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Muhammad Imran, Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner to New Delhi Md Nural Islam, officials of the MEA, BSS New Delhi Bureau Chief Aminul Islam Mirja, and senior journalists from India were present.
Tailback on Bangabandhu Bridge link road as people return to Dhaka
A long tailback formed on Bangabandhu Bridge east link road in Tangail Friday due to the additional number of Dhaka-bound vehicles and holidaymakers, who were returning to the capital and workplaces after a long vacation.
The crush of additional vehicle traffic towards Dhaka from northern districts caused the gridlock, triggering a 35km tailback stretching from Bangabandhu Bridge to Tangail's Karatia, Ataur Rahman, in-charge of Elenga Highway Police, said.
Till the filing of this report at around 10:30pm hundreds of vehicles packed with passengers were seen moving very slowly, causing immense suffering to Dhaka-bound people.
Also, women and children were seen returning to the capital in trucks.