Bangladesh police fire on protesters killing two: officer

DHAKA: Police fired on Jamaat-e-Islaami demonstrators in southwestern Bangladesh on Tuesday killing two, amid a nationwide strike in protest at the conviction of a top JI leader Ghulam Azam for war crimes.

Protesters from the JI party went on the rampage in the streets of Satkhira district, attacking a police officer, district deputy police chief Tajul Islam said.

Ex-Bangladesh captain Ashraful admits fixing - official

DHAKA: Former Bangladesh cricket captain Mohammad Ashraful was suspended from the sport on Tuesday after he confessed his involvement in fixing, a top cricket official said.

The International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) has been probing allegations of match-fixing during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a Twenty20 competition.

“As Ashraful has confessed his involvement in fixing to the ACSU team, so he should not be allowed to play any level of cricket until we get a full report of the investigation,” Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan told reporters.

Bangladesh building collapse toll hits 931

SAVAR, Bangladesh: The death toll in Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster on Thursday rose to 931 as rescuers overnight pulled out 97 more decomposed bodies from sandwiched floors of the ill-fated eight-storey building that collapsed last month."Ninety seven more bodies were retrieved since last night ... the figure now stands at 931," an official of the makeshift army control room told as the military-led salvage operation entered the 16th day on Thursday.He said 2,443 people were rescued alive so far but 13 of them succumbed to their wounds as they were being treated at different hospitals.Hundreds of bodies are still trapped under the debris of the illegally constructed Rana Plaza building as many have remained missing, local media reported.

Bangladesh opposition calls strike over mass killing

DHAKA: Bangladeshi opposition parties have called a two-day nationwide shutdown from Wednesday to protest what they describe as the “mass killing” of Islamists in a crackdown by security forces.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist allies called the strike after saying that hundreds of people were killed on Sunday and early Monday, when police broke up a mass rally in central Dhaka.

According to an AFP tally compiled after talking to police and medical sources, 38 people are known to have been killed since Sunday afternoon when police first confronted Islamist activists who had blockaded the capital.

Blasts, arrests mark Bangladesh general strike

Activists in Bangladesh’s capital have detonated several homemade bombs and torched at least one bus during an opposition-sponsored general strike. No injuries have been reported.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its 17 partners were enforcing Monday’s shutdown, which is aimed at securing the release of 154 opposition leaders and activists detained this month.