Bangladesh
Chuadanga shivers at 9-degree Celsius
Biting cold gripped Chuadanga as the lowest temperature in the country on Friday (January 06, 2023) was recorded at 9.0 degrees Celsius in the district.
Temperature between 8 to 10 degrees Celsius is considered a mild cold wave, 6 to 8 degrees Celsius a moderate cold wave and less than 6 degrees Celsius a severe cold wave.
Severe cold with frosty winds from the north and dense fog is disrupting daily life in Chuadanga. The low-income people who get by working every day are being hit hardest.
Also Read: Mild cold wave sweeping parts of Bangladesh
Many were seen making fires along the roadsides to keep warm. Most people are staying home unless there is an emergency.
"A biting cold spell has continued to sweep across the district. Winter is being felt severely due to the foggy environment and frosty air. Such conditions may last for a few more days. Also, the mercury may drop even further," said Rakibul Hasan, officer-in-charge of the Chuadanga met office.
Also, the number of diarrhoea and pneumonia patients – mostly children and elderly – is increasing in the hospitals of Chuadanga.
Read More: Bone-chilling cold disrupts normal life in Panchagarh
A mild cold wave is sweeping through four other districts – Naogaon, Dinajpur, Panchagarh and Jashore – and it may continue, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said today.
The highest temperature on Friday was recorded at 26.5 degrees Celsius in Cox's Bazar and Sitakunda.
"The weather may remain dry with a temporary partly cloudy sky over the country in the next 24 hours. Besides, moderate to thick fog may occur over the country from midnight till morning and it may continue till noon at places," the BMD said.
Read More: Khulna struggles to cope with biting cold wave.
DCAB pays tribute to Bangabandhu
The Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) on Friday paid tribute to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi 32 in Dhaka.
DCAB members, led by its President Rezaul Karim Lotus and General Secretary Abu Hena Emrul Kayesh, placed a wreath at Bangabandhu's portrait in front of the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.
They also stood in silence for a few moments showing profound respect to the memory of the Father of the Nation, his family members, Liberation War martyrs and Freedom Fighters.
Read more: FOSA pays tributes to Bangabandhu at Tungipara
Rezaul Karim Lotus, executive editor of the Daily Sun, and Abu Hena Emrul Kayesh, special correspondent of BanglaVision, were elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the executive committee of DCAB for 2023 on December 29 last year.
16 fishermen held for catching Parshe fries in Sundarbans defying ban
The Forest Department has detained 16 fishermen from the Sundarbans for catching Parshe (mullet) fries, during its breeding period from November-January, from the river and canals defying a ban.
A team of Forest Department (West) led by Zahirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Nilkomol Patrol Outpost, detained the fishermen around 4:30am on Thursday during a drive at the Bangabandhur Char area, said Divisional Forest Officer of Sundarbans West Forest Division Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain.
They also seized two fishing boats, he added. "A case has been filed under the Forest Act; the fishermen have been sent to Koyra Upazila Senior Judicial Magistrate Court."
Read more: 11 kidnapped fishermen rescued in Sundarbans: Police
Fishermen of Shyamnagar, Koyra, Paikgacha, and Dakop surrounding the Sundarbans are using illegal nets to catch fish fries.
The fishermen illegally catch a large number of fish fries from the Sundarbans' Alor Kol, Dublar Char, Batlurchar, Chachanangla, Poshur, Agun Jala, Kalir Char, Gera Chalki, Bajbaja, Hanshoraj, Andarmanik, Dhangmari; Chichkhali and Majjat rivers.
Due to the use of monofilament nets, Parshe fish fries and different species of fish are being killed.
Around 20-25 groups of 8-10 fishermen on engine-driven fishing boats are using 200-300-metre long and 40-50-metre wide nets to catch a maund of fish fries of different species in each haul every day.
Also, some forest officials tip the fishermen off when their senior officials prepare for conducting a drive in the Sundarbans. Next, the fishermen hide in the forest. And when the drive is over they resume their illegal fishing.
Read more: 26 rescued Bangladeshi fishermen return from India
Poshur River Waterkeeper Coordinator Md Nur Alam Sheikh said a group of money lenders pay low-income fishermen a lot of money in advance to send them to the Sundarbans to make extra profit with fish fries.
Some forest officials and employees are also cooperating with them in exchange for a large amount of money, he added.
Momen slams Bangladeshi expat's killing in US, denounces hate crime
Referring to the killing of a Bangladeshi in the US, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Friday said Bangladesh does not want any hate crime anywhere in the world.
“The Bangladeshi community there (US) are alleging it to be a hate crime,” Momen told reporters about the death of a Bangladeshi expatriate after being shot by the police at Cambridge in Massachusetts of the US on Thursday.
Read more: The recommendations some foreigners at times give seem to be “idiotic”: Momen
Earlier, he inaugurated the three-day "Peace Run Bangladesh" by lighting the peace torch at the Suhrawardy Udyan premises in the capital on Friday.
“We want to stop racism, communal violence and establish peace in the world,” Momen said.
Regarding the Bangladesh visit of US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, Momen said it is very good news that he is coming. "He is like a policymaker in this area. We welcome him.”
Donald Lu became Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs on September 15, 2021.
“We’ve a very good relationship with the US. We have multifaceted engagements with the US. There will be talks on different issues when he (Donald Lu) comes.”
He also hoped Donald Lu’s visit will help strengthen the good relationship between the two countries.
Read more: Govt to honour expats through National Expatriate Day: Momen
Replying to a question from the reporters on the US sanctions on Rab, the minister said bilateral relation is not determined by a single issue.
“The US is our biggest consumer and our biggest investor. With engagements on many areas, we don't have to worry about just one issue. We both have common values and principles.”
He said the US wants a democratic system and Bangladesh also wants a democratic system.
“The US wants to uphold human rights. We want, too. Three million people of Bangladesh have sacrificed their lives for human rights, justice and democracy,” he added.
“We will talk about many things. It is open. Many issues will be discussed," he said.
Bangladesh reports 8 more dengue cases
Eight more people were hospitalised with dengue in the 24 hours to Friday morning.
However, no fatalities were reported during this period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read more: Bangladesh reports 31 more dengue cases
Also, the DGHS did not report any dengue death in the first five days of this year.
The country recorded 281 dengue deaths in 2022 – the highest on record after the 179 deaths recorded in 2019.
A total of 212 dengue patients, including 99 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
Read more: Dengue: 48 more patients hospitalised in 24 hrs, zero death
The DGHS has recorded 215 dengue cases and three recoveries so far this year. It recorded 62,423 cases and 61,971 recoveries last year.
WHO 'continues to urge' China to share more data amid Covid surge
The UN health agency has "continued to urge China" to share more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalisations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing in the wake of a Covid surge in the East Asian country.
"The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the risk to life in the world's most populous country and reiterated the importance of stepping up vaccination coverage, including booster doses," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said recently in his first online briefing for the year.
"With circulation in China so high and comprehensive data not forthcoming – as I said last week it is understandable that some countries are taking steps they believe will protect their citizens," he added.
Several countries, including the US, have announced new Covid testing requirements for travellers from China to gain domestic entry, amid concerns over the spread of the latest variants.
WHO Emergencies Director Dr Mike Ryan said: "We know there are difficulties in all countries very often in recording hospital releases, admissions and use of ICU (intensive care unit) facilities."
"We believe that the current numbers being published from China underrepresents the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, and particularly in terms of deaths."
Also Read: Is China sharing enough COVID-19 information?
WHO has held high-level meetings with Chinese authorities over the past week to discuss the rise in cases and hospitalisations.
The UN agency's Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) also met with Chinese experts to discuss the situation.
During that meeting, scientists from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention presented data from what they described as imported and locally acquired coronavirus infections.
The analysis showed that most of the viruses circulating in the country are of two Omicron lineages, BA.5.2 and BF.7, which accounted for 97.5 percent of all local infections, as well as a few other known Omicron sublineages.
"These variants are known and have been circulating in other countries, and at present no new variant has been reported by the China CDC," the TAG-VE said in a statement on Wednesday.
So far, 773 sequences from mainland China have been submitted to the virus database operated by the global science initiative, GISAID.
Most, 564, were collected after December 1. Of this number, only 95 are labelled as locally acquired cases, while 187 are imported and 261 "do not have this information provided."
The majority of the locally acquired cases, 95 percent, belong to the two Omicron lineages.
"This is in line with genomes from travellers from China submitted to the GISAID EpiCoV database by other countries. No new variant or mutation of known significance is noted in the publicly available sequence data," the statement said.
Tedros said the pandemic is now in its fourth year, and despite progress, it is still a threat to health, economies, and societies.
"We are really concerned about the current Covid-19 epidemiological picture, with both intense transmission in several parts of the world and a recombinant sub-variant spreading quickly," he said.
Covid was on the decline for most of 2021, Tedros added, citing factors such as increased vaccinations worldwide and the identification of new lifesaving antivirals.
However, there are still major inequities in access to testing, treatment and vaccination.
"Every week, approximately 10,000 people die of Covid-19, that we are aware of. The true toll is likely much higher," he said.
Also, the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is on the rise in the US and Europe and has been identified in nearly 30 countries.
XBB.1.5 was initially detected in October 2022. It is the most transmissible subvariant yet, according to Dr Maria Van Kherkove, the WHO technical lead for Covid.
"We do expect further waves of infection around the world, but that doesn't have to translate into further waves of death because our countermeasures continue to work," she said.
Meanwhile, the TAG-VE experts are also working on a related risk assessment that should be published in the coming days.
Dr Van Kherkove emphasised the importance of continued Covid surveillance around the world to track known subvariants that are in circulation.
Last month, more than 13 million cases of the disease were reported, though the WHO believes the toll is higher.
"But more concerning, we've had a 15 percent increase in deaths in the last month and again, we know that that is an underestimate because there are delays in reporting, and with the holiday period and with mixing, those trends are expected to continue," Dr Van Kherkove said.
Chattogram bank fire tamed after two hours
A fire that quickly tore through a branch of Eastern Bank in the port city's Halishahar area on Friday afternoon was brought under control after nearly two hours, the authorities said.
Anisur Rahman, deputy director at the fire service and civil defence department Chattogram, said the blaze began at the bank near the Halishahar Excess Road at 12pm.
Read more: Fire at Eastern Refinery in Ctg: 4 burnt
On information, seven firefighting units responded to the fire and the responders could tame the flames at 1.45pm, he said.
The reasons for the fire mishap and the extent of damage could not immediately be confirmed, Anisur added.
15 hurt as intercity train comes off tracks in Kishoreganj
At least 15 passengers were injured as a bogie of an intercity train derailed at Bhairab Railway Station in Kishoreganj on Friday morning.
The bogie of the Kishoreganj-bound intercity Egarosindhur Train from Dhaka came off the tracks at Bhairab station while the engine of the train was being changed at 9:30am, Station Master Md Nur Nabi said.
Read more: Train derailment in Mymensingh: Rail communication resumes after 3 hrs
At least 15 passengers were injured as the window glasses and floors of three bogies broke down following the derailment, Egarosindhur Train attendant Sohel said.
The scale of the damage means it will be some time before passengers get things back up and running as normal.
"We will work to speedily make our repairs to get the train back on track as a salvage train arrives from Akhaura," the station master said.
Read more: 4 die as train hits auto-rickshaw in Cumilla
Caretaker couple found dead at Dinajpur house after owner's 999 call
A couple was found dead in a house in Dinajpur town early Friday, police said.
The deceased were identified as Mojibor Rahman and his wife Suraiya Begum, 55, from the town. They used to work as caretakers in the Munshipara area at Advocate Nilufar Rahim's house.
Read more: Unidentified man found dead in Dinajpur
Earlier, suspecting that something went wrong at her house in Dinajpur, Nilufar, who lives in Dhaka, called the national emergency service 999 for help, Additional Superintendent of Police of Dinajpu Mominul Karim said.
Next police found Mujibur hanging from the ceiling in the bedroom and the body of his wife in the kitchen with her throat slit this morning, he added.
The bodies have been sent to Abdur Rahim Medical College and Hospital morgue for autopsies, the police officer said.
Read more: Cop's wife found dead in Khulna, suicide suspected
"The cause of the deaths can be confirmed when we get the autopsy reports. We are also investigating whether there was a domestic dispute between the couple," Mominul added.
3 CU BCL men hurt as Shuttle Train spat triggers clash
Three people have been injured in a clash between two factions of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) of Chittagong University (CU) unit following a spat on the Shuttle Train, police said.
The injured are Mamun of the history department, Manik of the Accounting department and Shah Poran of the Botany department.
Read more: CU student assault: 5 BCL activists remanded
Mamun and Manik received primary treatment from CU Medical Centre; Shah Poran was sent to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for better treatment.
The clash broke out between BCL groups VX and Sixty Nine following an altercation at the university rail station around 10pm Thursday, Mizanur Rahman, in-charge of the university police outpost, said.
Following the altercation, VX Group men took position in front of Suhrawardy Hall and Sixty Nine Group men in front of Shahjalal Hall.
Later, the two groups started chasing each other and hurling bricks, leaving the trio injured.
Police and the proctorial body brought the situation under control at 12am, Mizanur said.
Pradip Chakraborty Durjoy, leader of the VX group and vice-president of CU BCL, said, "There has been an altercation among the junior students on Shuttle Train on its way back to CU from Chattogram city. Hopefully, we will be able to figure things out by sitting together."
Read more: CU students lock main gate protesting attack on student ‘by BCL men’
Iqbal Hossain Tipu, general secretary of CU BCL and leader of Sixty Nine Group, said: "There is no scope to show favour to anyone – no matter who belongs to which group. The administration should find those responsible for the clash and punish them."
VX and Sixty Nine are known on the campus as followers of the city Awami League General Secretary and former mayor AJM Nasir Uddin.