Dhaka has ranked as the seventh least liveable city in the world, two places below Kyiv, the war-torn Ukraine capital, according to the latest Global Liveability Index 2023. According to the index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Dhaka scored 43.8 out of 100 – same as Zimbabwe’s Harare, ranking 167th out of 173 cities on the index. The EIU ranks cities on more than 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Each factor in a city is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable. Also read: Beautiful Lakes in Dhaka for family days out: Proximity to aquatic beauty inside concrete city  Dhaka scored 50 out of 100 in terms of stability which sees a decline compared to 2022. In terms of healthcare and education, the Bangladeshi capital saw a massive improvement in scores. Dhaka scored 41.7 and 75 for healthcare and education respectively, compared to 29.2 and 41.7 in 2022.  In 2022, Dhaka’s overall score was 39.2 out of 100. However, the city has seen no improvement in terms of culture and environment (40.5) and infrastructure (26.8) in 2023. Although many Asian cities have scored better in healthcare and education in EIU’s Liveability Index for 2023, cities in the Middle East and Africa — following the Covid-19 pandemic — have slipped backwards since last year, amid several instances of civil unrest around the world. The average index score across all 172 cities (excluding Kyiv) in the survey has now reached 76.2 out of 100, up from 73.2 a year ago, the report shows. Also read: Dhaka 2nd least liveable city in the world Austria’s Vienna has retained its top spot as the world’s most liveable city in the world with a score of 98.4 out of 100. In contrast, Syria’s Damascus ranked as the world’s most unliveable city in the world with a score of 30.7 out of 100. While Asia-Pacific cities have made some of the biggest gains as their Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, Western European cities have slipped in the ranking for 2023 as worker strikes and other civil unrest have impacted their stability. Kyiv was included in this year’s ranking after having been forced out by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The city ranked a lowly 165th out of the 173 cities in the index as its stability and infrastructure were damaged by the war. Meanwhile, Moscow, the Russian capital, which fell to 96th place in 2022, has remained stable this year, the EIU report shows. Read more: Bangladesh behind both Pakistan and Afghanistan in World Press Freedom Index 2023 Top 10 Most Liveable Cities 1.       Vienna (98.4) 2.       Copenhagen (98.0) 3.       Melbourne (97.7) 4.       Sydney (97.4) 5.       Vancouver (97.3) 6.       Zurich (97.1) 7.       Calgary (96.8) 8.       Geneva (96.8) 9.       Toronto (96.5) 10.   Osaka (96.0) Read more: Impact of terrorism lower in Bangladesh compared to India, Pakistan: Global Terrorism Index 2023 Top 10 Least Liveable Cities 1.       Damascus (30.7) 2.       Tripoli (40.1) 3.       Algiers (42.0)  4.       Lagos (42.2) 5.       Karachi (42.5) 6.       Port Moresby (43.4) 7.       Dhaka (43.8) 8.       Harare (43.8) 9.       Kyiv (44.0) 10.   Douala (46.4) Read more: Bangladeshi passport’s ranking improves in 2023, still behind Iran and Sri Lanka as per Henley Index.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said no matter what the size of their project are, it is the architects who could make a difference, among its users as well as in its surroundings. He urged the architects to be mindful of their enormous responsibility and deliver "innovative solutions" to some of the socio-economic problems that affect people today. "I know that every building is also a commercial endeavour, but please, do not leave its success to the balance sheet alone. Your cumulative efforts could be epoch-making both in our cityscape and for its habitats," he said. Momen was speaking as the chief guest at the Construction Fair 2022 commemorating the golden jubilee of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) at Bangabandhu International Convention Centre in Agargaon Wednesday. "We have a shortage of land, yet we should be more mindful of landscaping in our architectural design," he said while speaking at a function marking the Golden Jubilee programme of IAB on Wednesday evening. He said architects in Bangladesh need to be involved with key socio-political themes of society – population density, climate change, water management, and migration – themes that are at the same time global in nature. "I hope that architecture in Bangladesh will deliver innovative solutions to some of the socio-economic problems that affect us today," Momen said. In Bangladesh, a lot of people are moving to cities for river erosion, flood or other climate disorders. "Could we address these challenges with architecture? Could we manage the stream of daily newcomers in our cityscape with architecture? Architects need to ask these questions and put their energy and wisdom into solving these issues," Momen said. In the city of Dhaka, each year, people lose millions of working hours, burn billions worth of additional energy, and exhaust uncalled carbon-emission due to bumper-to-bumper traffic jams. "It may be time for our architects and engineers to come up with innovative ways of reducing this traffic congestion," the foreign minister said. Read more: 'Architecture is truly global, can also be deeply local'

Believe it or not, Dhaka has been ranked the most polluted city in the world. On Thursday, Dhaka's air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 141 at 8.50am. Read:Dhaka's air quality remains 'moderate' Pakistan’s Lahore and the United Arab Emirates' Dubai occupied the second and third spots in the list, with AQI scores of 131and 117, 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 during winter and improves during monsoon. With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction works, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources. Read: Dhaka's air quality remains 'moderate' 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 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.

Erling Haaland added a strike from outside the area to his repertoire of goals since joining Manchester City in a 3-0 win at 10-man Wolverhampton in the Premier League Saturday. City had already taken the lead through Jack Grealish after 55 seconds at Molineux when Haaland picked up the ball 40 meters out, drove toward the penalty box and shot right-footed into the bottom corner from the edge of the area in the 16th minute. It was Haaland's 11th goal in seven league games since his offseason arrival from Borussia Dortmund – with the majority coming from right in front of goal. Wolverhampton's already-slim chances virtually ended when centre back Nathan Collins was shown a straight red card for a chest-high lunge on Grealish in the 33rd. Read: Erling Haaland Transfer: Five Interesting Facts About Manchester City's New Signing Phil Foden swept in a right-wing cross from Kevin De Bruyne, who provided a similar assist for Grealish's goal, in the 69th minute to round off a win that took City above Arsenal into first place – at least overnight. City have scored 23 goals in the first seven matches of its title defence – comfortably more than any other team – and Haaland has almost half of them.

A nurse died after falling off the rooftop of a four storeyed building in Sabujbagh area in the capital Saturday. The deceased was Ataul Karim Apu,50, a nursing staff of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), said Firoza Parvin, a senior staff nurse of DMCH. Apu slipped on the wet floor and fell down around 6:30 am when he went to the rooftop of his house for physical exercise . Also read: Falling crane kills BRT project worker in Gazipur He was rescued by neighbours and taken to DMCH in a critical condition where doctors announced him dead around 9 am, said inspector Bacchu Mia, in-charge of DMCH police outpost. The body has been sent for an autopsy. Also read: ‘Thief’ dies after falling off building in city

A motorcyclist was killed after his motorbike collided with a truck in Rampura kitchen market area of the capital early Tuesday.  The deceased was identified as Rais Uddin (48), hailed from  Paratli Kacharakandi village in Narsingdi district. He was a resident of Banasree area.   Police  said the incident took place when the truck crashed into the motorcycle in the area, said Sub-Inspector (SI) of Hatirjheel Police Station Minhaj Uddin.  The injured  was rescued and then taken to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where doctors declared him dead at 1:15 am, he said.  He said the body was kept at the DMCH Morgue for autopsy.  The driver and his helper were detained along with the truck soon after the incident, SI Minhaj added. 

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have detained a fugitive death row convict in a case filed over the attack on a train carrying the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina in 1994. Zakaria Pintu, 50, of Ishwardi, was detained from Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar on Saturday night in a drive conducted by a team of Rab-2, said a press release from Rab Headquarter on Sunday. During primary interrogation, Pintu confessed that he was a fugitive accused of carrying out bomb attack on a train at Ishwardi railway station with the intention of killing the now Prime Minister. Pintu was convicted in two murder case in Ishwardi in 1994 and in 2009. He was later arrested along with arms by law enforcers in 2011 and sentenced to 17 years in jail in an arms case. Also read: Kotalipara plot: 14 sentenced to death Apart from the death sentence and imprisonment, there are six arrest warrants and 19 cases filed against him over various crimes, including terrorist activities, establishing dominance and extortion. In 2015, he also took part in a local election in Pabna's Ishwardi as an independent candidate and lost it. On September 23 in 1994, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was travelling to Syedpur from Khulna in a train and was attacked with bombs and gunshots at Ishwardi Railway station, as per the release. A case was filed under the Explosives Act and Special Powers Act at Ishwardi GRP Police Station in Pabna in this regard. Later, the investigating officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted a chargesheet against a total of 52 people on April 3 in 1997, it added. After long proceedings, nine accused, including Pintu, were sentenced to death while 25 to life imprisonment and 13 others to 10 years in prison on July 3, 2019. He went into hiding soon after the sentence in the assassination attempt case was announced in 2019. He fled to India on the day following the judgment. After staying there for some days, he returned to the country and went into hiding in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, Rajshahi and Cox's Bazar. Also read: PM Hasina assassination attempt: Fugitive death row convict held in city He was last detained by RAB-2 while hiding at his friend's house in Teknaf of Cox's Bazar. “Legal steps are underway against the detainee,” said the release.

Four people sustained burn injuries as a fire broke out in a house following a blast in the city’s Aga Sadeq Road of Bangshal area Saturday morning. The injured are Md Israfil, 62, Salma Begum, 50, their daughter Shahjadi Akhter, 35, and son Md Imran Hossain, 28. They were admitted to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery under Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), said Mohammad Shahjahan Sikder, Deputy Assistant Director (Media Cell) of Fire Service and Civil Defense Headquarters. READ: Gazipur godown fire 'under control' He said the explosion occurred on the ground floor in a space between two buildings. Three walls collapsed partially after the explosion. On information, three units of fire fighters rushed to the spot around 4:45 am and took the injured to the hospital, he said. The origin of the fire is yet to be known, he added. Tareq, nephew of injured Israfil who lives on the top floor of the building, said, there was a sudden explosion around 4.30 am near the building.  “Hearing my uncle’s scream, we rushed to the ground floor to rescue the family members,” he said The fire might have originated  from a gasline leak, he said.

A fire broke out at a shoe factory in city’s Bosila area on Monday night.  According to Fire Service sources, the fire broke out on the third floor of the Ahmed Footwear factory at around 10.30 pm. After over an hour of efforts, two firefighting units brought the fire under control at around 11.45 pm, said Dewar Azad, duty officer of Fire Service and Civil Defence. No casualties have been reported, he said. READ: Depot Fire: UN for joint efforts in addressing “safety deficits” in workplaces

A police constable riding a motorbike was hit and killed by a bus in the  city’s Sonargaon intersection Monday. The deceased was identified as Korban Ali Hossain, 35, a constable posted at Rajarbagh Police Telecom Bhaban and used to live at Savar. Also read: Man killed in Kurigram road accident A bus of Welcome Paribahan hit Korban’s motorcycle around 10 am, said Al Imran, Sub-Inspector of Hatirjheel police station. He was immediately taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) where doctors declared him dead around 11:45 am, he said. Also read: Road accidents claim 7 lives in 3 districts The bus was seized and efforts are on to detain the driver after  identifying him from CCTV footages, said SI Al Imran. He said the body has been sent for autopsy.