Bangladesh: Rohingya risk drowning to escape island camp

China has sent half a million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh, in Beijing's latest move to fill the gap left by India as it reels from the pandemic.

Rozina Islam has been arrested for alleged theft and photography of sensitive state documents. The award-winning journalist was investigating millions of dollars spent procuring medical equipment during the pandemic.

Crowds of migrant workers and families rush to escape from Bangladesh's Dhaka ahead of a tough new lockdown to be imposed on Monday, packing a ferry full at a river terminal south of the capital. "No point to sit idle and imprisoned in Dhaka. I'd rather spend time with my kids and parents at home," says one of the migrant workers leaving the capital.

An explosion at a building in Bangladesh's capital has killed at least seven people and wounded dozens more. Investigations are still ongoing into the cause of the blast.

At least seven people were killed and another 50 people were injured after a powerful explosion ripped apart a three-storey building in central Dhaka on Sunday, Bangladeshi officials said, citing a gas pipeline as the likely cause. The blast had reduced the building -- which houses a restaurant, an electronics shop and several other stores -- to rubble. Police said the explosion was so forceful that it broke the windows of at least four moving buses, injuring dozens of passengers on board.

At least 52 people were reported dead as a massive blaze broke out in a food processing factory on the outskirts of Dhaka.

When Bangladesh shut down for more than two months last year during its first Covid outbreak, hundreds of charities, civic groups and political parties gave out food, cash, masks and sanitiser to those who had lost their jobs. But coronavirus fatigue has set in and people have become less willing to finance the goodwill as the pandemic drags on.

At least 16 people from a Bangladeshi wedding party have been killed by lightning while disembarking from a boat. Fatal lightning strikes are becoming ever more frequent in the country.

Police say the man was arrested Sunday near Dhaka, but his female dance partner is on the run. The 20-year-old could face up to five years in prison on religious charges.

Rescuers in Bangladesh were searching for survivors after a boat carrying over 40 refugees capsized in the Bay of Bengal. The Rohingya were trying to escape the Bhashan Char island camp.

Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh have taken to social media to embrace the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. Experts say Dhaka should be cautious but not overly concerned.

Mohib Ullah was known for his tireless effort to highlight the struggles of the Rohingya refugees who were forced to flee to Bangladesh following a deadly crackdown by Myanmar's military in 2017.