News | Latest Breaking News Stories & Headlines

Children collect medicine at a medical camp in the flood affected Morigaon district of Assam State, India

Over 16 million people hit by floods in South Asia

More than 16 million people have been affected by floods in South Asia, aid workers and officials said, with heavy rains and damaged roads hampering relief efforts amid severe food shortages and a growing risk of waterborne diseases.

World • 18 Aug 17

Around 100 people were working when flames tore through the building following an explosion in the boiler room at the four-storey factory in the industrial town of Tongi, just north of the capital Dhaka (pic: Google Maps)

23 people killed in Bangladesh factory fire

A fire at a food and cigarette packaging factory in Bangladesh has killed at least 23 people and injured more than two dozen, emergency and government officials have said, with fears the toll could rise.

News • 12 Sep 16

22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed in the 1 July attack at a restaurant in Dhaka

Dhaka café attack suspect killed by police

Bangladesh security forces killed four militants, including the man believed responsible for the attack on a café in Dhaka last month in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed.

News • 27 Aug 16

French President Francois Hollande speaks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari during a meeting at the presidential Palace in Abuja, Nigeria

News in brief

A round-up of international news stories.

News • 15 May 16

There are 264 cases of the Zika virus in Panama

News in Brief

A round-up of other international news stories.

News • 05 May 16

The collapse killed more than 1,130 people in the country's worst industrial disaster.

Bangladeshi building owner faces murder charge

Police in Bangladesh have filed the first formal murder charges against the owner of a building that collapsed in 2013.

News • 01 Jun 15

A relative of Washiqur Rahman reacts after seeing his body at Dhaka Medical College

Four charged over Bangladesh blogger's murder

Bangladesh police have charged two Islamic students and two others over the machete murder of a blogger accused of mocking Islam, the second such attack in recent weeks.

World • 31 Mar 15

A salvage vessel fitted with a crane raised the sunken ferry from the water

Death toll rises after Bangladesh ferry disaster

The death toll has risen to 65 after a ferry accident in central Bangladesh.

News • 23 Feb 15

The ferry capsized on Monday southwest of the capital Dhaka

Bangladesh ferry owner charged with murder

Authorities in Bangladesh investigating the sinking of a ferry with nearly 250 people on board have lodged murder charges against the owner and five others, including the captain.

News • 06 Aug 14

Local people and relatives gather at a beach after a ferry carrying capsized in the Padma River

100 missing after ferry sinks in Bangladesh

A ferry with about 200 passengers on board has capsized in Bangladesh in a river southwest of the capital, Dhaka.

News • 05 Aug 14

Rescue teams are still searching for bodies in the ferry

Bangladesh rules out finding more ferry survivors

Police in Bangladesh have said there is no chance of finding further survivors of a ferry that capsized in a storm, with about 200 people on board.

News • 16 May 14

Police said 12 bodies had been recovered

At least 12 dead as ferry capsizes in Bangladesh

A Bangladeshi river ferry with around 200 passengers on board capsized in a storm, killing at least 12 people, and a rescue diver said he had seen more bodies inside the wreck.

News • 15 May 14

Bangladeshi riot police patrol a neighbourhood where several local polling stations are located in Dhaka

Ruling party expected to win Bangladesh election

Bangladesh's ruling Awami League is poised to win a violence-plagued parliamentary election.

News • 06 Jan 14

Garment workers take industrial action over working conditions

Bangladesh warned of need for labour reforms - UN

A United Nations report has said Bangladesh must improve conditions in its garment industry if it is to maintain economic growth.

News • 19 Nov 13

Bangladeshi garment workers on the ground as others react after riot police fired tear gas shells during clashes in Ashulia

Garment factory workers protest in Bangladesh

Police used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up protests by Bangladeshi garment factory workers calling for a wage increase.

News • 14 Nov 13

An injured Bangladeshi policeman is tended to by colleagues during clashes with garment workers in Ashulia

Bangladesh garment workers protest over wages

Bangladesh garment workers have set fire to parts of a factory outside Dhaka in a second day of protests over wages.

News • 12 Nov 13

One of the accused soldiers gestures following the announcement of his death penalty at the special court in Dhaka

Bangladesh to execute 152 soldiers over mutiny

A special court in Bangladesh has sentenced at least 152 soldiers to death over a bloody border guard mutiny in 2009.

News • 05 Nov 13

Primark has announced plans to pay long-term compensation to the victims of the disaster

Primark to compensate Bangladesh collapse victims

Primark has announced plans to pay long-term compensation to the victims involved in the Bangladesh building collapse in April, or to their families.

News • 24 Oct 13

Life sentence imposed triggered protests by people hoping Abdul Quader Mollah would get the death penalty

Islamic leader sentenced for Bangladesh war crimes

Bangladesh's Supreme Court has sentenced a top Islamic leader to death for war crimes during the country's 1971 independence war.

News • 17 Sep 13

Bangladeshis shift a boat away from the beachfront as the cyclone heads towards landfall

Six dead as Cyclone Mahasen hits Bangladesh

Cyclone Mahasen has hit Bangladesh's low-lying coast, killing six people and forcing many thousands into emergency shelters.

News • 16 May 13

A series of deadly incidents at factories have focused global attention on safety standards in Bangladesh's garment industry

Western retailers agree to Bangladesh safety plan

Several major Western retailers have embraced a plan requiring them to pay for factory improvements in Bangladesh.

News • 14 May 13

Officials have set the current death toll from a garment factory building collapse at 1,038

Woman rescued from rubble in Bangladesh

A woman has been rescued after spending 17 days trapped under the rubble of a Bangladesh factory building that collapsed on 24 April.

News • 10 May 13

A Bangladeshi garment worker holds up burnt cloth inside the gutted factory in Dhaka

Fire sweeps through factory in Bangladesh

Eight people were killed when a fire swept through a clothing factory in Bangladesh, two weeks after a building collapsed killing almost 900 people.

News • 09 May 13

At least 705 people died when the building collapsed

Bangladesh collapse survivors seek compensation

Survivors of last month's collapse of a building housing garment factories in Bangladesh have protested for compensation.

News • 07 May 13

The disaster has put the spotlight on Western retailers who use the impoverished South Asian nation as a source of cheap goods

Fears for Bangladeshi textile industry

Bangladesh has urged the European Union not to take tough measures against its economically crucial textile industry in response to the collapse of a garment factory that killed nearly 550 people.

News • 05 May 13