Bangladesh

High court of Bangladesh proclaim Ruhul Amin Khandakar as guilty in absentia of contempt of court after failing to return from Australia in response to a court summons. Last year Mr Khandakar posted comments implying that he wanted Sheikh Hasina to die, high court officials said. His comment reportedly related to Bangladesh's high road fatality rate. It was posted following the death of one of the country's best known film makers, Tareq Masud, in a road accident in August, which left many Bangladeshis deeply shocked. According to officials, Ruhul Khandakar blamed the government for the fact there are so many road deaths in Bangladesh. The high court ordered officials to return Mr Khandakar, who is studying in Australia, to Bangladesh. It also directed his university employers to take action against him.

The Bus Owners' and Workers' Unity Council has declared that they will enforce a transport strike on 41 routes of the North Western region of the country inorder to release the killer driver Jamir Hossain, who is alleged for murdering Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier. Khulna Transport Workers Unity Council general secretary Sahadat Hossain Mridha told on Thursday, "Although bus movement has been suspended on 18 routes of Khulna, we will sit with the Jessore workers union at noon to take the final decision." Besides this, the strike is continuing on the 21 routes of the Jessore district, he added. Earlier on Wednesday, the association called an indefinite bus strike in 21 southwestern districts, demanding release of the driver who was allegedly responsible for the deaths of filmmaker Tareque masud and television personality Mishuk Munier. On the same evening, transport workers federation chief Shahjahan Khan said that the indefinite bus strike was withdrawn within ...