At least Five people have died from heat stroke across the country. Among the deceased, two died in Chattogram, one each in Pabna, Chuadanga and Gazipur.  Two people, including a child, have died of heat stroke in Chattogram. Due to the intensity of heat, the movement of people and vehicles has decreased in different parts of the city. Severe heatwave continues in Pabna. The highest temperature of the season was recorded at 41.6 degrees Celsius at Ishwardi in Pabna on Saturday. Besides, a man named Sukumar Das (60) died of heat stroke in Pabna town. On the other hand, a mentally challenged youth has died of heat stroke at Konabari Jail Road area in Gazipur City Corporation.  In Chuadanga, a man named Zakir Hossain died of heat stroke while working in the field.  

At least 16 people were killed in road accidents in eight districts of the country. Many others were injured in these incidents. This information was revealed in the report sent by Rtv representatives from Tuesday (Aprin 9) morning to afternoon. Mymensingh: Three accidents took place in Mymensingh Sadar, Trishal and Tarakanda upazilas of the district from Tuesday morning to afternoon. Eight people, including three of a family, were killed in the incidents. Tangail: A man was killed in a collision between a pick-up van and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at Madhupur in Tangail on Tuesday afternoon. Another person was also injured in that incident. Dinajpur: A motorcyclist named Babul Hossain (40) was killed in a collision between two motorcycles on Dinajpur-Gobindaganj highway on Tuesday afternoon. Kurigram: A man was killed in a collision between a trolley and a motorcycle on Kurigram-Bhurungamari highway on Tuesday noon Besides, two people were killed in Sitakunda and three in Munshiganj, Bogura and Gaibandha. At least six people were injured in the incident.

Light rain or drizzle at one or two places in Chattogram and Barishal divisions was predicted. The rest of the country is expected to experience mainly dry conditions with a temporary partly cloudy sky, according to BMD’s weather forecast for Friday (Jan 26). A mild cold wave is currently sweeping over Rangpur division, including the district of Naogaon, and there are indications that it might extend its grip to other areas, said the BMD weather bulletin.   Moderate to thick fog is anticipated to envelop the country from midnight to morning, persisting in some areas until noon. This foggy spell could potentially disrupt air navigation, inland river transport, and road communication, urging caution for commuters and travelers, it said. Night temperatures are expected to drop by (1-2)°C, contributing to the chilly weather. However, day temperatures are likely to remain relatively unchanged across the country.  

A festive atmosphere is prevailing across Bangladesh centring on the voting of the 12th parliamentary election. The voting started at 8am on Sunday and will continue till 4pm.  Voters were seen queuing up to cast their ballots since morning. The number of voters increases as the day progresses.  During a visit to several polling stations in different districts, it was seen that voters including elderly people were gathering braving foggy weather.

The Election Commission has started distributing election materials from the offices of returning officers across the country ahead of 12th national parliamentary election scheduled to be held on Sunday (Jan 7).  Ballot papers and other polling materials, including stamp pads, official seals and marking seals, have been sent to the offices of returning officers (ROs). Balloting will begin at 8am and continue till 4pm without break at 261,912 polling booths in 42,024 voting centres across the country. From those offices, polling materials have been distributed to election officials of respective polling stations. However, ballot papers will reach presiding officers early on Sunday (Jan 7).   

Germany's weather service issued warnings for six states, adding that heavy rain will continue until Christmas Day. 100-150 liters per square meter could come down in a period of 48 to 96 hours in some areas. Recent heavy rainfall across Germany has increased the risk of flooding in several states, authorities said on Sunday. The German weather service (DWD) issued warnings for Saxony in the east and Lower Saxony in the northwest, as well as Bavaria in the southeast and Hesse, North-Rhine Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate in the west. It said that the persistent rain will continue until Christmas Day. The DWD added that 100-150 liters of rain per square meter could come down in a period of 48 to 96 hours in some areas. Germany was also struck by major flooding in June. Where were flooding alerts issued? The third-highest of four warning levels was reached at 30 measuring stations early on Sunday in Lower Saxony. The threshold was exceeded in several rivers, including the Weser, Aller, Leine and Oker. Emergency services secured transformer stations in the Rodenberg district east of Hanover, Germany's DPA news agency reported. Rodenberg mayor Thomas Wolf said that water was flowing over an anti-flooding barrier and that the municipality had not seen comparable flooding in 25 years. The eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt's flood forecasting center issued warnings for the Mulde, Aller and Havel rivers. Alert 3 was reached in parts of the southeastern state of Saxony, including in the city of Chemnitz. In the Ruhr Valley area, which includes the cities of Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg, and Bochum, heavy rain caused disruption on rail lines. On Saturday, in a flooded suburb of Münster in North-Rhine Westphalia, firefighters rescued a woman who was trapped in her car.

The Awami Action Committee and the All-Party Alliance have announced a protest movement in the entire Gilgit-Baltistan from December 21 against the surge in the price of wheat and reduction in subsidies, a local Urdu newspaper, DailyK2 reported. The Awami Action Committee and the All-Party Alliance have announced a protest movement in the entire Gilgit-Baltistan from December 21 against the surge in the price of wheat and reduction in subsidies, a local Urdu newspaper, DailyK2 reported. A joint meeting of the alliance was held under the chairmanship of Action Committee Chairman Ehsan Ali Advocate at a local hotel in Skardu, in which the leaders of the Public Action Committee Gilgit-Baltistan and the leaders of all political, religious, nationalist parties and business organisations were present. Moreover, a large number of lawyers participated in the joint meeting and they discussed the increase in the price of wheat that is raising concerns amongst residents, reported DailyK2. Following the meeting, it was unanimously decided that since December 20 was given to the government to approve the demands, a large-scale protest movement will be started in the entire Gilgit-Baltistan area of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), on December 21. Protests will begin simultaneously in all districts and there will be protest sit-ins and demonstrations against the increase in the price of wheat in the streets, according to DailyK2. Moreover, if the protest continues, the scope of the protest will spread to other parts of the country. Later, the Chairman of the Public Action Committee, Ehsan Ali Advocate, while addressing the joint meeting, said that the Provincial Assembly is a dummy assembly. Even though the law has not been passed, all the money is going into the pockets of the elite, there is spectacle everywhere, and the public has been made a scapegoat, he said, according to DailyK2.  Source: ANI

Nearly half the countries across the world are seeing a decline in the robustness of their democracy, an international think tank said on Thursday. In its annual report, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said that 85 out of 173 countries surveyed had "suffered a decline in at least one key indicator of democratic performance in the past five years." The setbacks ranged from flawed elections to curtailed rights, including the freedom of expression and right to assembly, the Stockholm-based watchdog said. Other variables included representation, participation and rule of law. The report named "declines in social group equality in the United States, freedom of the press in Austria and access to justice in the United Kingdom," as examples of concerning developments. "In short, democracy is still in trouble, stagnant at best, and declining in many places," IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora said. European democracies also deteriorating While Europe remains the highest-performing region, several established democracies including Austria, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and the UK are deteriorating, the report said. Meanwhile, countries such as Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia and Turkey performed well below the European average.  "This is the sixth year that we've seen more countries with democratic declines than improvements," IDEA program officer Michael Runey said. "We're also seeing declines in historically high performing democracies in Europe and North America and in Asia."  What is behind the decline? The think tank said the decline in democratic performance should be viewed in conjunction with the cost of living crisis, climate change and Russia's invasion of Ukraine — which posed major challenges for elected leaders. It specifically noted a downturn tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Casas-Zamora said that despite the deterioration of institutions, he maintained hope in alternate forms of democratic checks and balances. "But while many of our formal institutions like legislatures are weakening, there is hope that these more informal checks and balances, from journalists to election organizers and anti-corruption commissioners, can successfully battle authoritarian and populist trends," he said. 

Bangladesh Meteorology Department (BMD) forecasted light to moderate rain or thundershowers along with temporary gusty wind in all eight divisions of the country in the next 24 hours commencing 9am on Saturday, September 23.  It said, "Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at most places over Rangpur, Rajshahi and Mymensingh divisions and at many places over Dhaka, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions with moderately heavy to very heavy falls at places over the country in next 24 hours till 9am tomorrow," (UNB reports) However, the bulletin predicted that the day and night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country. Country's maximum temperature on Friday was recorded 33.7degrees Celsius at Mongla, while today's minimum temperature was 23.8 degrees Celsius at Sayedpur and Bandarban. The highest rainfall in the last 24 hours till 6am today was recorded 161 mm at Dimla.

A senior official in the Pakistan government has admitted that Pakistani smugglers are using drones to smuggle illicit drugs, mostly heroin into Indian territory. Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, the Special Assistant on Defence to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made these remarks to Hamid Mir, a journalist associated with Pakistan's Geo News. Mir has posted a video on his Twitter handle of the interview with Khan, who is also the Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) representing Kasur city, which borders the state of Punjab in India. The Pakistani journalist tweeted on July 17, "Big disclosure by PM's advisor Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan. Smugglers using drones in the flood-affected areas of Kasur near Pakistan-India border to transport heroin. He demanded a special package for the rehabilitation of the flood victims otherwise victims will join smugglers." When the journalist asks the special advisor to Pakistan PM about the issue of cross-border smuggling of narcotics in Kasur he affirms the development. "Sure, it (smuggling via drone) is happening and it is very unfortunate. Recently there have been two incidents where 10 kg of heroin was tied to each drone and thrown across. Agencies are working on it." Indian security forces have brought down a number of drones in recent times carrying contraband. In April this year, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said that security forces have taken many counter-measures to tackle incidents of dropping of weapons and drugs by drones sent by Pakistan. Earlier this month, on July 21, BSF and Punjab Police troops recovered a drone in broken condition from the farming field near Mastgarh village in Punjab's Tarn Taran district. On specific information, BSF and Punjab Police launched a search operation and recovered the Pakistani drone from the outskirts of Mastgarh village. "The recovered drone belongs to Quadcopter, DJI Matrice 300 RTK model," officials said. Earlier, the Border Security Force (BSF) foiled the nefarious design of smugglers by seizing 2.35 kg of heroin dropped by a Pakistani drone near the International Border in Punjab's Tarn Taran district. During the detailed search, the BSF troops recovered one packet of narcotics suspected to be heroin weighing 2.35 kg wrapped with yellow adhesive tape from the farming field ahead of border fencing. On June 29, BSF troops recovered approximately 5.120 kg of suspected heroin dropped by a Pakistani drone near the International Border in farming fields of Village- Khalra in Tarn Taran district. Earlier, on June 24, the troops of the BSF shot down a Pakistani drone that had intruded into the Indian airspace in Punjab's Tarn Taran sector. Also, the BSF shot and brought down a Pakistani drone in Punjab's Tarn Taran district. On June 22, the BSF in Punajb's Fazilka recovered a drone originating from the Pakistan side and two packets of suspected narcotics near the Abohar border. "On specific information, alert BSF troops recovered a Pakistani drone (DJI Matrice 300 RTK) on June 22, during morning hours along with 2 kg (appx) suspected heroin near the international border in Jodhawala village of Fazilka district," BSF Punjab Frontier said. BSF personnel in Rajasthan's Bikaner recovered a drone originating from the Pakistan side and two packets of suspected narcotics near the Rawla border. Source: The Hindu