Ten leaders and activists of BNP were arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from a hotel in Dhaka's Gulshan area on Tuesday.  Imran Khan, ASP of RAB Headquarters (Media Wing) said in a press conference today. He said, "At least 20 people, including three policemen, were injured in a clash involving BNP, Awami League activists, and police in Araihazar upazila of Narayanganj on Tuesday, on the first day of the nationwide three-day blockade." Today is the last day of the three-day blockade called by opposition parties including BNP and Jamaat. The number of traffic on the road has slightly increased today as compared to the last two days.   

The national Women's World Cup team, or the Football Ferns, was evacuated after a fire broke out at their hotel in Auckland. This is the second security incident since the start of the tournament this week. New Zealand's Women's World Cup team was evacuated briefly on Saturday after several small fires broke out at their hotel in Auckland, local media reported. All team members are accounted for and safe, authorities said. Police charged a 34-year-old man with burglary and arson, the Associated Press reported.  New Zealand and Australia are co-hosting the ninth edition of the Women's World Cup. Saturday's fire was the second security incident in the three days since the World Cup tournament began. A rare shooting in Auckland hours before the official opening of the competition at a construction site in Auckland had raised concerns among officials and the public. But there was no indication the shooting was tied to the game. A moment of silence for the victims was held before New Zealand defeated Norway 1-0 in the first match on July 20. What do we know about the incident at the hotel? At about 7:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT/UTC) Saturday, the national women's football team, or the Football Ferns, was evacuated from the Pullman Hotel in downtown Auckland. Four people were treated for smoke inhalation, according to the New Zealand Herald newspaper. Police said they considered the fire to be suspicious, but no other details were disclosed. The New Zealand team will continue group games at the tournament on Tuesday with a match against the Philippines in Wellington.

The police recovered the body of a young man named PP Shah Tripura (26) from a residential hotel named Al-Arafat at Kamlapur in the capital. On Monday, February 6 in the morning this incident occurred.  He was rescued in an unconscious state and taken to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the doctor on duty declared him dead at around 1 pm. Hafiz Uddin, Sub-Inspector (SI) of Motijheel Police Station, said, "We got the information and rescued him hanging from room number 601 of Al-Arafat Residential Hotel at North Kamalapur of Motijheel. Later, the doctor declared him dead." He also said that PP Shah Tripura rented the room number 601 of that residential hotel about a week ago. When he was not opened the door this morning, the hotel authorities entered the room and found him hanging. Then, we went and rescued. The deceased's village home is in Gomti village of Sadar Upazila of Khagrachari.  He also said that efforts are being taken to find out the cause of death.

A bomb explosion at a luxury hotel in the Pakistani city of Quetta has killed at least four people and wounded 12. The Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan is suspected to have been the target of the attack in the car park of the Serena Hotel, correspondents say. He is understood to be in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province near the Afghan border, but was not present at the scene at the time. The Pakistani Taliban have claimed the attack, without giving details. In recent months the group, and other militant organisations, have stepped up attacks in tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan. The vehicle exploded in the hotel's car park and the fire spread burning down several other vehicles nearby. Footage of the blast was shared on social media in the aftermath, showing the fire raging in the car park. The Serena Hotel is the best known in Quetta, and provides accommodation for government officials and visiting dignitaries. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told Pakistani broadcaster ARY News TV that "a car that was full of explosives exploded in the hotel" while news agency AFP cited him as saying it was "an act of terrorism". He added that the Chinese ambassador, Nong Rong, was at a function at the time and so was not at the hotel. Local media are citing officials as saying that all other guests from the hotel were also safe. A Taliban spokesman confirmed to Reuters that "it was a suicide attack in which our suicide bomber used his explosives-filled car in the hotel." Balochistan's provincial Home Minister Ziaullah Lango told reporters that Mr Nong was "in high spirits" and that his visit to Quetta would conclude on Thursday. One of Pakistan's poorest provinces, Balochistan is home to several armed groups, including Islamic extremists and separatists. Militants want independence from the rest of Pakistan, and oppose major Chinese infrastructure projects in the area. The separatists were also blamed for an attack two years ago on a hotel at Gwadar, a port project funded by China. They accuse the government and China of exploiting Balochistan's gas and mineral wealth, and strategic position with little benefit to local people. Source: BBC AH

About 70 people were trapped on Saturday after a hotel being used for coronavirus quarantine collapsed in the Chinese city of Quanzhou in Fujian Province, the city’s authority said on its website. Video posted online showed orange-clad rescue workers clambering over mounds of rubble. It was not clear how tall the building had been before it collapsed, but there appeared to be commercial properties at street level. The building collapsed at about 7:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) and 34 people were rescued in the following two hours, the Quanzhou authorities said. The official People’s Daily said the hotel had opened in June 2018 with 80 rooms and was being used to quarantine people during the coronavirus outbreak. The Fujian provincial government said that as of Friday, the province had 296 cases of coronavirus and 10,819 people had been placed under observation after being classified as suspected close contacts. Source: Reuters AH

Three gunmen have stormed a five-star hotel in the restive Pakistani province of Balochistan, killing at least one person, officials say. The attack targeted the Pearl Continental Hotel in the port city of Gwadar, the centerpiece of a multi-billion-dollar Chinese project. Most guests have been evacuated. The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army said it had carried out the attack to target Chinese and other foreign investors. The gunmen stormed the hotel, popular with foreign visitors, at around 16:50 local time (11:50 GMT), killing one security guard. Reports say the security forces are fighting a gun battle with the militants. It is unclear how many people were at the building but officials say the majority of guests were evacuated. The hotel sits on a hilltop overlooking the strategic Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea, which is being developed by China as part of the China-Pakistan Economic corridor, a network of roads, railway and pipelines between the two countries. The attack comes just weeks after gunmen killed 14 people, including 11 military personnel, in the region. The situation in Balochistan- Home to a long-running insurgency, Balochistan is Pakistan's poorest and least developed province. Its economy is dominated by natural resources, particularly natural gas, and is being transformed by major Chinese infrastructure projects, part of the ambitious Belt and Road initiative. Several militant groups operate in the region, including the Pakistani Taliban, the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Sunni Muslim extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They have carried out a number of attacks in recent years, including against Chinese-led projects. Source: BBC AH

An Islamic extremist believed to have played a key role in Sri Lanka’s deadly Easter bombings died in an attack on a Colombo hotel, the country’s president confirmed Friday. “What intelligence agencies have told me is that Zahran was killed during the Shangri-La attack,” President Maithripala Sirisena told reporters, referring to Zahran Hashim, leader of a local extremist group. Hashim appeared in a video released by the Islamic State group after they claimed the bombings, but his whereabouts after the blasts was not immediately clear. Sirisena did not immediately clarify what Hashim’s role was in the attack on the Shangri-La, one of six bomb blasts that killed over 250 people on Sunday. Source: AFP AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday evening formally inaugurated hotel Ruposhi Bangla with a new name, ‘InterContinental Dhaka’, on completion of its four years of basic renovation work. Bangladesh Services Limited (BSL), a state-run company, renovated the hotel spending Tk 620 crore. It is a historic hotel for many reasons and it has emerged with its old name, InterContinental Dhaka. Reports UNB. The Inter-Continental Dacca opened in 1966 as the first international five-star hotel in Bangladesh. The InterContinental Dhaka had run this historic hotel till 1983 before Sheraton took it over. The renovation work was carried out under an agreement signed between BSL and InterContinental Hotels Group (Asia Pacific) Pvt Ltd (IHG) on February 19, 2012. The InterContinental Hotels Group will run the hotel for 30 years under the agreement. Under the renovation project, each room has been widened to 40 square meters from the existing 26 square meters and the number of rooms has been brought down 231 from previous 272. Its dining hall and swimming pool have also been relocated apart from adding some new services. The hotel hosted many important political events in the run-up to the independence of Bangladesh, including negotiations on the transfer of power after the 1970 elections. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, it was declared a neutral zone by the International Red Cross. Many buildings in its surrounding neighborhoods were targeted by the Pakistani military, including newspaper offices and university halls. On the dark night of March 25, 1971, a host of international media journalists, including Mark Tali and Saimon Dring of BBC, Anold Zaitlen and Clare Halingworth, Associated Press (AP) bureau chief of Pakistan, David Greenway, a reporter of Washington  Post, who were staying at the hotel,  captured pictures of the brutal genocide risking their lives. The world was able to know about the barbarity taking place in the country through their photos. The hotel’s other basic facilities for its gusset include minibar, electronic safety deposit box; high speed internet connectivity; express check-in; business centre; Wi-Fi Internet in all rooms, executive club lounge, business center, meeting rooms and public areas; gift shop; fitness centre and swimming pool. Club InterContinental offers guests an even higher level of luxury and exclusivity, from the spacious and generally appointed rooms to the private club lounge overlooking the hotel atrium; everything will revolve around the guests and their individual needs.  AH

Five people have perished in a raging inferno that tore through a hotel and casino complex in Manila, authorities said Monday, after firefighters battled more than 24 hours to douse the flames, reports BSS referring AFP. Rescuers said billowing smoke, sometimes so dense it obscured the 22-floor Waterfront Manila Pavilion, had hampered their efforts to contain the blaze which started Sunday morning. The dead were all casino employees, and another of the workers was still in critical condition. About 20 people were injured. Some 300 guests and staff were evacuated safely, hotel and fire officials told a press conference. "We are hoping no one was left behind in the rooms. Our firefighters have not yet gone up all parts of the building," Metro Manila Development Authority acting chief Jojo Garcia said. Some firefighters were treated after inhaling the dense smoke, which shrouded the chaotic scene on Sunday.  "The smoke was so big, so you can just imagine, there was zero visibility and our firefighters had difficulty breathing. Even outside the building there was zero visibility and it was much harder to operate inside," Manila district fire marshal Jonas Silvano told radio DZBB. Deadly blazes break out regularly in the Philippines, particularly in slum areas where there are virtually no safety standards. The deadliest in recent years was in suburban Manila where 72 people died in 2015 at a factory which makes rubber sandals. But more modern buildings have also gone up in huge, deadly blazes.  In December, 38 people died in a fire at a four-storey shopping mall in the southern city of Davao.   FU