Bangladesh
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Death Toll in Bangladesh Clashes over War Crimes Verdicts Rises to 52

Fresh clashes erupted Friday in Bangladesh, bringing the number of people killed to 52 in violence triggered by convictions for Islamist leaders over war crimes committed during the 1971 independence war.

A rickshawpuller was killed after hundreds of pro-government supporters and followers of the rival Jamaat-e-Islami party clashed with sticks at a market in the northern district of Gaibandha, local police chief Nahidul Islam told Agence France Presse.

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More Clashes Rock Bangladesh after Islamist Ordered Hanged

A Bangladesh war crimes court sentenced a top Islamist opposition figure to death on Thursday, a verdict that unleashed a new wave of deadly clashes between police and protestors.

Four people were shot dead in the violence that erupted after a court in Dhaka found Delwar Hossain Sayedee, vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, guilty of eight crimes related to the 1971 liberation war with Pakistan.

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4 Killed in Bangladesh Islamist Protest Over bloggers

Bangladesh police fired live rounds on Sunday in clashes with Islamists demanding the execution of bloggers they accuse of blasphemy, killing at least four protesters and injuring dozens.

Eighteen of the injured suffered bullet wounds in the unrest at Singair in the central district of Manikganj, as the Muslim-majority nation was hit by an Islamist-enforced strike.

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Bangladesh Moves to Ban Main Islamic Party

Bangladesh's parliament Sunday amended a law to allow the prosecution of the country's largest Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami for war crimes, in a move that could pave the way to it being banned.

News of the move was greeted by loud cheers from thousands of protesters in central Dhaka who have been demanding a ban on Jamaat, whose leaders are on trial for war crimes allegedly committed in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

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Bangladesh PM Hints at Backing Ban of Islamic Party

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina indicated Saturday she would back a ban on the country's largest Islamic party, as tens of thousands of people joined the funeral of an anti-Islamist blogger.

Hasina said after a meeting with the mourning relatives of Ahmed Rajib Haider that the Jamaat-e-Islami party, whose members are suspected in the blogger's murder, had "no right to be in politics in free Bangladesh".

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Bangladesh Bans Japanese Cartoon to Halt Hindi Invasion

Bangladesh has banned the Japanese manga cartoon Doraemon from its TV screens over fears that youngsters who are hooked on the Hindi-dubbed version are struggling to learn their native Bengali.

Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu told parliament Thursday that television channels which have been screening Doraemon had been sent official notifications ordering them to take the series off air.

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Two Die after Bangladesh War Crimes Protest

Two people died on Thursday after suffering injuries in violent clashes between police and Islamists earlier in the week during protests over war crimes trials in Bangladesh.

The demonstrators have been demanding a halt to the trials of opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party leaders for crimes including genocide and rape they are alleged to have committed during the 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

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17 Dead as Bus Plunges into Bangladesh River

A bus carrying pilgrims to Bangladesh's beach resort town of Cox's Bazaar plunged into a dried up river Monday, killing at least 17 people and injuring another 26, police said.

The bus crashed onto the Matamuhuri's parched river bed after the driver lost control of the vehicle which then smashed through railings on a bridge.

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100,000 Demand Ban on Bangladesh Islamic Party

Tens of thousands of people rallied Friday in the capital Dhaka and other cities to demand a ban on Bangladesh's largest Islamic party and the execution of its leaders who are on trial for war crimes.

The protests have been going on since Tuesday when Abdul Quader Molla, a senior figure in the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was sentenced to life imprisonment for mass murder during the 1971 independence war against Pakistan.

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Scores Missing after Ferry Sinks in Bangladesh

Scores of people are missing after a ferry carrying around 100 passengers sank in a river in Bangladesh on Friday, officials said.

"So far we have gathered that the ferry was carrying around 100 people and some have swum to the banks," local police chief Jahangir Hossain told Agence France Presse after the accident on the Meghna river in the central district of Munshiganj.

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