Bangladesh

At least 16 people were killed and several others injured after a massive fire engulfed a garment factory and an adjoining chemical warehouse in Dhaka’s Mirpur area on Tuesday, October 14, exposing once again the fragile state of industrial safety in Bangladesh’s most vital economic sector.

The 24-month cohort follow-up, conducted between August 2022 and December 2024, paints a troubling picture of early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, violence, and severe gaps in reproductive health services for some of the country’s most marginalised women.

the violence was triggered after a 12-year-old Marma girl was allegedly raped by three Bengali youths on September 23 while returning home from tuition in the Singinala area.

The joint study, led by Jahangirnagar University’s departments of Zoology and Environmental Science, documents the presence of microplastics not only in river water and sediments but also inside insect bodies.

The report’s broader poverty measure underscores how deeply structural pressures are squeezing households. The poverty rate – nearly 28 per cent – has jumped significantly in just three years.

Dhaka is warming faster than the rest of the country, and the consequences for public health, productivity, and well-being are growing.

The United States has issued eight key recommendations to bolster financial transparency in Bangladesh, following critical findings in its 2025 Fiscal Transparency Report released by the US State Department.

Climate change intensifies the vulnerability of ecologically sensitive areas, where faulty clearances often open the door for further degradation.