In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, the government is considering a temporary travel ban to and from China.

It was 3:30pm yesterday in Old Dhaka’s Ray Shaheb Bazar Mor area. Traffic at the intersection halted as several hundred BNP leaders and activists surrounded their party mayor candidate Ishraque Hossain.

With the deadline for election campaign ending on January 30 midnight, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Awami League’s mayor candidate in Dhaka South City Corporation polls, passed a hectic day yesterday trying to woo voters in different areas of Old Dhaka.

As the capital is abuzz with campaigns for the city corporation polls, candidates are found using loudspeakers during the hours when it is not permitted by electoral rules.

Bangladeshi students under lockdown in China’s Wuhan city, the epicentre of the Coronavirus outbreak that has claimed 41 lives so far, have appealed for help through social media, saying they want to return to Bangladesh.

Europe, South Asia, Australia yesterday reported first confirmed cases as the death toll from China’s coronavirus outbreak jumped to 41.

Bangladesh continued their dismal show with the bat as Pakistan clinched the three-match T20I series 2-0 with a game in hand after beating the visitors comprehensively by nine wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore yesterday.

Although it is the peak season of harvesting rice, prices of the staple food are going up both in the capital’s retail and wholesale markets, dealing a blow to the people with limited income who are already struggling to make their ends meet.

Chinese authorities yesterday expanded a mammoth quarantine effort aimed at containing a deadly contagion to 13 cities and a staggering 41 million people, as nervous residents were checked for fevers and the death toll climbed to 26.

Myanmar has rejected Rohingya genocide claims after the World Court on Thursday ordered the country to prevent the genocidal acts in Rakhine State.

Myanmar and its ally China will face mounting pressure after the World Court asked Naypyidaw to stop genocidal acts in Rakhine State, analysts said.

Playing in Pakistan after a gap of 12 years was a historic moment for Bangladesh as cricket finally took centre stage with the first T20I yesterday after security concerns grabbed headlines before the series.

Age is the price of wisdom, it is often said. And an audience with the immediate past finance minister, AMA Muhith, calls to mind that saying.

Bangladesh has been sitting on a zero-cost labour recruitment offer that Malaysia made more than a year ago.

In ordering Myanmar yesterday to take immediate measures to prevent atrocities against its Muslim Rohingya minority, the International Court of Justice in The Hague was handing down a binding ruling with no possibility of appeal - and no means of enforcement.

The Rohingyas have been facing persecution for decades. They have lived without citizenship and faced restrictions on freedom of movement. They have also been denied basic rights.

In a landmark ruling, the top court of the United Nations has ordered Myanmar to prevent acts of genocide against the country’s persecuted Rohingya minority and to stop destroying evidence.

ARMY OPERATIONS * On Aug 25, 2017, Rohingya militants attack police posts; a dozen officers killed

Global human rights bodies have called for the international community to press Myanmar to comply with the order issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to protect Rohingyas in Rakhine from the acts of possible genocide.

Dhaka has urged Naypyidaw to fully implement the order given by the International Court of Justice and respect the expectations of the international community.