HOME AND ABROAD

Stuck on the Highway

Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. People were allowed a day of respite when the week long blockade was stopped for a whole 24 hours on Friday, December 6. However, this off-day for blockade proponents proved to be hellish for the thousands of vehicles which were stranded for several hours on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. The goods-laden vehicles that set off on Thursday night could not reach their destinations even early Saturday. The tailback stretched for around 60-70 kilometres, and police escorted some 4,000 vehicles in phases throughout Saturday. Some vehicles took 22-24 hours to reach their destinations on the Dhaka-Chittagong route, instead of six to seven hours on normal days.

Trains Made to Derail Again

Gaibandha. Three passengers were killed and 35 others injured as four coaches and the engine of Padmarag Express veered off the tracks in Gaibandha after blockaders ripped apart fish plates and clips from the rail lines. Similar acts of sabotage caused the derailment of two trains in Khulna and Chandpur, leaving at least 10 passengers injured and suspending Dhaka-Khulna and Chandpur-Chittagong rail communications.

No Social Consciousness

Patenga, Chittagong. There's an extent to selfishness but Triple Superphosphate Complex Limited, a state-owned fertiliser factory situated in Chittagong city's Patenga industrial area, has gone far and beyond the limit. The factory spews out gases which, residents of adjacent neighbourhoods allege, intermittently creates smog every winter and causes skin and eye irritation and induces nausea and breathlessness.

Deserted During Peak Season

Bandarban. Bandarban is one of the most visited tourist spots during the winter. The scenic area, however, sports a deserted look even during its peak season.  Meghla, like the other spots in Bandarban district, witnessed a dull season this year due to hartals and blockades. The scenic tourist spots of the district, which usually remain crowded with a large number of tourists from different parts of the country during this peak time of the year, now see only a few visitors due to the ongoing hartal and blockade programmes. 

Toppling Lenin's Statue

Kiev, Ukraine. Pro-EU Ukrainian demonstrators topple the statue of Soviet Union's founder Vladimir Lenin  and attacked it with hammers on Sunday in the latest mass protests against President Viktor Yanukovich and his plans for closer ties with Russia. Demonstrators kept up their protest against Yanukovich as the authorities sent internal troops and riot police into central Kiev in an increasingly tense showdown. Thousands braved sub-freezing temperatures to maintain the open-ended demonstration on Independence Square in Kiev while others guarded barricades thrown up the day earlier around key government buildings.

'Ghost' Airport Up for Sale

Madrid, Spain. A huge airport in central Spain that cost one billion euros ($1.4 billion) to build but has not received a commercial flight since 2011 went up for auction Monday for just 100 million euros. With a runway long enough to land an Airbus 380, the world's largest airliner, and a capacity to handle 10 million passengers per year, the airport at Ciudad Real some 200 kilometres (100 miles) south of Madrid, has become a symbol of Spain's real estate bubble. The airport went up for auction on Monday for a starting price of 100 million euros to meet creditor demands and the bidding will close on December 27, a spokesman for a commercial court in Ciudad Real which is overseeing its sale said.

Not Attending Madiba's Funeral

New Delhi, India. Spokesperson Tenzin Takhla said on Monday that the Dalai Lama will not attend memorial services for fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Takhla gave no reason for the Dalai Lama missing the memorial service in Johannesburg and funeral in Mandela's hometown, and only stated that “logistically it's impossible at this time.”  South Africa blocked the Dalai Lama from attending a Nobel laureates' peace conference in 2009, and stalled on a 2011 visa until the Tibetan leader withdrew the application.

Unfit For Occupation

Bellingham, Washington. A health official in northwest Washington state says three college students who began to feel dizzy and lethargic while living for several months in a rental house have been told to move after the home tested positive for methamphetamine. Whatcom County Health Department supervisor Jeff Hegedus said that an initial health department test found meth contamination well above Whatcom County's legal limit. A second test done by a decontamination contractor came back with an even higher meth reading.