At least 25 people were killed in a collision between two boats in central Bangladesh on Monday, police said.

Bangladesh has deployed border guards to help maintain order, a senior officer said Saturday after deadly protests by hardline Islamists against a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rocked the Muslim majority nation.

More than 50,000 people took part Monday in the biggest demonstration yet in Bangladesh over French President Emmanuel Macron's defence of the right to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Bangladesh has prepared a huge field hospital in three weeks to treat coronavirus patients in an attempt to fight the intensifying outbreak in the country.

Bangladesh authorities have blocked access to a popular news portal in what critics on Tuesday condemned as the latest blow to freedom of expression in the South Asian nation.

Bangladesh authorities prevented 84 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar from attempting a perilous boat journey to Malaysia, officials said Saturday.

Cyclone Fani weakened to a depression as it barrelled into Bangladesh on Saturday after leaving a trail of deadly destruction in India, although a major human disaster looked to have been averted.

At least 70 people were killed when fire tore through crumbling apartment blocks in a historic part of Dhaka, setting off a chain of explosions and a wall of flames down nearby streets, officials said Thursday. 

It started in one building where chemicals for deodorants and other household uses were illegally stored and spread at lightning speed to four nearby buildings, the fire service said. 

Bangladesh has protested to Myanmar over a new influx of refugees fleeing troubled Rakhine state after clashes between security forces and an insurgent group, an official said Wednesday.

Bangladesh's opposition demanded fresh elections Wednesday as parliament convened for the first time since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stormed to power in a disputed poll her rivals say was rigged.