The head of Bangladesh’s military-backed interim government pledged today’s election for prime minister – the country’s first poll in seven years – would be free and fair and urged political parties to accept the results.

Aid workers struggled today to help hundreds of thousands of survivors of a cyclone that blasted Bangladesh, killing a reported 1,100 people, savaging coastal towns and leaving millions without power in the deadliest storm in more than a decade.

A CYCLONE that slammed into the coast with 240km/h winds killed at least 1,100 people, isolating remote towns and villages swamped by a storm surge or hemmed in by piles of debris, aid workers and a Bangladeshi news agency said yesterday.

Police in Bangladesh arrested former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on corruption charges today, the latest in a series of moves by the military-backed government to undermine a political elite widely viewed as corrupt.

Authorities today lifted a curfew imposed five days ago on six major cities in Bangladesh in the wake of violent anti-government protests that left at least one dead, the government said.

Security forces patrolled the quiet streets of six major Bangladesh cities today, enforcing an indefinite curfew imposed by the military-backed government to quell unrest by students demanding an end to emergency rule.

Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was blocked today from boarding a flight home from London after the military-backed government barred her from returning.

A Bangladeshi court issued an arrest warrant today against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been charged with abetting murder, a news report said.

Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed today stepped down as the country’s interim leader soon after declaring a state of emergency, news reports said.

Separate clashes between rival political activists and police left one man dead and about 65 people injured, as a major political alliance in Bangladesh staged a nationwide transport blockade today to force electoral reforms, police said.

Attackers set three election offices on fire outside the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka today, as thousands of protesters gathered to demand the resignation of election officials ahead of January polls.

At least 15 people were killed in central Bangladesh today when a packed river ferry capsized after hitting a cargo boat.

At least seven women and a child were killed in two separate stampedes today when thousands of destitute Bangladeshis scrambled for charity clothing distributed ahead of a Muslim festival, news reports said.

At least three bombs ripped through a cattle market in northwestern Bangladesh today, killing four policemen and a businessman, a news report said.

Nearly 10,000 security forces fanned out across the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka today during an opposition-sponsored general strike that shut down schools and stores and disrupted traffic.

Lightning strikes during seasonal rainstorms killed at least seven people and injured five others today in the Bangladeshi capital and two other eastern districts, a news agency reported.

A six-storey building housing a garment factory, shops and offices collapsed in the Bangladeshi capital today, with many trapped inside, a fire brigade spokesman said.

At least 10 people were injured today when a bomb went off in a town near the Bangladeshi capital where a powerful bomb killed seven people earlier this week, United News of Bangladesh reported.

A series of bombs in two Bangladesh cities killed at least eight people and injured 66 today in what appeared to be the latest attack by militant Muslims who want to impose harsh Islamic law, officials said.

A bomb thrown at a minibus carrying two judges in southern Bangladesh exploded today, killing one judge and injuring the other and the vehicle’s driver, a news report said.

At least eight factory workers were killed and some 70 others injured today after a packed bus collided with a second bus near Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka.

Bombs exploded at court buildings in three towns in Bangladesh today, killing one person and wounding several others.

At least a dozen people were killed and hundreds injured in a series of bomb blasts at an opposition rally in Bangladesh’s capital today, witnesses and news reports said.

A river burst its banks and surged through 25 villages while residents slept in northern Bangladesh today, killing 13 people – mostly children – as homes, crops and trees were washed away.

Bombs have exploded in four cinemas in northern Bangladesh, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 200 others.

AT least 30 women and children were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede when thousands of poor people scrambled for clothes being handed out in a northern Bangladesh town yesterday, police said.

A 45-year-old Bangladeshi man emerged from his grave after nearly six hours underground, a local news agency reported today.