In Bangladesh, 50 people have been injured in clashes between riot police and hundreds of stone-throwing opposition protesters demanding electoral reforms before upcoming general elections.
Thursday’s protest in the capital, Dhaka, was in conjunction with a one-day strike, called by an alliance of 14 opposition parties led by the Awami League. The strike shut down schools and shops and disrupted traffic in the city.
The opposition is demanding that the election commissioner be replaced, saying he has a pro-government bias. The opposition also wants a say in choosing the head of a caretaker administration that would supervise the election scheduled for January.
Opposition leader Sheikh Hasina has threatened to boycott the elections unless the country's electoral system is reformed.
The government has ignored the opposition demands, and accused it of trying to foil the election and disrupt democracy.
Matiur Rahman Choudhury has more on the story.
