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WORLD NEWS Friday 9 November 2018

Bangladesh to hold elections Dec. 23 despite Zia's arrest

By JULHAS ALAM her Bangladesh National- are politically motivated.
Associated Press ist Party will participate in Also last month, the Elec-
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) the polls. The party and its tion Commission canceled
— Bangladesh's Election partners boycotted the last the political registration of
Commission announced election in 2014, when Ha- Jamaat-e-Islami, the main
Thursday that the next na- sina returned to power with partner of Zia's party, which
tional election will be held a commanding majority. prevents it from contest-
Dec. 23, despite the impris- Zia, 73, has been in jail since ing the election. The court
onment of the leader of February, when she was said the party's registration
the main opposition party sentenced to five years' violated election laws and
and the banning of its chief imprisonment for alleged the spirit of the constitution
partner. corruption in the establish- because the party had op-
Chief Election Commission- ment of an orphanage posed the country's war of
er K.M. Nurul Huda said in fund during her first term as independence with Paki-
a televised address that all In this Dec. 28, 2017 file photo, Bangladesh's former prime min- prime minister in 1991-1996. stan in 1971. The party is a
arrangements have been ister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia, center, leaves after a Following an appeal, the fierce opponent of Hasina
made to ensure the elec- court appearance in Dhaka, Bangladesh. High Court extended her and is eager to regain its
tion will be peaceful. Can- Associated Press sentence to 10 years. strength after the execu-
didates must file their appli- In a second case, a trial tions of its top leaders on
cations on Nov. 19. will head an election-time election could be rigged court last month sentenced charges of war crimes dur-
Huda said all political par- government as provided under Hasina. Zia to seven years in jail on ing the conflict.
ties would receive an equal for in the constitution. The Hasina's arch rival, former corruption charges linked The polls would be Bangla-
opportunity and urged all opposition has demanded Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, to a charity fund named desh's 11th general elec-
to contest the election. an independent caretaker is in jail on corruption charg- after her late husband. tion since it gained inde-
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina administration, saying the es. It is uncertain whether Zia's party says both cases pendence in the war.q

Toxic smog cloaks New Delhi morning after Diwali festivities

Associated Press The government blamed ple let off firecrackers until
NEW DELHI (AP) — Toxic the toxic stew on a combi- 1 a.m. Thursday in a south
smog shrouded the Indian nation of burning of stubble Delhi neighborhood where
capital as air quality plum- in agricultural fields and he lived. "It was very noisy,
meted to hazardous levels firecrackers. The Indian In- and on top of that the pol-
Thursday after tens of thou- stitute of Tropical Meteorol- lution level was so high, that
sands of people set off a ogy said an increasing sur- when I went outside my
multitude of firecrackers to face wind speed is expect- house to buy some water, I
celebrate the major Hindu ed to disperse pollutants in could see dark clouds, and
festival of Diwali. two to three days. everything was completely
With schools closed for holi- Many revelers flouted the dark. This is not good."
days, many young children Supreme Court order that Authorities this week tried
stayed indoors to escape firecrackers could be ex- to reduce dust by sprinkling
the pollution levels in New ploded only between 8 water in many neighbor-
Delhi that shot up to 681, p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednes- hoods and ordering build-
as reported by the U.S. Em- day. It also said that only Indian workers are seen in the morning smog as they clean ers to cover construction
a lane littered with remains of firecrackers set off Wednesday
bassy Thursday morning less polluting firecrackers night in Greater Noida, near New Delhi, India, Thursday, Nov.8, sites. Coal-based power
from 200 a day earlier. That could be made and sold. 2018. stations in the Indian capi-
measurement of small par- Rias Ahmed, an auto rick- Associated Press tal region have been shut
ticulate matter in the air is shaw driver, said it was down.
20 times higher than what's highly unlikely that air pollu- auto rickshaw since 1994, nose, it's all black. When The transport department
considered safe by the tion was going to decrease for 24 or 25 years, and it has we spit or cough, that's all was checking buses enter-
World Health Organization in and around the Indian been very difficult due to black. This is a problem." ing the region for valid emis-
and could seriously aggra- capital. the high pollution. Some- Mohammad Shahid Raza, sion papers and threaten-
vate heart or lung diseases. "I have been driving an times when we clean our a young student, said peo- ing to punish violators.q