Bangladesh said it suspected measles killed at least 98 children in the past three weeks, official data showed on Sunday, with Dhaka ramping up vaccination efforts in the worst-affected areas. Last week, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman directed two senior ministers to travel across the South Asian nation of 170 million people in an effort to assess the scale of the crisis to help coordinate a response. Health ministry data released on Sunday showed that children aged between six months and five years old with suspected measles symptoms soared to 6,476. “Compared with past years, the number of affected children is higher, and the death toll is higher too,” Halimur Rashid, director at the Communicable Disease Control, told AFP, referring to the number in suspected cases. The largest number of suspected cases on record was in 2005 at 25,934, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) data, though that number had significantly declined until this year. Rashid attributed the potential...
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Sunday announced that the government had secured a province-wide fare freeze after successful negotiations with transporters. Following increases in petroleum prices due to the ongoing global oil crisis, provinces have announced a host of relief measures for the public. In Sindh and Punjab, these steps include subsidies for motorcyclists, transporters and small-scale farmers. Addressing a high-level press conference at CM House, CM Murad said that following a series of consultations, transporters operating both inter-city and intra-city routes have agreed not to increase fares and to maintain rates as of Feb 28, 2026. The Sindh CM was flanked by provincial ministers, transporters’ representatives and top government officers. A press release issued by CM House quoted Murad as saying that the government had worked out a comprehensive strategy to protect citizens — particularly low-income commuters — from rising transportation costs triggered b...