Feb 12 News Live: BJP MP Dubey moves substantive motion against Rahul Gandhi

Bangladesh gears up for crucial general elections today amid high security

Bangladesh will hold its crucial parliamentary elections on Thursday, 18 months after an interim government took charge following the collapse of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year-old regime in massive nationwide protests.

The Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements, deploying nearly one million security personnel - the largest-ever in the country's electoral history. The 13th Parliamentary elections are being held simultaneously along with a referendum on a complex 84-point reform package.

The contest is mainly between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its once ally Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of Hasina's now disbanded Awami League. Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ interim government last year disbanded the Awami League and barred it from contesting the polls.

The voting will begin simultaneously in 299 parliamentary constituencies across the country from 7:30 am and will continue until 4:30 pm. Voting in one constituency has been cancelled due to the death of a candidate.

A total of 1,755 candidates from 50 political parties and 273 independents are contesting in the election. The BNP has fielded the highest number of 291 candidates. There are 83 female candidates.

Deaths in Iran's crackdown on protests reach at least 7,000, activists say

The death toll from a crackdown over Iran's nationwide protests last month has reached at least 7,002 people killed with many more still feared dead, activists said Thursday.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which offered the latest figures, has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. The slow rise in the death toll has come as the agency slowly is able to crosscheck information as communication remains difficult with those inside of the Islamic Republic.

Iran's government offered its only death toll on January 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran's theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran. The rise in the death toll comes as Iran tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear programme.

Pentagon let CBP use anti-drone laser before FAA closed El Paso airspace

The Pentagon allowed US Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser earlier this week, leading the Federal Aviation Administration to suddenly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

The confusing arc of events began as the FAA announced on Wednesday that it was shutting down all flight traffic over the city on the US-Mexico border for 10 days, stranding some travellers, but the closure ended up only lasting a few hours. The Trump administration said it stemmed from the FAA and Pentagon working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border.

One of the people said the laser was deployed near Fort Bliss without coordinating with the FAA, which decided then to close the airspace to ensure commercial air safety. Others familiar with the matter said the technology was used despite a meeting scheduled for later this month between the Pentagon and the FAA to discuss the issue.

While the restrictions were short-lived in the city of nearly 7,00,000 people, it is unusual for an entire airport to shut down even for a short time. Stranded travellers with luggage lined up at airline ticket counters and car rental desks before the order was lifted.

Police identify suspect in Canada school shooting as 18-year-old

Police have identified the suspect in a school shooting in Canada as an 18-year-old who had prior mental health calls to her home and who was found dead following the attack that killed nine people in a remote part of British Columbia.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald on Wednesday said Van Rootselaar had a history of mental health contact with police, and that the suspect's mother and stepbrother were also found dead in a home near the school. The motive remained unclear.

More than 25 people were wounded Tuesday in the attack in the small mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, including two with life-threatening injuries who were airlifted for medical care, police said. The village of 2,700 people in the Canadian Rockies is more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) northeast of Vancouver, near the provincial border with Alberta.

"Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you, and Canada stands by you," an emotional Prime Minister Mark Carney said as he arrived in Parliament.

Death toll rises to 31 after Tropical Cyclone Gezani hits Madagascar

Tropical Cyclone Gezani collapsed houses in Madagascar's main port city and left at least 31 people dead as it crossed the Indian Ocean island with high winds and rain, authorities said Wednesday.

Madagascar's weather service issued red alerts for several regions warning of possible floods and landslides as the storm made landfall late Tuesday with wind speeds of more than 195 kph (121 mph). It then roared across the large island of 31 million people, many of whom live in poverty and have inadequate shelter from storms.

Madagascar is especially vulnerable to cyclones blowing in off the Indian Ocean and was battered by another deadly cyclone less than two weeks ago.

The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said building collapses caused some of the at least 31 deaths, and at least 36 other people were seriously injured as Gezani made landfall in the eastern city of Toamasina. The agency said four people were missing and more than 6,000 people were displaced from their homes.

Toamasina, with around 300,000 residents, sustained severe damage, residents told The Associated Press. The majority of the deaths were in that region, authorities said.

Passenger ferry capsizes on Nile River in Sudan, at least 15 dead

A passenger ferry has capsized on the Nile River in Sudan, leaving at least 15 people dead, a medical group said.

The ferry, with at least 27 people on board, including women and children, sank in the northern Nile River province, said the Sudan Doctors Network, a medial group that tracks the country's ongoing war.

The group said at least 15 bodies have been recovered, while residents and rescue teams were still searching for at least six other victims. Six people survived the tragedy, it said.