A top UN official has urged Bangladesh to let two stranded boats with Rohingya refugees on board land amid mounting fears over their fate.

On Monday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned of a "human tragedy of terrible proportions" unless action is taken to help the Rohingya on the boats.

Islamabad, Pakistan - South Asian countries are beginning to see their first fatalities from the coronavirus outbreak, with COVID19 claiming at least six lives across the region amid a spike in cases in Pakistan and elsewhere.

The outbreak does not appear to have reached the widespread secondary contact stage seen in Europe and the United States - and earlier in China and South Korea - yet, but cases are continuing to rise as governments across the region scramble to enforce social distancing guidelines.

New Delhi, India - A tweet posted by India's governing party has triggered controversy, with the right-wing party accused of mocking a phrase used by anti-citizenship law protesters.

India has witnessed nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by Parliament in December last year in the latest in a string of anti-Muslim policies pushed by the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

Dhaka, Bangladesh - Shirina Begum was no stranger to sleeping on an empty stomach. For days on end, she had to consume "bhater mar" (the starchy water poured off cooked rice) to quell her hunger after feeding her two children and ailing husband.

Growing up in the small Bangladeshi village of Namorikari in Lalmonirhat, which often faces seasonal famines, 29-year-old Begum struggled to make ends meet.

Bangladesh has been a vulnerable state for much of its short existence. People in this flood-prone country have coped with rising water levels with a combination of innovation, flexibility and resilience – but the extremes the environment is now throwing at them might be beyond anyone’s endurance.

Bangladesh is sometimes known as the “land of the rivers.” It’s got hundreds of them — and over the years, they’ve been getting more and more polluted. But as of early July, every single one of them has a remarkable new level of protection: The Bangladeshi Supreme Court has given all rivers in the country legal rights.

At least three American students have been identified among 20 people killed during an ISIS attack on a cafe in Bangladesh yesterday.