BANGLADESH: The death toll from a fire at a garment factory and a chemical warehouse in Dhaka rose to 16 today after rescuers recovered more workers’ bodies.

Fire official Talha bin Jashim said Tuesday’s blaze began on the third floor of the seven-storey building in the Mirpur area. 

Bangladesh’s garment industry, the world’s second largest, has long been plagued by deadly fires and industrial accidents blamed on poor oversight and building code violations.

VENEZUELA: The US struck another vessel off the Venezuelan coast this week, killing six people, in the fifth such attack by the Trump administration since September.

Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the vessel belonged to “narcoterrorists” and was “trafficking narcotics.”

Neighbouring countries, including Colombia and Venezuela, have condemned the strikes, while lawyers accused Washington of violating international law.

UKRAINE: Germany today pledged more than $2 billion (£1.5bn) in military aid to Kiev as President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government said it would need $120bn (£89.6bn) next year to continue its war effort against Russia. 

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin would buy US-made weapons for Ukraine under a new fast-track scheme. 

Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Sweden also announced plans to contribute to the funding initiative.

HAITI: Doctors Without Borders said today that escalating violence has forced it to permanently close its Port-au-Prince emergency care centre, a key facility in a capital now 90 per cent controlled by gangs. 

The group said more than 60 per cent of the city's health facilities, including Haiti’s general hospital, are closed or non-functional amid the unrest. 

The Turgeau centre had previously shut in March after armed men attacked four of the organisation’s vehicles evacuating staff, leaving several employees injured.