In Bangladesh, things are getting pretty intense with these student protests over the way the government is handing out jobs. The craziness has been going on for a few days now, and it's just gotten worse, with the military out on the streets of Dhaka trying to keep the peace.
Things Are Getting Ugly
The protests started a while ago but really picked up steam in the last few days, turning into what could be the most dangerous day yet. On Friday, it was hard to get a straight answer on how many people had died, with Somoy TV saying 43 and an AP journalist seeing 23 bodies at the hospital. We're not sure if all those deaths were just from that one day, though.
Then, on Thursday, things went downhill with another 22 people losing their lives as students tried to shut the whole country down. Plus, there were more fights and stuff on Tuesday and Wednesday, so the total number of people who've been killed is definitely going up.
What's the Government Doing?
This is like the biggest headache for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina since she got re-elected back in January, and that's saying something because a bunch of big opposition groups didn't even show up to the polls. The protests have been happening in Dhaka and other places, with cops and students going at it. The government's answer to this has been to shut down the internet and block phone lines, making it tough for people to talk and share what's happening. They've even gone so far as to take some TV news stations off the air, and most of the newspapers can't keep their websites running smoothly.
The officials haven't said for sure how many people have died, but a local newspaper, Daily Prothom Alo, says it's at least 103 since Tuesday. The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka is saying it's a "really, really messy situation" with hundreds to thousands hurt.
Chaos Everywhere
And it's not just the protests causing trouble. Around 800 prisoners got out when protesters broke into a jail in Narsingdi and set it on fire. Plus, some sneaky hackers got into important government websites, like the central bank and the prime minister's office, and messed them up.
They've had to put a curfew in place starting at midnight to try to calm things down. It's a bit of a breather from noon to 2 p.m., but that's it. The government's trying to figure out how to handle this whole mess, but it's definitely not easy.