Israeli military attacks continue across the besieged Gaza Strip. In the last 24 hours, 77 more Palestinians have lost their lives in these attacks. Another 174 people were injured during this time.

This information was reported by the Qatar-based news media Al-Jazeera on Saturday (December 21).

The report, citing the Gaza Health Ministry, said that at least 25 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Friday. Among them, at least eight were killed in an apartment in the Nussirat refugee camp and at least 10 in Jabalia. This brings the total number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza to 77 in the past 24 hours. Another 174 were injured in these attacks.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Education said that nearly 13,000 students have been killed in the brutal attacks by the Israeli military in Gaza so far. In addition, more than 20,000 students have been injured.

The Rehabilitation Department of the Israeli Ministry of Defense said that 13,500 Israeli military officers and members have been injured in the Gaza-Israel conflict so far. Of these, 1,500 have been injured twice. 37 percent of the injured soldiers suffer from limb injuries, most of whom have suffered bone injuries. In addition, about 5,200 suffer from mental illness.

Israel has been carrying out continuous air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since Hamas' unprecedented cross-border attacks on October 7. Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, mosques, and churches, have been damaged or destroyed in the Israeli attack.

85 percent of Palestinians have been displaced by the Israeli attack. And amid severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, all of Gaza is now in a state of food insecurity.

It is worth noting that at least 45,206 people have been killed in the Israeli military attack on Gaza so far. Another 107,512 have been injured during this time.

On the other hand, 1,139 people have been killed in the Hamas attack on Israel. More than 200 Israeli citizens are imprisoned.

India has protested against the Facebook comments of Mahfuz Alam, an adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has lodged a formal protest with Dhaka over the issue, said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the country's Ministry of External Affairs.

The Indian media outlet 'The Hindu' reported this in a report on Friday (December 20).

The report said that in a recent Facebook post, adviser Mahfuz Alam had said that India should recognize the rebellion that forced the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign. In another post, he claimed that certain Indian territories should be part of Bangladesh. However, he later deleted the post.

In this regard, Jaiswal said, we have registered our strong protest on this issue on behalf of Bangladesh. We understand that the post mentioned has been removed.

Reminding leaders of neighboring Bangladesh of the importance of responsible comments, Randhir Jaiswal also said that New Delhi would like to advise all concerned to be responsible while making public comments.

Reiterating India's interest in improving relations with the interim government of Bangladesh, Jaiswal said that India has repeatedly indicated its interest in developing relations with the people and the interim government of Bangladesh. 

The West Bengal police have confirmed that the flesh and bones recovered from a septic tank in Kolkata's Sanjeeva Garden belong to Bangladeshi MP Anwarul Azim Anar through DNA tests.

A report in Hindustan Times, citing the Kolkata CID, said that the forensic examination of the body parts and the DNA of Anar's daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen were found to be similar.

It is also known that Doreen came to Kolkata in late November. Her DNA sample was taken then. Then both the samples were sent for verification.

About four kg of flesh was recovered from the septic tank of the Sanjeeva Garden residence in Kolkata where the former MP was murdered. On the other hand, several human bones were recovered from the Bagjola canal in Bhangarh's Krishnamurthy area of South 24 Parganas district.

The recovered flesh and bones were sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) for testing.

DNA testing was necessary to confirm whether the dismembered body was that of MP Anar or not. In that case, MP Anar's daughter Mumtarin Ferdous Doreen was supposed to come to Kolkata long ago, but it was postponed due to various reasons. Finally, she came to Kolkata last November and met CID officials and the investigating agency collected samples from her for DNA testing.

It is worth noting that on May 12, MP Anwarul Azim Anar came to India. He stayed at the house of his former acquaintance Gopal Biswas in Baranagar, West Bengal. The next day, on May 13, he left Gopal's house to go for treatment. But it was alleged that he was murdered that night in the 'BU-56' duplex flat of the multi-storey housing complex in Sanjeeva Garden, Newtown.

Like every year, The Economist has chosen the country of the year again. This time, the international media has announced Bangladesh as the country of the year for 2024.

This information was revealed in a report published by The Economist on Thursday (December 19).

This time, Bangladesh was on the list along with Syria, Argentina, South Africa and Poland. However after a ‘heated debate ‘among’ The Economist correspondents, Bangladesh was selected as the best country and Syria was the runner-up.

The report said, our winner this time is Bangladesh, which has overthrown a dictator. In August, student-led street protests ousted Sheikh Hasina, who ruled the country of 17 crore people for 15 years. As the daughter of the country's independence hero, she once led economic growth. But she later began to repress, rigged elections, sent opponents to prison and ordered security forces to shoot at protesters. Her rule was marked by massive embezzlement.

The report also said that Bangladesh has a history of retaliatory violence during power transitions. The main opposition BNP is corrupt. Islamic extremism is also a threat. But so far, their transformation has been promising. There is an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus, which has the support of students, the military, business and civil society. This government has restored order and stabilized the economy.

This government will have to fix relations with India in 2025 and decide when to hold elections. Before that, it will have to ensure that the country's courts are impartial and that opposition parties are given time to organize. None of this will be easy.

However, Bangladesh is our best country this year for ousting a dictator and moving towards a more liberal government.

In addition, Syria was named this year's runner-up, where Bashar al-Assad was ousted. Argentina, South Africa and Poland also made the list due to their economic reforms and the formation of new governments. The previous year, The Economist's country of the year in 2023 was Greece, which managed to emerge from a long financial crisis and a moderate government was re-elected.