Bangladesh parliament speaker dies

The speaker of the Bangladesh parliament for the last five years, Humayun Rashid Chowdhury, has died in Dhaka.

His family said that his death, just three days before parliament is dissolved, followed a massive heart attack.

Mr Chowdhury presided over the first parliament in the history of Bangladesh to complete its full five year term.

A former foreign minister and a career diplomat, Mr Chowdhury became Dhaka's first envoy to India, and in a rare honour he was received by both houses of the Indian parliament in a joint session.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service