Cold snap kills 190 in Bangladesh

More than 30 people have died in the past 24 hours from freezing temperatures in Bangladesh, mostly in the north of the country.

The unusually cold weather is the worst the region has experienced in five years.

In the past two weeks, there've been about a 190 deaths in all-- the victims have been mainly the poor and the homeless.

The authorities have stepped up distribution of warm clothes and the Prime Minister, Sheihk Hasina, has asked for emergency funding.

Weather forecasters say the cold weather is likely to continue for several more days.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service