Dhaka- Forty-five women were sworn in as lawmakers in Bangladesh's Jatiya Sangsad or parliament on Sunday, officials said.

The women wear earlier this month elected unopposed to seats reserved for women. They were expected to join Sunday's session, which follows after a nine-day recess.

Thirty-six of the new lawmakers belong to ruling Awami League (AL), four to Jatiya Party, a coalition partner of the AL, and the rest belong to the mainstream opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Dhaka - British Airways Saturday ended its direct passenger flights between Dhaka and London after 38 years of operation in Bangladesh, officials said.

"It was a commercial decision by British Airways to shut the route," Mujtaba Ali Khan, the outgoing station manager of the airline, told the German Press Agency dpa.

In November, BA had announced that it would suspend its passenger flights on Dhaka-London route due to non-profitability.

Dhaka  - Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Saturday urged Malaysian authorities to reconsider the cancellation of visas for more than 55,000 Bangladeshi workers during the economic crisis, officials said.

Moni met Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin bin Mohd in Kuala Lumpur as part of Bangladesh's diplomatic efforts to protect its overseas labour markets, a release issued by the embassy in Malaysia said.

Dhaka  - Bangladesh police on Friday detained 10 Islamists who went on the rampage and clashed with lawmen in central Dhaka, police said.

Activists belonging to Hijb-ut Tahrir, an organisation campaigning for establishing Sariah law, ran riot near Baitul Mokarran National Mosque, said Farid Ahmed, a police officer.

He said the demonstrators attacked police who prevented them from taking to the streets to disrupt traffic. Police used batons to disperse the protesters, leaving at least 20 people injured.

Dhaka (Bangladesh), Mar. 27 : Bangladeshi Police have arrested a British man whose charity is suspected of running a militant-training camp in the guise of an orphanage on remote Bhola Island.

Greater Manchester-based Faisal Mostafa, who was acquitted in 2002 of being part of an al-Qaeda bomb plot, was arrested on Wednesday night in Dhaka.

Dhaka, Mar. 26 : Bangladesh security forces are probing a possible link between a British-based charity and an Islamic school after a raid uncovered a "terrorism training" facility.

The country''s specialist Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) found guns, grenades and ammunition at the madrassa located 60 miles south of Dhaka. Leaflets about jihad (holy war) were also found, along with equipment for making bombs.