A major catastrophe was averted on Tuesday in Bangladesh when a train carrying 300 passengers was stopped just 200 yards ahead of a bridge where suspected saboteurs removed hooks that bind railway tracks with sleepers. The incident occurred in the northern Netrokona district, believed by railway officials to be linked to a series of train sabotages ahead of the January 7 general elections. This attempt to cause significant sabotage comes as the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party boycotts the elections.

This incident follows previous train sabotages, including one where a train was set ablaze resulting in casualties, and another where railway tracks were uprooted causing a derailment. An investigation is underway to track down the culprits. In separate news coming out of Lebanon, the TV station of Hezbollah group reported that top Hamas official Saleh Arouri was killed in an explosion in a southern Beirut suburb. Arouri, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, headed the group's presence in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously threatened to kill him even before the Hamas-Israel war began on October 7.

The nature of the Beirut explosion was not immediately known and it wasn't clear if there were any casualties. The explosion occurred during ongoing heavy exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and members of Hezbollah along Lebanon's southern border. Hezbollah fighters also carried out several attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border targeting Israeli military posts.