00:00Bangladeshi news channel Channel 24 abruptly went off air on Thursday as telecommunications
00:06were widely disrupted amid violent student protests against quotas for government jobs.
00:12The channel suddenly went to a black screen in the middle of a news broadcast.
00:17Authorities had cut some mobile services on Thursday to try to quell the unrest, but the
00:22disruption spread across the country on Friday.
00:25Telephone calls from overseas were mostly not getting connected, and calls through the
00:29internet could not be completed.
00:32Meanwhile, police in riot gear were seen standing guard, and security checkpoints were set up
00:37in Dhaka on Friday following the fresh violence.
00:41Some pro-government protesters were also seen marching through the streets chanting slogans
00:46and waving the national flag.
00:48Although the protests were sparked by student anger against the controversial quota system,
00:54some analysts have said that tough economic conditions, including high inflation, rising
00:59unemployment and depleting foreign reserves, were providing fuel to the fire.
01:04French news agency AFP reported that the death toll in Thursday's violence had risen to 32.
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