And the sprucing-up continues...

Bangladesh is on a cleaning spree ahead of the World Cup. First the residents and shop owners along the main roads from the airport to the city center in Chittagong were asked to spruce up their homes and shops with a new coat of paint. Chittagong mayor Manzur Alam then announced that hundreds of beggars would be kept off the city’s streets during the tournament.

And in the latest cleaning-up endeavour, Abu Naser, spokesman of the transport ministry, told AFP that old and worn-out cars and buses in Dhaka and the Chittagong will have to get "get fit, smarter and painted". Failing that, they would face censure from mobile courts, manned by magistrates, which will be on the road, ready to punish people who have failed to comply. “There is no way old, worn-out and clunky vehicles will be allowed to move,” Naser said. State-owned buses will also be painted with images of the Bangladesh cricketers, its monuments and tourism spots.