Bangladesh: 4 dead after Hasina supporters clash with police – DW – 07/17/2025
At least four people were killed and dozens injured in Bangladesh as security forces clashed with supporters of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday, authorities said.
The incident occurred in Gopalganj district, about 100 kilometers south-west of the capital Dhaka and the stronghold of Hasina's banned Awami League party.
Violence broke out after members of the newly formed student-led political party, National Citizen Party, arrived in a convoy to commemorate last year's uprising that led to Hasina's removal.
TV footage showed pro-Hasina activists attacking police with sticks and setting vehicles ablaze.
Since Hasina's ouster 11 months ago, Bangladesh has faced ongoing unrest.
Hasina's Awami League blamed the interim government for the violence.
"We urge the world to take note of this blatant use of security apparatus," an Awami statement on X said.
The government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, condemned the "utterly indefensible" violence and promised action.
"Preventing young citizens from peacefully holding a rally to commemorate the one-year anniversary of their revolutionary movement is a shameful violation of their fundamental rights," he said, blaming Hasina's political party the Awami League and its student group for Wednesday's violence.
Last year, Yunus took the helm of the country, vowing to restore stability, three days after Hasina was ousted and fled to India.
However, critics say growing political polarization under him threatens prospects for a peaceful transition, despite promises of elections next April.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
6 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Grok, Is That Gaza? AI Image Checks Mislocate News Photographs
This image by AFP photojournalist Omar al-Qattaa shows a skeletal, underfed girl in Gaza, where Israel's blockade has fuelled fears of mass famine in the Palestinian territory. But when social media users asked Grok where it came from, X boss Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot was certain that the photograph was taken in Yemen nearly seven years ago. The AI bot's untrue response was widely shared online and a left-wing pro-Palestinian French lawmaker, Aymeric Caron, was accused of peddling disinformation on the Israel-Hamas war for posting the photo. At a time when internet users are turning to AI to verify images more and more, the furore shows the risks of trusting tools like Grok, when the technology is far from error-free. Grok said the photo showed Amal Hussain, a seven-year-old Yemeni child, in October 2018. In fact the photo shows nine-year-old Mariam Dawwas in the arms of her mother Modallala in Gaza City on August 2, 2025. Before the war, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Mariam weighed 25 kilograms, her mother told AFP. Challenged on its incorrect response, Grok said: "I do not spread fake news; I base my answers on verified sources." The chatbot eventually issued a response that recognised the error -- but in reply to further queries the next day, Grok repeated its claim that the photo was from Yemen. The chatbot has previously issued content that praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and that suggested people with Jewish surnames were more likely to spread online hate. Grok's mistakes illustrate the limits of AI tools, whose functions are as impenetrable as "black boxes", said Louis de Diesbach, a researcher in technological ethics. "We don't know exactly why they give this or that reply, nor how they prioritise their sources," said Diesbach, author of a book on AI tools, "Hello ChatGPT". Each AI has biases linked to the information it was trained on and the instructions of its creators, he said. In the researcher's view Grok, made by Musk's xAI start-up, shows "highly pronounced biases which are highly aligned with the ideology" of the South African billionaire, a former confidante of US President Donald Trump and a standard-bearer for the radical right. Asking a chatbot to pinpoint a photo's origin takes it out of its proper role, said Diesbach. "Typically, when you look for the origin of an image, it might say: 'This photo could have been taken in Yemen, could have been taken in Gaza, could have been taken in pretty much any country where there is famine'." AI does not necessarily seek accuracy -- "that's not the goal," the expert said. Another AFP photograph of a starving Gazan child by al-Qattaa, taken in July 2025, had already been wrongly located and dated by Grok to Yemen, 2016. That error led to internet users accusing the French newspaper Liberation, which had published the photo, of manipulation. An AI's bias is linked to the data it is fed and what happens during fine-tuning -- the so-called alignment phase -- which then determines what the model would rate as a good or bad answer. "Just because you explain to it that the answer's wrong doesn't mean it will then give a different one," Diesbach said. "Its training data has not changed and neither has its alignment." Grok is not alone in wrongly identifying images. When AFP asked Mistral AI's Le Chat -- which is in part trained on AFP's articles under an agreement between the French start-up and the news agency -- the bot also misidentified the photo of Mariam Dawwas as being from Yemen. For Diesbach, chatbots must never be used as tools to verify facts. "They are not made to tell the truth," but to "generate content, whether true or false", he said. "You have to look at it like a friendly pathological liar -- it may not always lie, but it always could."
DW
7 hours ago
- DW
Moldova: Pro-Russian politician sentenced to jail – DW – 08/06/2025
Evghenia Gutul was found guilty of illegal party financing, with Russia denouncing the verdict as politically motivated. Moldova will head to the polls in the end of September. A court in Moldovasentenced a regional politician known for her pro-Russian views to seven years in jail on charges related to channeling money in order to finance a party authorities say is a facade for Russian election meddling. Evghenia Gutul, the governor of the autonomous region of Gagazuia, was found guilty of illegal party financing for the "Shor" party, named after exiled pro-Moscow oligarch Ilan Shor, who was previously found guilty of fraud in Moldova. Moldova, which borders Ukraine, regularly warns of Russian interference with its domestic politics. The ruling against 38-year-old Gutul comes ahead of parliamentary elections set to be held on September 28. The Kremlin labeled the verdict as politically motivated, while also accusing Moldova's pro-European government of trying to stir up views against pro-Russian views. "We see how the opposition is being clamped down in every possible way," a Kremlin spokesperson said. Gutul was last received in Russia by President Vladimir Putin in 2024. In a post on Telegram, Gutul denounced the verdict as "political reprisal" and "an attempt to intimidate the residents of Gagauzia who have the courage to vote against the ruling party's wishes." Moldova has been torn between moving closer to the West or leaning towards Russia, with the pro-EU side currently being in power. Gutul is also known as a critic of Moldova's pro-EU government. Her supporters shouted "shame" and "down with (Moldovan President) Maia Sandu" when Gutul was taken into a police view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
DW
9 hours ago
- DW
Ukraine: Trump hails 'progress' after envoy meets Putin – DW – 08/06/2025
Donald Trump said a meeting between US envoy Steve Wikoff and Vladimir Putin in Moscow was "highly productive." Despite this, this White House says new US sanctions on Russia are still coming. DW has more. Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, for talks in Moscow. The meeting comes just days before a deadline set by Trump for Putin to agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin has urged patience regarding US-Russia relations, as anticipation builds around a potential meeting between Trump and Putin that has yet to be reserves in Ukraine are at their lowest in 12 years, analysis firm ExPro said on Wednesday. Storage facilities are currently less than a third full and the revelation comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier on Wednesday accused Moscow of deliberately undermining its preparations for winter by striking a gas facility in the Odesa region. It is not yet clear how Wednesday's attack on the the southern region's gas interconnector, which is used to supply US and Azeri gas through Bulgaria and Romania, will affect future gas collection. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff lasted around three hours. "A quite useful and constructive conversation took place," Ushakov told journalists. Putin and Witkoff discussed the conflict in Ukraine and the potential for improving US-Russia ties, Ushakov said. He added that Moscow had received certain "signals" from US President Donald Trump and had sent messages in return, without elaborating on details. The meeting comes just days ahead of a deadline set by Trump to agree to a Ukraine peace deal or face US sanctions. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German politicians are debating whether to slash financial assistance for Ukrainian refugees. How does the country stack up against its EU neighbors when it comes to generosity in helping those fleeing war? Read the full story on aid provided for Ukrainian refugees in Germany and across Europe. Russian drones struck a gas pumping station in southern Ukraine, part of an LNG imports scheme from the United States and Azerbaijan, Kyiv's energy ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said the attack on the site near the Ukraine-Romania border was aimed "purely against civilian infrastructure" and targeting relations with Azerbaijan, the US and European partners. There was no immediate comment from Russia. The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff for talks. The Kremlin did not immediately provide more information regarding the meeting. There had been doubts as to whether the two would meet during Witkoff's visit to Moscow but Russian state media said the meeting was to take place on Wednesday. Donald Trump has put a Friday deadline for Putin to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday two people were killed after a Russian attack set ablaze a holiday camp in central Ukraine. Describing it as a "zero military sense" strike, Zelenskyy condemned the "cruelty" of the attack, "aimed at instilling fear." "Right now in the Zaporizhzhia district, our medics and first responders are helping those wounded in a Russian strike on an ordinary recreation center," Zelenskyy posted on X. "Twelve people have been injured. As of now, sadly, two people are confirmed dead." The Kremlin claims the Zaporizhzhia region as part of Russia. Ukraine's defense minister has expressed gratitude toward the US for approving more than $200 million (€175 million) in deals to supply arms to Ukraine, funded by allies and arising from agreements between the US and Ukrainian presidents. "Grateful to the U.S. for approving over $200M in Foreign Military Sales for Ukraine," Denys Shmyhal posted on X. "The first package includes equipment, repairs, and technical support for M777 howitzers, valued at $104 million. The second package, worth $99.5 million, covers transportation and cargo consolidation and other logistical services." Entirely funded by partner countries, these packages are a boost to Ukraine's defense and regional security," he added. Patience is required over Russian-US relations, the Kremlin said Wednesday. In remarks carried by the Russian TASS state news agency, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "There is, of course, inertia in this process," referring to the prolonged absence of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. "It takes time for efforts to bring bilateral relations back onto a normal track." TASS reported that for the first time in modern Russian history more than six months have passed without a summit between the leaders of the two nuclear powers. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Wednesday, state media reported, where he will meet with Russian officials , with President Donald Trump's deadline to impose fresh sanctions over the war in Ukraine just days away. It is unclear whether Witkoff will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has given the Kremlin until Friday to halt its offensive in Ukraine or face further sanctions. The White House has not been specific regarding potential penalties, but Trump has previously threatened to impose "secondary tariffs" targeting Moscow's remaining trade partners, including China and India. Trump said Tuesday that he would await the outcome of Witkoff's visit before moving forward. "We're going to see what happens," he told reporters. "We'll make that determination at that time." After arriving in the Russian capital, Witkoff was met by presidential special representative Kirill Dmitriev, Russian state news agency TASS said. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had had a "productive" conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump. The Ukrainian president said "the key focus" of their conversation centered around "ending the war." "Many months could have already passed without war, had Russia not been prolonging it," he continued. "Today, we coordinated our positions, Ukraine and the United States. We exchanged assessments of the situation: The Russians have intensified the brutality of their attacks. President Trump is fully informed about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities." Zelenskyy said the pair also spoke about sanctions on Russia with Trump's August 8 deadline for Putin to end the war looming large. "Their economy continues to decline, and that's exactly why Moscow is so sensitive to this prospect and President Trump's resolve," Zelenskyy said. Today's spotlight is firmly on Moscow, where US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting with Russian officials, just days ahead of a deadline set by his boss. President Donald Trump has warned that if Russia fails to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine by Friday, it will face new sanctions. However, the lack of urgency in Moscow over the past few days suggests Witkoff may leave empty handed. In fact, sources close to the Kremlin say Russian President Vladimir Putin believes he is gaining ground in Ukraine, and that takes precedence over improving relations with the United States. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has used this moment to press his case for tougher sanctions on Moscow in a call with Trump ahead of Witkoff's visit. We'll be covering all these topics in this blog, with a focus on the ongoing war in Ukraine.
