logo
Bangladesh's interim PM says elections will take place next February

Bangladesh's interim PM says elections will take place next February

Euronews3 days ago
Bangladesh's interim leader announced on Tuesday that parliamentary elections will be held in February, as the country marked a year since a student-led uprising led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
In a televised address, Muhammad Yunus said he would request the Election Commission to organise the vote before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
That is expected to begin on 17 or 18 February, depending on when the new crescent moon is sighted there.
Earlier on Tuesday, Yunus marked the uprising's anniversary by saying its spirit would build the future of the South Asian nation's democracy.
But the event was held amid growing frustration over the interim administration's failure to restore order and bring political bickering under control.
The election date has been one concern. The treatment of Hasina's now-banned political party is another.
Yunus has promised an internationally acceptable election, but his critics say it could be questionable without her Awami League party as it still has a significant support base.
Hasina has been in exile in neighbouring India since August last year, following her 15-year rule. She faces a trial for crimes against humanity over the hundreds of deaths during the student-led uprising.
Yunus had sought an April election, but major political parties, mainly the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, favoured a February vote.
Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for his past work developing microcredit markets, was flanked by senior leaders of major political parties as he announced a road map aimed at national unity, democratic reforms and inclusive governance.
A student group that led the anti-Hasina movement had formed a political party, the National Citizen Party, and campaigned for the declaration.
Senior leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami party were also present.
The presence of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party, was especially visible on the streets of the capital, Dhaka. The supporters of its student wing carried the flags of Bangladesh and Palestine.
Bangladesh is at a crossroads, with political parties struggling to find a way forward with inclusive politics.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Belarus journalist sentenced to 10 years for treason in closes trial
Belarus journalist sentenced to 10 years for treason in closes trial

Euronews

time4 hours ago

  • Euronews

Belarus journalist sentenced to 10 years for treason in closes trial

A Belarusian journalist has been handed a 10-year prison sentence on charges of treason and disclosing state secrets, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), which revealed the verdict on Friday. Danil Palianski, 53, who contributed to several independent news outlets, was convicted in a closed trial on 25 July, but details of the ruling only surfaced a day before the fifth anniversary of the controversial 2020 presidential election that entrenched Aliaksandr Lukashenka's grip on power and triggered mass protests. According to media reports, in September 2024, while visiting family in Russia, Palianski was stopped by Russian FSB officers in his car. He was charged with disobedience after allegedly refusing to show his documents. At first, his detention was believed to be an administrative offence. It has emerged that he is facing criminal charges under Article 356 of the Criminal Code. Article 356 of Russia's Criminal Code covers war crimes recognised as serious offences by the international community. In addition to his prison term, Palianski was fined roughly $7,000 (€6,000), BAJ said. "Belarus has already become the black hole of Europe, where people are judged for words and thoughts," said BAJ chairman Andrei Bastunets, condemning the ruling. Palianski, arrested last September, is among 37 journalists currently imprisoned in Belarus. His conviction is the latest in a broad and ongoing crackdown against dissent following Lukashenko's disputed re-election on 9 August 2020. Human rights organisations report that over 65,000 people have been detained in connection with anti-government demonstrations, while hundreds of thousands have fled the country fearing repression. The Belarusian human rights group Viasna estimates there are around 1,187 political prisoners in the country, including Ales Bialiatski, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder of the organisation.

Forged dining card shared in posts targeting Pakistan ex-PM's sons
Forged dining card shared in posts targeting Pakistan ex-PM's sons

AFP

time12 hours ago

  • AFP

Forged dining card shared in posts targeting Pakistan ex-PM's sons

"The biggest proof has arrived. Imran's sons ate at the Capitol Hill Club, this is the club's menu card," reads an Urdu language post shared July 25, 2025 on X, referring to a private club for Republicans in the US capital. On the bottom of the image attached to the post, text highlighted with a red box reads: "We dont offer halal or Kosher food as per restaurant policy." reposted over 1,300 times, while similar posts have also been shared on Facebook Image Screenshot of an X post taken on July 31, 2025, with a red X added by AFP Khan, a former cricket star-turned premier, has been jailed since August 2023 on a slew of corruption charges his party says are politically motivated. His supporters and senior party leaders have also faced a crackdown, with at protesters during a recent demonstration against his two years of incarceration (archived link). Last year, a UN panel of experts found that Khan's detention "had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him" from contesting elections (archived link). His sons, Kasim and Sulaiman Khan, went to the United States in late July to campaign for their father's release from prison with Washington lawmakers, some of whom shared posts about their meetings on X (archived here, here and here). Some social media users appeared to believe the menu was genuine. "So the meat was pork," one wrote, adding that "the youth are indulging in forbidden food and lying". Pakistan is a majority Muslim country, which means that the population largely adheres to halal practices -- consuming food that is slaughtered and produced according to Islamic law. Muslims are prohibited from eating pork. Warped logo, misspellings But there are clear signs that the document was fabricated, including the URL provided which is " A Google search of the Capitol Hill Club leads to its official website hosted at (archived link). Closer inspection of the forged document also reveals that the club logo on the top-left corner is warped with missing letters, while the official logo seen on Capitol Hill Club website and their 2025 menus uploaded online shows the name clearly (archived link). Image Comparison of the club's logo on the circulated document (left) with the real logo as seen on Capitol Hill Club's website and menus online All four menus listed on the official website also do not mention having a policy of not offering halal or kosher food. In fact, two of the menus -- the "All Day Banquet Beverage & Breakfast" menu and the "Banquet Lunch" menu -- request that planners send allergies and dietary restrictions for guests. Image A comparison between the fabricated document (left) and the banquet lunch menu on the official website (right), with the highlighted portion on the right document done by AFP. The red X on the fabricated document was also done by AFP. Both screen captures were taken on August 7, 2025. in the forged document, including the misspelling of the words "opportunity" as "opporennity", "members" as "eembefse", and "luggage" as "cluggage". Repeated sentences and errors in punctuation are throughout. The Capitol Hill Club has not responded to AFP's requests for comment. AFP has repeatedly debunked misinformation around the jailed former prime minister.

No evidence Russia captured NATO officers in Ukraine
No evidence Russia captured NATO officers in Ukraine

Euronews

time15 hours ago

  • Euronews

No evidence Russia captured NATO officers in Ukraine

A claim is spreading online that Russian special forces captured two British colonels and a secret intelligence services agent while they were on a mission for NATO in Ochakiv, in southern Ukraine. According to the false narrative, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Carroll, Colonel Edward Blake and the unnamed MI6 agent were supposedly operating undercover, with Russia labelling them "illegal combatants". The United Kingdom allegedly claimed that they were tourists interested in history who ended up in Ochakiv by accident. In some cases, the story is shared with a supposed image of the men. Social media users around Europe urge the media to investigate the matter. Euroverify traced the story to several fringe platforms, including the Pravda disinformation network —a French-language pro-Russian Telegram channel—and a website called Core Insights, which says it's a risk advisory and cybersecurity company. They all posted the story on 2 August, with the Core Insights blog post stating: "This is the first real-life proof that NATO itself is actively waging war against Russia". However, there is no evidence that any of this is the case, and plenty to suggest that the narrative is part of wider pro-Russian, anti-Western propaganda. While the Pravda network and pro-Russian Telegram channels are established, unreliable sources, a scan of the rest of Core Insights' blog posts shows many that parrot reporting by Russian state-controlled news, and others that mirror Kremlin-aligned narratives. For example, it shares a post based on an article by Russian state-controlled international news television network RT about a supposed Ukrainian plot to assassinate a Russian defence industry leader, and another about Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stating that Ukraine is demonstrating "borderline savagery". Many articles, including the one about the British soldiers, are also attributed to a "Hal Turner", who shares the name of an extremist, white-supremacist US commentator. This Hal Turner is known for spreading hoaxes and conspiracy theories. This means that, if it were indeed him producing the posts, their reliability is severely diminished. The tone of the post about the British officers is clearly very biased, too. "The British have been caught, red-handed, and the implications for Britain, and NATO as a whole, are now E X T R E M E L Y bad," it says, for example. "The British had the gall to tell the Russians that the men 'were interested in naval history and wanted to visit the coast where battles were fought during the Second World War'," is another example. The image of the two colonels is clearly AI-generated, not least due to their passports, which appear distorted with the text illegible and the British coat of arms mangled. Even other fringe sites, such as the Norwegian website established vector of Russian propaganda—deleted an article which repeated the story due to "poor fact-checking". There has been no official announcement by the UK government about the matter, nor has there been any reporting on it by well-known media outlets. A NATO official told Euroverify that the claim that the alliance is engaged in a war against Russia is "bogus" and "detached from reality". "Our position has been clear and consistent throughout," the official said. "Russia has been waging a full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine for over three years. Russia's war is enabled by North Korean troops, weapons and ammunition, Iranian drones and missiles, and Chinese dual-use technology. These countries are also strengthening their political and economic ties." "NATO supports Ukraine's right to self-defence, as enshrined in the UN Charter," the official continued. "Allies have been providing unprecedented military assistance to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion. The best way to help end the war, and secure a just and lasting peace, is to ensure Ukraine can enter any negotiations from a position of strength." Ultimately, there's no proof for the common pro-Kremlin line that NATO is actively engaging in Russia's war in Ukraine.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store