Bangladesh’s chief justice resigns under pressure as Yunus-led interim government starts working

Bangladesh’s chief justice resigns under pressure as Yunus-led interim government starts working
Students shout slogans as they demand the resignation of Bangladesh’s Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and other senior judges during a public protest in Dhaka on Aug. 10, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 10 August 2024
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Bangladesh’s chief justice resigns under pressure as Yunus-led interim government starts working

Bangladesh’s chief justice resigns under pressure as Yunus-led interim government starts working
  • Five other top judges in the Supreme Court were also expected to resign
  • Protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said benefitted people with connections to Hasina’s party

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan resigned Saturday following protests by a group of students and other demonstrators as the country’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus started functioning days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee to India.
Asif Nazrul, law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser to the interim government, said in a video message posted on Facebook that his office received the resignation letter and they would forward it to the country’s figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin for further procedures.
Five other top judges in the Supreme Court were also expected to resign.
Tensions gripped Saturday morning after the chief justice called for a meeting of the judges of the country’s High Court and the Supreme Court to discuss the working of the judiciary under the new government. The protesters thronged the court premises and demanded that the chief justice and other judges of the top court step down.
A key student leader Asif Mahmud — who was appointed as an adviser at the Ministry of Youth and Sports — urged his supporters to gather at the court premises to press for an unconditional resignation, in a Facebook post in the morning.
On Thursday, Yunus was sworn in, and 16 other members were included in his interim Cabinet, who were drawn mainly from civil society and included two student protest leaders after the president dissolved Parliament. New Cabinet members were chosen after talks earlier this week between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military.
Protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said benefitted people with connections to Hasina’s party. She resigned and fled to India Monday after the protests morphed into a movement against her government, leaving more than 300 people dead including students and police officers in the ensuing violence.
Yunus, who was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing microcredit markets, was in Paris for the Olympics when he was chosen for the interim role.
He called for peace and promised to bring reforms. The interim government is expected to announce a new election, but it is not clear how long they wish to stay in power and when the elections could be held. The country’s main opposition demanded a new election in three months, but that is unlikely to happen, according to analysts.
Nazrul said that the Yunus-led government would remain in power as long as necessary, trying to address the desires of people and political parties for “reforms” and “election.”
Hasina’s Awami League party has not said anything specific about the election timeframe, but her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said that an election without their party would not be acceptable as it is “the largest” party in Bangladesh.
Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for helping the poor through his rural finance organization — had a frosty relationship with Hasina, who had called him a “bloodsucker” allegedly for using force to extract loan repayments from rural poor, mainly women. Yunus denied the allegations.
He faced many court cases and was convicted by a court for violating the country’s labor law and sentenced to six months in jail. But he was on bail upon appeal, and before his appointment, he was acquitted of the charges.
He was quickly selected as the head of the interim government when Hasina’s downfall created a vacuum and left the future uncertain for Bangladesh, which has a history of military rule and myriad crises.
Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted by her main opponents, with thousands of opposition activists detained beforehand. The US and UK denounced the result as not credible. Hasina’s critics say her administration increasingly was marked by human rights abuses and corruption, and was following a streak of authoritarianism.
The chaos on Bangladesh’s streets continued after her resignation on Monday. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country.
The military is helping police officers to return to work but it will take more time to get rid of their trauma and to restore the police administration to its full functionality.


India’s Modi campaigns in Kashmir polls after latest soldier deaths

India’s Modi campaigns in Kashmir polls after latest soldier deaths
Updated 7 sec ago
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India’s Modi campaigns in Kashmir polls after latest soldier deaths

India’s Modi campaigns in Kashmir polls after latest soldier deaths

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Narendra Modi said “terrorism is on its last legs” in Kashmir while campaigning in the disputed territory on Saturday, a day after two soldiers were killed in a gunfight with suspected militants.
Indian-administered Kashmir has seen a rise in clashes between rebels and security forces ahead of the region’s first local assembly polls in a decade, which begin next week.
The Himalayan region in India has been without an elected local government since 2019, when Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government canceled the region’s semi-autonomy.
“The changes in the region in the last decade are nothing short of a dream,” Modi told thousands of supporters at the rally in Doda, part of Kashmir’s Hindu-majority southern region of Jammu.
“The stones that were picked up earlier to attack the police and the army are now being used to construct a new Jammu and Kashmir. This is a new era of progress, terrorism is on its last leg here,” he said.
Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claim that the government’s changes to the territory’s governance have brought a new era of peace to Kashmir and rapid economic growth.
The implementation of those changes in 2019 was accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long Internet and communications blackout to forestall protests.
Many Kashmiris are resentful of chafing restrictions on civil liberties that followed, and the BJP is only fielding candidates in a minority of seats concentrated in Hindu-majority areas.
Modi pledged at Saturday’s rally that his party would “build a secure and prosperous” Kashmir “that is free of terrorism and a haven for tourists.”
But this year’s local polls, which begin on Wednesday before results are announced next month, follow a spike in gunfights between security forces and rebels.
In the past two years, more than 50 soldiers were killed in clashes with rebels, mostly in the Jammu region.
The Indian army on Friday said that another two soldiers had died Friday during a firefight in the Kishtwar region, paying tribute to the “supreme sacrifice of the bravehearts” in a post on social media platform X.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947 and is claimed in full by both countries.
Rebels have fought Indian forces for decades, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan.
About 500,000 Indian troops are deployed in the region, battling a 35-year insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels since 1989.
India accuses Pakistan of backing the region’s militants and cross-border attacks inside its territory, claims Islamabad denies.
The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought several conflicts for control of the region since 1947.


Russian forces take over village in eastern Ukraine, TASS says

Russian forces take over village in eastern Ukraine, TASS says
Updated 7 min 9 sec ago
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Russian forces take over village in eastern Ukraine, TASS says

Russian forces take over village in eastern Ukraine, TASS says

Russia said on Saturday it had recaptured another village in eastern Ukraine, where it has made a string of advances.
“The locality of Jelannoe Pervoe (Jelanne Perche in Ukrainian) was freed thanks to the active and decisive operations of the southern units,” the defense ministry said.
The village is located in the Pokrovsk district, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army.
Russian forces has advanced rapidly in the eastern region of Donetsk in recent weeks, putting pressure on a Ukrainian army that is short of both soldiers and weapons.


Uganda holds funeral for murdered Olympian Cheptegei

Uganda holds funeral for murdered Olympian Cheptegei
Updated 31 min 3 sec ago
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Uganda holds funeral for murdered Olympian Cheptegei

Uganda holds funeral for murdered Olympian Cheptegei

BUKWO: Ugandans on Saturday paid tributes to Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her partner set her on fire in Kenya, ahead of her funeral in her family village.
The 33-year-old, who debuted this summer in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, succumbed to severe burns last week after being attacked by Kenyan Dickson Ndiema Marangach.
The brutal assault shocked the East African region and prompted a global outpouring of tributes, with activists condemning another act of gender-based violence in Kenya.
On Saturday morning, residents, officials and relatives waited in the cold morning light to pay their respects in the village of Bukwo, some 380 kilometers (240 miles) northeast of Uganda’s capital Kampala.
“We are extremely saddened,” said her estranged husband Simon Ayeko, with whom she had two daughters.
“As a father it has been very difficult,” he told AFP, explaining he had not been able to break the news to their children.
“Slowly we will tell them the truth.”
The service to honor Cheptegei, a sergeant in the Uganda Peoples’ Defense Forces, started around 10:00 am (0700 GMT), with officials and relatives gathering at the local council office.
The athlete was a “heroine” Bessie Modest Ajilong, the local presidential representative, told AFP.
Cheptegei’s body would move from local council headquarters, organizers said, to a nearby sports stadium so that the public could pay their respects. She will then be formally laid to rest at around 3:00 p.m. (1200 GMT).
Scores of athletes have traveled to the small village to attend the ceremonies.
“She greatly contributed to the promotion of athletics until her last days,” coach Alex Malinga, who trained her as a teenager, told AFP.
Local media say Cheptegei’s daughters witnessed the attack. Police said Marangach snuck into her home while she was at church with her children.
Her family say the couple had argued over ownership of the property where she lived with her sister Dorcas Cherop and daughters.
Her attacker later died from injuries sustained in the assault.
“I think at that time, their relationship had become sour,” Cheptegei’s brother-in-law, Moses Kipsiro, told AFP.
“I didn’t know then something was wrong,” said Kipsiro, who previously trained with Cheptegei and also hails from Bukwo.
The vicious assault has thrown yet another spotlight on what activists have called a femicide epidemic.
Kenya reported 725 femicide cases in 2022 alone, according to the latest UN figures.
A report the following year by Kenya’s National Bureau of Statistics found 34 percent of women had experienced physical violence since the age of 15.
At least two other athletes, Agnes Tirop and Damaris Mutua, have lost their lives in domestic violence incidents since 2021.


Comoros president ‘slightly injured’ in a knife attack, his office says

Comoros president ‘slightly injured’ in a knife attack, his office says
Updated 14 September 2024
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Comoros president ‘slightly injured’ in a knife attack, his office says

Comoros president ‘slightly injured’ in a knife attack, his office says
  • President Azali Assoumani’s injuries were not serious and he had returned to his home
  • Assoumani was reelected as president of Comoros in January in a vote denounced by opposition parties as fraudulent

MORONI, Comoros: The president of the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros was “slightly injured” in a knife attack while attending the funeral of a religious leader on Friday, his office said.
President Azali Assoumani’s injuries were not serious and he had returned to his home, his office said in a statement. It said the attacker was arrested by security forces and is in their custody, but gave no details on the attacker’s identity or any more information on the circumstances of the attack.
Government minister Aboubacar Said Anli said Saturday that a civilian was also injured during the attack while attempting to protect the president.
Assoumani was reelected as president of Comoros in January in a vote denounced by opposition parties as fraudulent. At least one person died in unrest following the election. Assoumani, 65, is a former military leader who first came to power in Comoros in a coup in 1999.
The country, which is made up of an archipelago of islands off the east coast of Africa, has experienced more than a dozen coups or attempted coups since its independence from France in 1975.


WHO clears Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine for mpox, sets up access scheme

WHO clears Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine for mpox, sets up access scheme
Updated 14 September 2024
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WHO clears Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine for mpox, sets up access scheme

WHO clears Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine for mpox, sets up access scheme
  • WHO has faced criticism for moving too slowly on mpox vaccines
  • Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine has been used worldwide since 2022

LONDON: The World Health Organization and partners on Friday set up a scheme to help bring mpox vaccines, tests and treatments to the most vulnerable people in the world’s poorest countries, similar to efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, after earlier approving the first shot for the fast-spreading disease.
Both steps should make it easier for badly-hit African countries to access the vaccine, as a new type of the mpox virus spreads from the Democratic Republic of Congo to its neighbors. The WHO has declared the outbreak a global public health emergency.
“Alongside other public health interventions, vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics are powerful tools for bringing the mpox outbreaks in Africa under control,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
He said COVID-19 had shown the need for international collaboration to make access fairer. During the pandemic, many low-income countries were left behind in the global scramble for medical resources, particularly vaccines.
European countries, the United States and Japan have already pledged to donate 3.6 million doses of the two main vaccines used against mpox, the WHO said on Friday. Vaccinations are due to start from Oct. 2 with the first tranches of donations.
The WHO urged more countries to donate shots that were originally developed and stockpiled by rich nations for smallpox, and said it would work with affected countries to get them to the people at highest risk.
Earlier on Friday, the WHO said it had approved Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine, known as Jynneos in the United States. It is also considering LC16, made by the Japanese manufacturer KM Biologics.
The approval, known as prequalification, means UN agencies can now buy the vaccines as well as help co-ordinate donations. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, co-funds vaccine purchases for low-income countries in this way and has up to $500 million to spend on mpox.
DELAYS
The WHO has faced criticism for moving too slowly on mpox vaccines.
Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine has been used worldwide since 2022, after US and European regulators backed it for use against a different strain of mpox that spread globally in 2022.
The WHO only formally began the process in August this year. Other factors, including the roughly $100 price tag for the vaccine, competing disease outbreaks, and sluggish processes in badly-hit countries like Congo have also played a role.
“The evidence we have now is... it is important we take advantage of it (the vaccine) to protect our population,” Dimie Ogoina, chair of the WHO’s mpox emergency committee, had said before the approval.
He however stressed that vaccines were not a “magic bullet” and other public health measures were also important.
‘OFF-LABEL’ USE IN CHILDREN
Bavarian Nordic said the vaccine was cleared for immunization against smallpox, mpox, and related orthopoxvirus in those who are 18 and older, but it could be used “off-label” for children and pregnant and immunocompromised people in outbreak conditions, where the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks. LC16 can already be given to children, according to the Japanese regulator, although it requires a special kind of needle.
Children are particularly vulnerable to mpox, a viral infection that typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions, as well as people with immune system conditions, such as HIV.