Bangladesh launches campaigns for first post-Hasina polls
Bangladesh begins official campaigning on Thursday for hugely anticipated general elections next month, the first since the 2024 uprising ended the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina.The South Asian nation of 170 million people votes on February 12 for 350 lawmakers, ushering in new leadership after prolonged political turmoil following the overthrow of Hasina’s government, reshaping domestic and regional power dynamics.It comes against the backdrop of insecurity — including the murder last month of a student leader of the anti-Hasina protests — as well as warnings of a “flood” of online disinformation.European Union election observers say the vote will be the “biggest democratic process of 2026”.Mass rallies are expected with hundreds of thousands of supporters gathering, as the frontrunners the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, formally launch their campaigns.- Sufi shrine -BNP chief and prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman, 60, who returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile, is due to address a string of rallies starting in the north-eastern city of Sylhet.Rahman assumed formal leadership of the BNP after the death in December of his mother, 80-year-old former prime minister Khaleda Zia.Bangladesh, home to one of the world’s largest Muslim-majority populations, has a significant Sufi following, and parties have traditionally launched campaigns in Sylhet, home to the centuries-old shrine of Shah Jalal.Lines of supporters lined both sides the streets as Rahman prayed at the shrine on Wednesday night, cheering as his election bus passed by, with his countrywide roadshow of rallies to begin later Thursday.Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposes Sufi mystical interpretations of the Koran, begins its campaign in the capital Dhaka, in the constituency of its leader Shafiqur Rahman.Ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamists are seeking a return to formal politics after years of bans and crackdowns.Since Hasina fled to India, key Islamist leaders have been released from prison, and Islamist groups have grown increasingly assertive.The National Citizen Party (NCP), formed by student leaders who spearheaded the uprising, and who have formed an alliance with Jamaat, will also launch their rally in Dhaka.- ‘New Bangladesh’ -Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who returned from exile in August 2024 at the behest of protesters to lead a caretaker government as “chief adviser”, will step down after the polls.Yunus said he inherited a “completely broken” political system, and championed a reform charter he argues is vital to prevent a return to authoritarian rule, with a referendum on the changes to be held on the same day as polling.He says the reforms will strengthen checks and balances between the executive, judicial and legislative branches. “If you cast the ‘yes’ vote, the door to building the new Bangladesh will open,” Yunus said on January 19, in a broadcast to the nation urging support for the referendum.Earlier this month, he warned UN rights chief Volker Turk of a “flood” of misinformation targeting the polls, saying he was “concerned about the impact” disinformation could have.”They have flooded social media with fake news, rumours and speculation,” Yunus said, blaming both “foreign media and local sources”.Relations with neighbouring India have soured, after Hasina escaped to her old ally New Delhi as protesters stormed her palace.Hasina, 78, sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity for the deadly crackdown on protesters in her failed bid to cling to power, remains in hiding in India.
Groenland: Trump lève subitement ses menaces et annonce un “cadre” d’accord
Après des semaines de déclarations agressives, Donald Trump a subitement annoncé mercredi à Davos “le cadre d’un futur accord” sur le Groenland, extrêmement vague, et levé ses menaces douanières autant que militaires.L’annonce a été accueillie avec enthousiasme par Wall Street et avec un soulagement prudent au Danemark, mais avec méfiance sur l’île arctique, territoire autonome …
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South Korea’s economy grew just 1% in 2025, lowest in five years
South Korea logged its slowest growth in half a decade in 2025, the country’s central bank said Thursday, while exports rose on the back of a boom in artificial intelligence.Asia’s fourth-largest economy has struggled with sluggish demand, a troubled housing market and the fallout of former president Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration, which plunged the country into political chaos.Last year’s one percent growth was the slowest since 2020, when the economy shrank following the outbreak of Covid-19.Exports were a bright spot, rising by 4.1 percent, the country’s central bank said, while imports were up 3.8 percent.”The growth of exports continued and the growth of private consumption and government consumption expanded,” it said.A decline in construction investment widened, it added, linked to persistent trouble in the real estate market.”The decline in construction widened and the growth of manufacturing slowed,” the central bank said.The economy also contracted in the October–December period, the central bank added.An official said that the slump was expected due to the “base effect” from strong growth in the third quarter.But the weak construction investment also played a role in dragging down overall growth, he said.The central bank had projected in its November report that the economy would grow 1.8 percent this year, citing “a recovery in domestic demand and a robust semiconductor cycle”.South Korea is home to key semiconductor manufacturers — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — whose products have become crucial to sustaining and further expanding infrastructure for the global artificial intelligence market.On the back of robust demand, the benchmark index Kospi broke 5,000 for the first time on Thursday.”Today’s rally is being driven mainly by semiconductor manufacturers, especially Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, amid growing expectations of robust earnings in the sector,” Chung Hae-chang, analyst at Daishin Securities, told AFP.
Israeli strike kills three Gaza journalists including AFP freelancer
An Israeli air strike killed an AFP freelancer and two other journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory’s civil defence agency said, while the military said it struck “suspects” operating a drone.Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored ceasefire in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations.In a statement, the civil defence said three journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City, naming the dead as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim. Shaat had contributed regularly to AFP as a photo and video journalist, but at the time of the strike he was not on assignment for the agency.In a statement, AFP said it was mourning the loss of Shaat, who would be remembered as a “kind-hearted colleague, with a gentle sense of humour, and as a deeply committed journalist”.”AFP demands a full and transparent investigation into his death,” it said.”Far too many local journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past two years while foreign journalists remain unable to enter the territory freely,” the agency added.In a statement, the Israeli military said troops had “identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip”. The military did not elaborate on what it meant by a “drone affiliated with Hamas”.”Due to the threat that the drone posed to the troops, the (Israeli military) precisely struck the suspects who activated the drone,” it said, adding that the details were under review.- Vehicle ‘criminally targeted’ -According to an eyewitness, the journalists were using a drone to take images of aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip when a strike targeted a vehicle accompanying them.The Egyptian aid group confirmed one of its vehicles was targeted by Israel in a strike that killed three people.”A vehicle belonging to the Egyptian Committee was targeted during a humanitarian mission, resulting in the martyrdom of three individuals,” said Mohammed Mansour, a spokesman for the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip, adding that all vehicles belonging to the group “bear the committee’s logo”.”The Israeli army criminally targeted this vehicle” when the individuals were filming the Netzarim camp, Mansour said.AFP footage showed the vehicle charred, with mangled remains lying in an open area.Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas called the strike “a dangerous escalation of the flagrant violations of the ceasefire agreement.”The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate condemned it as part of a “systematic and deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli occupation to intentionally target Palestinian journalists”.Israeli forces have killed at least 466 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority.The Israeli military said militants have killed three of its soldiers during the same period.Gaza’s health ministry said another eight Palestinians were also killed in Israeli attacks in the territory on Wednesday.- Journalists under fire -Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) expressed “deep anger” at the strike that killed Shaat and his colleagues, while the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was “appalled”.”This isolated strike on journalists who were identifiable by their reporting equipment could indicate targeting and constitute a war crime,” Martin Roux, head of RSF’s crisis desk was quoted as saying in a statement.Israel’s advanced surveillance and targeting technology renders “any claims of misidentification implausible,” Sara Qudah, the CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator was quoted in an X post as saying.RSF said that Israeli forces killed at least 29 Palestinian journalists in Gaza between December 2024 and December 2025.The deadliest single attack was a so-called “double-tap” strike on a hospital in south Gaza on August 25, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press.Since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 sparked the war in Gaza, nearly 220 journalists have been killed by Israel, making the Palestinian territory by far the deadliest place for journalists, RSF data says.The Israeli military claims that several journalists it targeted in Gaza had been “terrorists” affiliated with Palestinian militant groups.Last week, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff announced the start of phase two of the Gaza ceasefire.The strike on Wednesday came hours after the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had accepted an invitation to join US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts.bur-az-my-acc/jd/jfx