Bangladesh teeters between hope and deadlock a year after Hasina’s fall
Dhaka, Bangladesh – Sinthia Mehrin Sokal remembers the blow to her head on July 15 last year when she, along with thousands of fellow students, marched during a protest against a controversial quota system in government jobs in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. The attack by an activist belonging to the student wing of the then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party left Sokal – a final-year student of criminology at the University of Dhaka – with 10 stitches and temporary memory loss. A day later, Abu Sayed, another 23-year-old student, was protesting at Begum Rokeya University in the Rangpur district, about 300km (186 miles) north of Dhaka, when he was shot by the police. A video of him, with his arms outstretched and collapsing on the ground moments later, went viral, igniting an unprecedented movement against Hasina, who governed the country with an iron fist for more than 15 years before she was toppled last August. Students from schools, colleges, universities and madrassas took to the streets, defying a brutal crackdown. Soon, the young protesters were joined by their parents, teachers and other citizens. Opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, lent crucial support, forming an unlikely united front against Hasina’s government. “Even students in remote areas came out in support. It felt like real change was coming,” Sokal told Al Jazeera. On August 5, 2024, as tens of thousands of protesters stormed Hasina’s palatial residence and offices in Dhaka, the 77-year-old leader boarded a military helicopter and fled to neighbouring India, her main ally, where she continues to defy a Bangladesh court’s orders to face trial for crimes against humanity and other charges. Antigovernment protesters storm Hasina’s residence in Dhaka, August 5, 2024 [K M Asad/AFP] By the time Hasina fled, more than 1,400 people had been killed, most when government forces fired on protesters, and thousands of others were wounded, according to the United Nations. Advertisement Three days after Hasina fled, the protesters installed an interim government, on August 8, 2024, led by the country’s only Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus. In May this year, the interim government banned the Awami League from any political activity until trials over last year’s killings of the protesters concluded. The party’s student wing, the Chhatra League, was banned under anti-terrorism laws in October 2024. Yet, as Bangladesh marks the first anniversary of the end of Hasina’s government on Tuesday, Sokal said the sense of unity and hope that defined the 2024 uprising has given way to disillusionment and despair. “They’re selling the revolution,” she said, referring to the various political groups now jostling for power ahead of general elections expected next year. “The change we fought for remains out of reach,” said added. “The [interim] government no longer owns the uprising.” Sinthia Mehrin Sokal suffered temporary memory loss after she was hit on the head by a policeman during last year’s antigovernment protests [Courtesy of Sinthia Mehrin Sokal] ‘What was my son’s sacrifice for?’ Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner presiding over Bangladesh’s democratic overhaul, faces mounting political pressure, even as his interim government seeks consensus on drafting a new constitution. Rival factions that marched shoulder to shoulder during anti-Hasina protests are now locked in political battles over the way forward for Bangladesh. On Tuesday, Yunus is expected to unveil a so-called July Proclamation, a document to mark the anniversary of Hasina’s ouster, which will outline the key reforms that his administration argues Bangladesh needs – and a roadmap to achieve that. But not many are hopeful. “Our children took to the streets for a just, democratic and sovereign Bangladesh. But that’s not what we’re getting,” said Sanjida Khan Deepti, whose 17-year-old son Anas was shot dead by the police during a peaceful march near Dhaka’s Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024. Witnesses said Anas was unarmed and running for cover when a police bullet struck him in the back. He died on the spot, still clutching a national flag. “The reforms and justice for the July killings that we had hoped – it’s not duly happening,” the 36-year-old mother told Al Jazeera. “We took to the streets for a better, peaceful and just country. If that doesn’t happen, then what was my son’s sacrifice for?” Others, however, continue to hold firm in their trust in the interim government. Advertisement “No regrets,” said Khokon Chandra Barman, who lost almost his entire face after he was shot by the police in the Narayanganj district. “I am proud that my sacrifice helped bring down a regime built on discrimination,” he told Al Jazeera. Barman feels the country is in better hands now under the Yunus-led interim government. “The old evils won’t disappear overnight. But we are hopeful.” Barman lost almost his entire face after he was shot by the police [Courtesy of Khokon Chandra Barman] Atikul Gazi agreed. “Yunus sir is capable and trying his best,” Gazi told Al Jazeera on Sunday. “If the political parties fully cooperated with him, things would be even better.” The 21-year-old TikToker from Dhaka’s Uttara area survived being shot at point-blank range on August 5, 2024, but lost his left arm. A selfie video of him smiling, despite missing an arm, posted on September 16 last year, went viral, making him a symbol of resilience. “I’m not afraid… I’m back in the field. One hand may be gone, but my life is ready to be offered anew.” Atikul Gazi was shot by police at point-blank range on August 5, 2024 [Courtesy of Atikul Gazi] ‘Instability could increase’ Others are less optimistic. “That was a moment of unprecedented unity,” said Mohammad Golam Rabbani, a professor of history at Jahangirnagar University on the outskirts of Dhaka. Rabbani had recited a poem during a campus protest on July 29, 2024. Speaking at an event last month to commemorate the uprising, he said: “Safeguarding that unity should have been the new government’s first task. But they let it slip.” The coalition of students, professionals and activists,
Israel’s Netanyahu has decided on full occupation of Gaza, reports say
Netanyahu’s war cabinet set to approve military operations across entire enclave, according to Israeli media. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to announce plans to fully occupy the Gaza Strip, Israeli media have reported. Netanyahu’s decision will see the Israeli military expand its operations across the entire enclave, including areas where Hamas’s captives are being held, i24NEWS, The Jerusalem Post, Channel 12 and Ynet reported on Monday. “The decision has been made,” Amit Sega, chief political analyst with Channel 12, quoted an unnamed senior official in Netanyahu’s office as saying. “Hamas won’t release more hostages without total surrender, and we won’t surrender. If we don’t act now, the hostages will starve to death and Gaza will remain under Hamas’s control.” The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the reported plans and called on the international community to “intervene urgently to prevent their implementation, whether they are a form of pressure, trial balloons to gauge international reactions, or genuinely serious”. Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. The reports come as Netanyahu is set to convene his war cabinet on Tuesday to discuss the next steps for Israel’s military in Gaza as its war in the besieged enclave nears the two-year mark. Netanyahu is facing growing international pressure to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza and halt the war amid mounting Palestinian deaths due to malnutrition and Israeli attacks. At least 74 Palestinians, including 36 aid seekers, were killed in Israeli attacks on Monday, according to medical sources in Gaza. Advertisement The Israeli leader is also facing mounting domestic pressure to secure the release of Hamas’s remaining captives in Gaza, following the release of footage of detainees Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David appearing emaciated. Netanyahu on Monday doubled down on his war goals, including eliminating Hamas and securing the release of the remaining captives. “We must continue to stand together and fight together to achieve all our war objectives: the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages, and the assurance that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said at the start of a regular cabinet meeting on Monday. Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan on Monday accused the United States and other Western countries of turning a blind eye to Israeli atrocities, and said that Netanyahu’s government bore “full responsibility” for the lives of the captives “due to its stubbornness, arrogance, and evasion of reaching a ceasefire agreement, and the escalation of the war of extermination and starvation against our people”. More than 60,930 Palestinians, including at least 18,430 children, have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities. Forty-nine captives, including 27 who are believed to be dead, are still being held by Hamas, according to Israeli authorities. Adblock test (Why?)
More than 600 former Israeli security chiefs urge Trump to end Gaza war
The group’s letter says the Israeli army has already achieved its objectives and the release of Israeli captives can be achieved only through a deal. More than 600 former Israeli security chiefs have urged United States President Donald Trump to bring an end to Israel’s war on Gaza as deaths of dozens of Palestinians from Israeli-induced starvation have caused global outrage. The appeal was made in a letter sent to Trump on Sunday. Its signatories include former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon and former deputy Israeli army chief Matan Vilnai. They called for pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the nearly two-year conflict, which has devastated Gaza. The letter was sent as a furore grows over videos released by Palestinian groups showing two emaciated Israeli captives held in Gaza, where more than two million Palestinians are struggling to survive the starvation crisis. “Everything that could be achieved by force has been achieved. The hostages cannot wait any longer,” the Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) group said in a post on X, where it shared the letter. The letter said the Israeli army has achieved two of its three objectives by force, “dismantling Hamas’ military formations and governance”, but the third, bringing back all Israeli captives, can “only be achieved through a deal”. “Stop the Gaza War! On behalf of CIS, Israel’s largest group of former [military] generals and Mossad, Shin Bet, Police, and Diplomatic Corps equivalents, we urge you to end the Gaza war,” the letter read. “You did it in Lebanon. Time to do it in Gaza as well,” it added. אנו נמצאים בחלון הזדמנויות נדיר להובלת מהלך אזורי ובינלאומי לשינוי יסודי ברצועה.לטראמפ יש את היכולת לעשות זאת. בשם 550 בכירי עבר מכל זרועות הביטחון ושירות החוץ שלחנו מכתב לנשיא טראמפ: עצור את המלחמה והשב את החטופים. כל מה שניתן להשיג בכוח – הושג. החטופים לא יכולים להמתין עוד.… pic.twitter.com/4gWFC0W9PV — מפקדים למען ביטחון ישראל (@cisorgil) August 3, 2025 Advertisement Translation: We are at a rare window of opportunity to lead a regional and international move for a fundamental change in the Gaza Strip. Trump has the ability to do this. On behalf of 550 former senior officials from all branches of security and foreign service, we sent a letter to President Trump: Stop the war and bring back the hostages. Everything that could be achieved by force has been achieved. The hostages cannot wait any longer. This is the moment of truth. We call on President Trump to exert his full influence and do this – now! The security chiefs said Trump’s credibility rests on his ability to steer Netanyahu “in the right direction”. Gaza turned into rubble On Sunday, Hamas said it was open to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivering aid to Israeli captives in Gaza after Netanyahu said he requested the Geneva-based international organisation to step in. Netanyahu has denied starvation is taking place in Gaza among Palestinians, instead claiming that Israeli captives held there are facing “systematic starvation”. The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, has said the captives “eat what our fighters and all our people eat”. “They will not receive any special privilege amid the crime of starvation and siege,” the group’s spokesman, known as Abu Obeida, said. Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has conducted a war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, killing more than 60,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The military campaign has reduced the enclave to rubble and brought it to the verge of famine. In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave. Multiple rights organisations have called Israel’s war a genocide. Adblock test (Why?)
Deadly Moscow concert hall attack suspects appear in court for trial
NewsFeed Nineteen suspects accused of being involved in the 2024 shooting attack in a Moscow concert hall that killed 149 people, and wounded over 600, have appeared in court in a glass cage at the beginning of their trial. A faction of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack. Published On 4 Aug 20254 Aug 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Palestinians return to Gaza’s al-Zeitoun after 45-day Israeli assault
NewsFeed Al-Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City has been left in ruins after a 45-day Israeli military operation that flattened entire residential blocks. Residents of the area in northern Gaza described it as the most destructive incursion yet. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili reports amidst the wreckage. Published On 4 Aug 20254 Aug 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Texas Democrats leave state to block vote on new House map backed by Trump
US president has urged Republicans to redraw map to help the party net a handful of seats in the midterms next year. Texas Democrats are leaving the state en masse in an attempt to prevent the state’s House of Representatives from holding a vote on Monday on new congressional maps that Republicans hope will win them several additional US House seats in the 2026 midterm elections to buttress their narrow majority. The dramatic move on Sunday could expose Democrats to fines and other penalties, with the state’s attorney general having previously threatened to arrest them if they took such an action. Refusing to attend legislative sessions is a civil violation, so Democrats legally could not be jailed, and it is unclear who has the power to carry out the warrants. Democrats have cast the decision to leave the state as a last-ditch effort to stop Republicans who hold full control of the Texas government from pushing through a rare mid-decade redrawing of the congressional map at the direction of President Donald Trump. Trump is eager to avoid a repeat of his first term, when Democrats flipped the House just two years into his presidency, stymying his legislative plans, and hopes the new Texas map will aid that effort. “This is not a decision we make lightly, but it is one we make with absolute moral clarity,” said Gene Wu, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, in a statement. To conduct official business, at least 100 members of the 150-member Texas House must be present. Democrats hold 62 of the seats in the majority-Republican chamber. At least 51 Democratic members are leaving the state, said Josh Rush Nisenson, spokesperson for the House Democratic Caucus. Advertisement “Apathy is complicity, and we will not be complicit in the silencing of hard-working communities who have spent decades fighting for the power that Trump wants to steal,” he said. Standoff in 2021 The move marks the second time in four years that Texas Democrats have fled the state to block a vote. In 2021, a 38-day standoff took place when Democrats left for Washington, DC, in opposition to new voting restrictions. Republican Governor Greg Abbott called a special session of the legislature that started last month to take up the redistricting effort, as well as to respond to flooding in Texas Hill Country, which killed at least 135 people in July. Texas Republicans last week unveiled their planned new United States House map that would create five new Republican-leaning seats. Republicans currently hold 25 of the state’s 38 seats. Adblock test (Why?)
All five miners trapped after copper mine collapse in Chile found dead
More than 100 people had been involved in the search for workers at the El Teniente copper mine, the world’s largest underground mine. All five workers trapped at a copper mine in Chile have been found dead, according to a regional prosecutor, after rescue teams cleared more than 24 metres (78 feet) of underground passages that collapsed in a strong earthquake last week. Prosecutor Aquiles Cubillo of the O’Higgins region said on Sunday that the body of the fifth trapped worker had been found at the El Teniente copper mine. More than 100 people had been involved in the search for workers at the El Teniente copper mine, the world’s largest underground mine, in Rancagua, about 100km (62 miles) south of Santiago. “We deeply regret this outcome,” Cubillos said. The latest death brings the total toll from the accident to six, including one person who died at the time of the incident on Thursday evening. Chile’s state-owned mining company Codelco discovered the first trapped worker on Saturday and another three on Sunday. It has not yet commented on the final worker. The miners had been working at a depth of more than 900 metres when the collapse happened, killing one colleague and halting operations at the site. Their exact location had been pinpointed with specialised equipment. Minister for Mining Aurora Williams announced the temporary cessation of activity at the mine on Saturday. The mine began operating in the early 1900s and boasts more than 4,500km (some 2,800 miles) of underground tunnels. Last year, El Teniente produced 356,000 tonnes of copper – nearly 7 percent of the total for Chile. The cave-in happened after a “seismic event” on Thursday afternoon, of which the origin – natural or caused by drilling – was not yet known, the authorities said on Saturday. The tremor registered a magnitude of 4.2. Advertisement “It is one of the biggest events, if not the biggest, that the El Teniente deposit has experienced in decades,” Andres Music, the mine’s general manager, said in a statement. The search team included several of the rescuers who participated in successfully surfacing 33 miners trapped in a mine for more than two months in the Atacama Desert in 2010, attracting a whirlwind of global media attention. Chile is the world’s largest copper producer, responsible for nearly a quarter of global supply, with about 5.3 million tonnes in 2024. Its mining industry is one of the safest on the planet, with a death rate of 0.02 percent last year, according to the National Geology and Mining Service of Chile. It also lies in the seismically active “Ring of Fire” that surrounds the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Aerial view of El Teniente copper mine, where a collapse killed five trapped workers underground [Esteban Felix/AP] Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,257
Here is how things stand on Monday, August 4: Fighting A Russian attack killed three people in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhia region on Sunday, Governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram. A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a major fire at an oil depot in Sochi in southern Russia, the governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev, said on Sunday. The fire was extinguished hours later after 120 firefighters were deployed, officials said. Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, briefly halted flights at Sochi’s airport during the fire. Ukraine’s military says it used drones to target several sites inside Russia, including refineries, an airfield and an electronics plant. The governor of the Voronezh region in southern Russia said four people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack that caused several fires, A Russian attack injured seven people and destroyed dozens of houses and apartments in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said on Telegram early on Sunday. The Ukrainian air force said on Sunday that Russia launched 76 drones and seven missiles against Ukraine. It said 60 drones and one missile were intercepted, but 16 drones and six missiles hit eight different locations across Ukraine. The Russian Ministry of Defence said its air defence units destroyed 93 Ukrainian drones overnight, including one over the Krasnodar region and 60 over the waters of the Black Sea. It did not specify how many drones were fired in total. Advertisement Politics and Diplomacy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to exchange 1,200 prisoners following negotiations in Istanbul, adding that “work on the lists [of prisoners to be released] is ongoing”. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Zelenskyy announced he had appointed Anatolii Kryvonozhko as Commander of Ukraine’s air force, a role Kryvonozhko has been serving in as Acting Commander for nearly a year. Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine has prepared three new sanctions packages, including sanctions against the captains of Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers. China and Russia began joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan in waters near the Russian port of Vladivostok, China’s Ministry of National Defence said in a statement on Sunday. The drills will last for three days. Speaking to a crowd of one million young Catholics on the outskirts of Rome, Pope Leo said: “We are with the young people of Gaza; we are with the young people of Ukraine.” Adblock test (Why?)
Week in Pictures: From Russian missile attacks on Kyiv to floods in China
[unable to retrieve full-text content] A roundup of major events last week.
China and Russia begin joint military drills in Sea of Japan
Joint Sea-2025 exercises begin in waters near Russian port of Vladivostok and will last for three days, China’s Defence Ministry says. China and Russia have begun joint naval drills in the Sea of Japan as they seek to reinforce their partnership and counterbalance what they see as a United States-led global order. The Chinese and Russian governments have deepened their ties in recent years, with China providing an economic lifeline to Russia in the face of Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The Joint Sea-2025 exercises began in waters near the Russian port of Vladivostok and will last for three days, China’s Ministry of National Defence said in a statement on Sunday. The two sides will hold “submarine rescue, joint anti-submarine, air defence and anti-missile operations, and maritime combat”. Four Chinese vessels, including guided-missile destroyers Shaoxing and Urumqi, are participating in the exercises, alongside Russian ships, the ministry said. After the drills, the two countries will conduct naval patrols in “relevant waters of the Pacific”. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping [File: Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Handout via Getty Images] China and Russia have carried out annual drills for several years, with the “Joint Sea” exercises beginning in 2012. Last year’s drills were held along China’s southern coast. With this year’s drills in the Sea of Japan, in its annual report last month, Japan’s Ministry of Defence warned that China’s growing military cooperation with Russia poses serious security concerns. “The exercise is defensive in nature and is not directed against other countries,” the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet said earlier this week, according to a report by the US Naval Institute’s online news and analysis portal. Advertisement On Friday, the Chinese Defence Ministry said this year’s exercises were aimed at “further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership” of the two countries. China has never denounced Russia’s more than three-year war nor called for it to withdraw its troops, and many of Ukraine’s allies, including the US, believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow. European leaders asked China last month to use its influence to pressure Russia to end the war, now in its fourth year, but there was no sign that Beijing would do so. China, however, insists it is a neutral party, regularly calling for an end to the fighting while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine. Adblock test (Why?)