Police back on Bangladesh capital’s streets as strike ends

Police back on Bangladesh capital’s streets as strike ends
The Bangladeshi police agreed to return after late-night talks with the new interim government, helmed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. (AFP)
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Updated 12 August 2024
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Police back on Bangladesh capital’s streets as strike ends

Police back on Bangladesh capital’s streets as strike ends
  • Police loathed for spearheading a lethal crackdown on the weeks of protests
  • Police had vowed not to resume work until their safety on duty was guaranteed

DHAKA: Bangladeshi police resumed patrols of the capital Dhaka on Monday, ending a weeklong strike that left a law and order vacuum following the abrupt ouster of autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina.

Officers vanished from the streets of the sprawling megacity of 20 million people last week after Hasina’s resignation and flight abroad ended her 15-year rule.

Police were loathed for spearheading a lethal crackdown on the weeks of protests that forced her departure, with 42 officers among the more than 450 people killed.

Police had vowed not to resume work until their safety on duty was guaranteed, but they agreed to return after late-night talks with the new interim government, helmed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

“It’s good to be back,” assistant commissioner Snehasish Das said while standing at a busy intersection directing traffic.

“As we feel secure now, we are back on duty.”

Student-led protests against Hasina’s government had been largely peaceful until police attempted to violently disperse them.

Around 450 of the country’s 600 police stations were targeted in arson and vandalism attacks over the past month, according to the national police union.

Some began reopening late last week under guard by the army, an institution held in higher esteem for largely refusing to participate in the crackdown.

In the police’s absence, the students who led the protests that toppled Hasina volunteered to restore law and order after looting and reprisal attacks in the hours after her departure.

They acted as traffic wardens, formed overnight neighborhood watch patrols and guarded Hindu temples and other places of worship, quickly settling the unrest.

Das said there was “no tension” between police and the students who had been performing their duties.

“Students have done a tremendous job in the past few days,” he added. “Our thanks to them.”

The volunteers, for their part, said they were relieved to yield back their responsibilities.

“It’s too difficult for us to manage the vehicles,” Chanu Abdullah, 27, said. “I’m really thankful the police came back.”

Yunus’s de facto cabinet now administering the country said it had noted with “grave concern” some attacks on Hindus and other minorities.

In its first official statement on Sunday night, the cabinet said it would work to “find ways to resolve such heinous attacks.”

Bangladeshi Hindus account for around eight percent of the country’s 170 million people and have regularly been the targets of violence during periods of upheaval.

Hundreds have arrived on India’s border since last week, asking to cross.

The leadership of Jamaat, Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, said it would meet with representatives of the Hindu community and other minority leaders later Monday in a bid to ease tensions.

Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighboring India a week ago as protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted tenure.

Her government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents.

But new home minister Sakhawat Hossain said the government had no intention of banning Hasina’s Awami League party, which played a pivotal role in the country’s independence movement.

“The party has made many contributions to Bangladesh — we don’t deny this,” he told reporters.

“When the election comes, (they should) contest the elections.”

Interim leader Yunus returned from Europe on Thursday to head a temporary administration facing the monumental challenge of steering democratic reforms.

The 84-year-old won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance, credited with helping millions of Bangladeshis out of grinding poverty.

He took office as “chief adviser” to a caretaker administration — all fellow civilians bar Hossain, a retired brigadier-general — and has said he wants to hold elections “within a few months.”


Ukrainian drones hit major international oil pipeline in Russia

Ukrainian drones hit major international oil pipeline in Russia
Updated 8 sec ago
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Ukrainian drones hit major international oil pipeline in Russia

Ukrainian drones hit major international oil pipeline in Russia
  • Kyiv has targeted Russia’s energy infrastructure throughout the three-year conflict
MOSCOW: Ukrainian drones struck a key pumping station at a major international pipeline in southern Russia disrupting supplies from Kazakhstan, the operator said Monday.
Kyiv has targeted Russia’s energy infrastructure throughout the three-year conflict, seeking to hit sites it says supply fuel to Moscow’s army or heps provide funds to support its offensive.
In the latest attack overnight, seven explosive-packed drones hit a pumping station of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium which carries Kazakh oil across southern Russia for export via the Black Sea, including to western Europe.
“Oil transportation through the Tengiz-Novorossiysk pipeline system is carried out at reduced pumping modes,” it said on social media.
The 1,500-kilometer pipeline is owned by a consortium in which the Russian and Kazakh governments as well as Western energy majors Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell hold stakes.
In 2024 it loaded more than 63 million tonnes of oil onto tankers at a terminal at the southern Russian port of Novorossiysk, the company said.
The company said the attack hit the Kropotkinskaya pumping station — the pipeline’s largest in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.
Nobody was wounded and staff prevented the attack causing an oil spill, it added.
Both Moscow and Kyiv launched massive drone attacks in an overnight wave, days after US President Donald Trump called the leaders of both countries to press for a ceasefire.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 83 out of 147 drones that Russia launched overnight, adding another 59 were “lost” without causing damage.
Russia’s defense ministry said it had “intercepted and destroyed” 90 Ukrainian drones, including 24 over the southern region of Krasnodar, where the Caspian Pipeline Consortium runs.
Ukraine’s grid operator Ukrenergo announced emergency outages in some regions of Ukraine “due to the consequences of Russian attacks on energy facilities.”

Quakes leave Greek tourist island on tenterhooks

Quakes leave Greek tourist island on tenterhooks
Updated 5 min 46 sec ago
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Quakes leave Greek tourist island on tenterhooks

Quakes leave Greek tourist island on tenterhooks
  • Between January 26 and February 14, more than 19,200 quakes were recorded off the islands in the Cyclades archipelago
Amorgós: For three weeks Dionysia Kobaiou has been dealing with “the anxiety and stress” of her students on the Greek island of Amorgos which has felt thousands of earthquakes.
She has been teaching remotely since Greek authorities shut down all schools on Amorgos, its more famous neighbor Santorini and other nearby islands until at least until February 21.
Some children ask her whether they should hide under a bed when they feel a tremor.
“It’s like during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Kobiaou told AFP.
But in 2020-21 “we could stay home and protect ourselves (from the virus) whereas now, at any moment, we don’t know what might happen,” she added.
Seismic swarm
Between January 26 and February 14, more than 19,200 quakes were recorded off the islands in the Cyclades archipelago, according to the University of Athens (EKPA) seismology laboratory.
Amorgos and three other islands are in a state of emergency until March 11.
On Monday, another 5.1-magnitude undersea quake was recorded off Amorgos.
The seismic swarm has caused no casualties or significant damage, and the tremors have lessened in intensity and frequency in recent days. But they still mystify scientists.
On the rocky island, over nine hours by ferry from Piraeus in the winter, the 1,900 permanent residents have mainly stayed on Amorgos “except for a few due to professional or health reasons,” stated Mayor Lefteris Karaiskos. Thousands have fled Santorini.
The island’s cafes and the taverns are closed for winter and, between the whitewashed domed chapels, only frogs and kittens give a glimpse of life in the sleepy alleys.
Many of the quakes have been too weak to be felt, but nerves were put to the test by one 5.3-magnitude tremor on February 10, that was felt as far as Athens.
That evening, Sotiris was in his kitchen.
“We rushed outside because we were scared!” recounted the man, who chose not to reveal his last name, as he hauled construction materials in his wheelbarrow.
“But you know, in Greece, we’re used to earthquakes,” he added.
The tremors have hit the island “continuously,” according to Poppi Prasinou as she set up vegetables in front of her mini-market.
Exhausted
“People are starting to get tired,” noted the mother of two, while expressing “relief” that the tremors have decreased in intensity.
As part of the state of emergency, rescue reinforcements have been dispatched from the mainland.
At the port of Katapola, seated with their thick morning coffee, the elders remembered a 1956 earthquake, measuring between 7.5 and 7.7, followed by a tsunami with 20-meter-high waves. Amorgos was devastated.
“There was no information or anything like that at the time,” recalled 83-year-old Vaggelis Mendrinos. “We were terrified (...) We don’t want to see that again!“
From the cliffs, a group of firefighters watched the islet of Anydros. Most epicenters are being recorded just off the uninhabited rocklet.
Amorgos is surrounded by six faults, and seismologists are installing new sensors to better understand the phenomenon.
In the countryside, the sheep bleat as usual, although shepherds say their herds are more nervous from constantly feeling the ground shaking.
At the Chozoviotissa Monastery, built into the rock on a cliffside, only the noise made by the quakes slightly disturbs the two monks and a volunteer who live in near seclusion during winter.
“If we have to leave, this is the best place to leave quickly for heaven,” said the volunteer Constantin Papakonstantinou with a smile, pointing to the open Aegean Sea below the monastery.
Another, less spiritual concern is beginning to emerge in the islands that see an annual summer invasion of tourists.
Amorgos hosts 100,000 tourists each year, according to its mayor. “Don’t scare people away; otherwise, they won’t come this summer!” one resident told AFP.

Pope Francis spends third night in hospital

Pope Francis spends third night in hospital
Updated 28 min 30 sec ago
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Pope Francis spends third night in hospital

Pope Francis spends third night in hospital
  • The pontiff has been suffering from bronchitis for more than a week
  • Francis is not expected to be discharged until the middle of the week

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who is being treated for a respiratory infection, had a peaceful night, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Monday, citing sources close to the hospital.
The pontiff, 88, has been suffering from bronchitis for more than a week and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday morning.
The Vatican said on Saturday that the Pope would remain in hospital for as long as his treatment required.
Francis is not expected to be discharged until the middle of the week, according to ANSA
The Pope was unable to deliver his regular prayer to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, or to lead a special mass for artists to mark the Catholic Church’s jubilee year.
He has also canceled a visit to Rome’s Cinecitta film studios, scheduled for Monday.
“Thank you for the affection, prayer and closeness with which you accompany me in these days,” Pope Francis wrote on X on Sunday.


Musk’s DOGE seeks access to US tax system: reports

Musk’s DOGE seeks access to US tax system: reports
Updated 40 min 26 sec ago
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Musk’s DOGE seeks access to US tax system: reports

Musk’s DOGE seeks access to US tax system: reports

WASHINGTON: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has sparked alarm by seeking access to a system with the US tax office that has detailed financial data about millions of Americans, US media reported.
Spearheaded by Musk, the world’s richest man, US President Donald Trump has embarked on a campaign to slash public spending deemed wasteful or contrary to his policies.
The Washington Post and others reported that the latest request is for DOGE officials to have broad access to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) systems, property and datasets.
This includes the Integrated Data Retrieval System (IDRS), access to which is usually extremely limited and which offers “instantaneous visual access to certain taxpayer accounts,” according to the IRS.
As of Sunday evening, the request had not been granted, the reports said.
But it has sparked alarm within the government and among privacy experts who say granting Musk access to private taxpayer data could be extraordinarily dangerous, according to ABC News.
“People who share their most sensitive information with the federal government do so under the understanding that not only will it be used legally, but also handled securely and in ways that minimize risks like identity theft and personal invasion, which this reporting brings into serious question,” Elizabeth Laird, a former state privacy officer now with the Center for Democracy and Technology, told ABC.
“Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said when asked about the employee’s potential access to the sensitive system, NBC News reported.
“It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it.
“DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard-earned tax dollars on,” Fields added.


Sweden does not rule out sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, public broadcaster reports

Sweden does not rule out sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, public broadcaster reports
Updated 50 min 28 sec ago
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Sweden does not rule out sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, public broadcaster reports

Sweden does not rule out sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, public broadcaster reports
  • The minister’s comments came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to send British troops to Ukraine

STOCKHOLM: Sweden does not rule out sending troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force, public broadcaster Swedish Radio reported on Monday, citing comments by the country’s foreign minister.

The minister’s comments came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to send British troops to Ukraine for peacekeeping duties as he tried to show the US that European nations should have a role in talks on ending the war.
“We must now first negotiate a just and sustainable peace that respects international law, that respects Ukraine and that first and foremost ensures Russia can’t just pull back, build new strength and attack Ukraine or another country in just a few years’ time,” Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in an interview.
“Once we have such a peace established we need to ensure it can be maintained and then our government doesn’t exclude anything,” she added.
On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of expected talks with Russian officials aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine.