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Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally

Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally
Tensions ran high throughout Sunday with the anti-Hasina protesters saying that they would not allow the party to hold any public rally under any circumstances. Above, Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists protest to counter former prime minister Sheikh Hassan’s Awami League party rally on Nov. 10, 2024. (AP)
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Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally

Rivals of ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina foil her party’s attempt to hold a rally
  • The rally in Dhaka by Hasina’s party was to commemorate the death of a party activist on Nov. 10, 1987
  • On Sunday, rival party activists filled up much of the area where the rally was scheduled to take place
Updated 1 min 22 sec ago
AP
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DHAKA: Rivals of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday thwarted a plan by her Awami League party to hold a rally in Bangladesh’s capital, seen as a potential first effort to make a comeback on the streets since she fled the country in August amid a mass uprising.
The rally in Dhaka by Hasina’s party was to commemorate the death of a party activist on Nov. 10, 1987, which had sparked a mass protest against former military dictator H.M. Ershad. He was eventually ousted from office, ending his nine-year rule in 1990.
The day is commemorated as “democracy day.” In 1991, Bangladesh switched to a parliamentary democracy from a presidential form of government, and since then Hasina and her rival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, became the most powerful political figures in the country.
On Sunday, activists of the party headed by Zia, Hasina’s main rival, and also members of the conservative Jamaat-e-Islami party took to the streets of Dhaka, filling up much of the area where the rally was scheduled to take place.
Others, including hundreds of student protesters, also announced that they wouldn’t allow Hasina’s supporters to stand on the streets and hold the rally. The protesters said that they think Hasina’s party was trying to make a comeback by holding a rally on the streets on Sunday. The protesters from the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, a group that led the mass uprising in July-August, aggressively hunted for supporters of Hasina.
Groups of people surrounded the Awami League party’s headquarters near the Noor Hossain Square in Dhaka where Hasina’s supporters were supposed to gather to hold the rally.
Security was tight in the area, but witnesses and local media said that the protesters attacked several supporters of Hasina when they attempted to reach there and chanted slogans in favor of the fallen leader.
The Awami League party said that many of their activists were detained by police as they came under attacks.
Tensions ran high throughout Sunday with the anti-Hasina protesters saying that they wouldn’t allow the party to hold any public rally under any circumstances. The Awami League party questioned the notion, saying it is against the spirit of democracy and the constitutional right to assembly.
The Awami League party posted a number of videos on Facebook on Sunday showing its supporters being manhandled. Its party headquarters had earlier been vandalized following Hasina’s fall on Aug. 5, and on Sunday it was empty and there were signs of destruction. Outside, control was in the hands of Hasina’s opponents.
The political chaos in the South Asian nation went on as Zia’s party was seeking quick reforms and a new election from an interim government headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus. The party believes it will be able to form the new government in the absence of Hasina’s party, while its other allies are also struggling.
As the interim government ends its three months in office, people remain concerned over high commodity prices, law and order, mob justice and the rise of Islamist forces once suppressed by Hasina’s regime. The international community also remains wary about alleged attacks on minority groups, especially Hindus that make up about 8 percent of the country’s 170 million people.
The Yunus-led government said it would seek extradition of Hasina and her close associates as they face charges of crimes against humanity involving deaths of hundreds of protesters during the uprising.
On Sunday, Bangladesh’s Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said the interim government would ask Interpol to issue red notices seeking the arrest and repatriation of fugitives allegedly responsible for the deaths of people during the mass uprising.
“We will … prioritize bringing them back from wherever they are hiding,” he told reporters in Dhaka.

Topics: Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina

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Mauritius awaits results of close-fought vote

Mauritius awaits results of close-fought vote
Updated 5 sec ago
AFP
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Mauritius awaits results of close-fought vote

Mauritius awaits results of close-fought vote
Updated 5 sec ago
AFP

PORT LUIS, Mauritius: Mauritians are set to find out Monday who will govern their Indian Ocean island nation for the next five years after a hotly disputed election race.
Both the incumbent Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and his main rival Navin Ramgoolam claimed their political blocs had triumphed in Sunday’s legislative poll.
Voters had voiced concern about the continued political and economic durability of one of the richest and most stable democracies in Africa, with the election overshadowed by an explosive phone-tapping scandal.
The poll came on the heels of a historic agreement last month that saw Britain cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius following a long-running dispute.
But Jugnauth’s hopes he would handily win a new term on the back of the deal were dented when secretly recorded phone calls of politicians, diplomats and journalists began to be leaked online last month.
Seeking to keep a lid on the scandal, the authorities announced a social media ban until after the election, before making an embarrassing climbdown in the face of opposition and media outrage.
The move added to concerns that Mauritius’s much-vaunted democracy and civil liberties were being gradually eroded.
Jugnauth’s Militant Socialist Movement and its allies are seeking to hold on to their 42-seat majority in the 70-member National Assembly but face a stiff challenge from former prime minister Ramgoolam’s Alliance of Change.
During a lively and sometimes heated campaign, both camps promised voters they would take measures to improve the lot of ordinary Mauritians who face cost of living difficulties despite strong economic growth.
“We are confident of winning because the people appreciate our record,” 62-year-old Jugnauth said after polls closed, accusing the opposition of trying to hinder the smooth running of the vote.
Ramgoolam, 77, issued a similar declaration.
“We are heading toward a big victory tomorrow. The people are waiting for this liberation,” he told reporters.
Both men are members of the dynasties that have dominated politics in Mauritius since it became independent from Britain in 1968.
A new bloc, the Linion Reform alliance, campaigned against the establishment politicians with the slogan “Neither Navin, Nor Pravind,” and criticized corruption and nepotism.
Police had been stationed in polling stations across the country to ensure the security of the vote, while a number of international observers monitored the process.
Ramgoolam had warned early on polling day about the risk of fraud, while later saying that voting went off largely without incident.
Ballot counting begins on Monday morning with results expected later in the day.
Turnout among the one million registered voters was expected to be around 80 percent, media commentators said, based on figures from a number of polling stations.
Sixty-two seats were up for grabs under a first-past-the-post system, with the remaining eight allocated under what is dubbed the “best loser” system.
The majority-Hindu nation has seen remarkable stability and growth since independence, building an economy based on tourism as well as financial services and textile manufacturing.
GDP growth was seven percent in 2023, but analysts say Mauritius needs to diversify its economy, and concerns about governance and corruption are growing.
The island is renowned for its spectacular palm-fringed white beaches and turquoise waters, attracting 1.3 million visitors last year.
The Chagos deal was a major success for the government, though Britain will retain a lease for a joint US military base on the island of Diego Garcia for an “initial” 99 years.
Jugnauth hailed it as the completion of the nation’s “decolonization.”
But some have voiced concerns that president-elect Donald Trump’s approach to the US military presence in the Indian Ocean might have repercussions for the agreement.

Topics: Mauritius Vote

COP29 opens with Trump climate withdrawal looming

COP29 opens with Trump climate withdrawal looming
Updated 5 min 48 sec ago
AFP
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COP29 opens with Trump climate withdrawal looming

COP29 opens with Trump climate withdrawal looming
Updated 5 min 48 sec ago
AFP
Baku: The COP29 climate talks open Monday in Azerbaijan, under the long shadow cast by the re-election of Donald Trump, who has pledged to row back on the United States’ carbon-cutting commitments.
Countries come to Baku for the main United Nations forum for climate diplomacy after new warnings that 2024 is on track to break temperature records, adding urgency to a fractious debate over climate funding.
But Trump’s return will loom over the discussions, with fears that an imminent US departure from the landmark Paris agreement to limit global warming could mean less ambition around the negotiating table.
“We cannot afford to let the momentum for global action on climate change be derailed,” said Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change and environment.
“This is a shared problem that will not solve itself without international cooperation, and we will continue to make that case to the incoming president of one of the world’s largest polluters.”
Outgoing President Joe Biden is staying away, as are many leaders who have traditionally appeared early in COP talks to lend weight to the proceedings.
Just a handful of leaders from the Group of 20, whose countries account for nearly 80 percent of global emissions, are attending.
Afghanistan will however be sending a delegation for the first time since the Taliban took power. They are expected to have observer status.
Diplomats have insisted that the absences, and Trump’s win, will not detract from the serious work at hand, particularly agreeing a new figure for climate funding to developing countries.
Negotiators must increase a $100 billion-a-year target to help developing nations prepare for worsening climate impacts and wean their economies off fossil fuels.
How much will be on offer, who will pay, and who can access the funds are some of the major points of contention.
“It’s hard. It involves money. When it comes to money, everybody shows their true colors,” Adonia Ayebare, the Ugandan chair of a bloc that groups over 100 mostly developing countries and China, told AFP on Sunday.
Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax,” has vowed to pull the United States out of the Paris agreement.
But Ayebare brushed aside the potential consequences of a US withdrawal, noting Trump already took Washington out of the Paris agreement during his first term.
“This has happened before, we will find a way of realigning.”
Developing countries are pushing for trillions of dollars, and insist money should be mostly grants rather than loans.
They warn that without the money they will struggle to offer ambitious updates to their climate goals, which countries are required to submit by early next year.
“Bring some money to the table so that you show your leadership,” said Evans Njewa, chair of the LDC Climate Group, whose members are home to 1.1 billion people.
But the small group of developed countries that currently contributes wants to see the donor pool expanded to include other rich nations and top emitters, including China and the Gulf states.
One Chinese official warned Sunday during a closed-door session that the talks should not aim to “renegotiate” existing agreements.
Liang Pei, an official at China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, urged negotiators to instead address “the climate crisis collectively, constructively.”
The talks come with fresh warnings that the world is far off track to meet the goals of the Paris agreement.
The climate deal commits to keep warming below 2C compared to pre-industrial levels, preferably below 1.5C.
But the world is on track to top that level in 2024, according to the European Union climate monitor.
That would not be an immediate breach of the Paris deal, which measures temperatures over decades, but it suggests much greater climate action is needed.
Earlier this year, the UN warned the world is on track for a catastrophic 3.1C of warming this century based on current actions.
“Everyone knows that these negotiations will not be easy,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
“But they are worth it: each tenth of a degree of warming avoided means fewer crises, less suffering, less displacement.”
More than 51,000 people are expected at the talks, which run November 11-22.
For the second year running the talks will be hosted by a country heavily reliant on fossil fuels, after the United Arab Emirates last year.
Azerbaijan has also been accused of stifling dissent by persecuting political opponents, detaining activists and suffocating independent media.

Russian strikes kill five in southern Ukraine

Russian strikes kill five in southern Ukraine
Updated 27 min 27 sec ago
AFP
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Russian strikes kill five in southern Ukraine

Russian strikes kill five in southern Ukraine
  • Overnight Saturday into Sunday, Russia fired 145 drones at Ukraine,
Updated 27 min 27 sec ago
AFP

Kyiv: Russian air strikes killed at least five people in southern Ukraine, authorities said Monday, a day after Moscow and Kyiv both launched record overnight drone attacks on each other.
Four people were killed in the southern city of Mykolaiv, according to the regional governor, while another died in Zaporizhzhia in an attack that authorities said injured more than a dozen.
“Four dead,” Mykolaiv Governor Vitaly Kim said early Monday on Telegram, revising up an earlier toll of two after an attack that set several residential buildings on fire.
About 300 kilometers (185 miles) to the east in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s state emergency services agency said Russia carried out three air strikes that killed a man and damaged multiple buildings.
Zaporizhzhia region governor Ivan Fedorov said that 18 people were injured, including five children.
“Boys aged 4, 16 and 17 and girls aged 15 and 17 have received the necessary medical assistance,” he said on Telegram.
Overnight Saturday into Sunday, Russia fired 145 drones at Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, more than during any previous single nighttime attack during the conflict.
Russia also said it had downed 34 Ukrainian attack drones targeting Moscow on Sunday, the largest attempted attack on the capital since the start of the war in 2022.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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2,500 villages told to evacuate as 4th typhoon hits Philippines in a month

2,500 villages told to evacuate as 4th typhoon hits Philippines in a month
Updated 11 November 2024
AFP
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2,500 villages told to evacuate as 4th typhoon hits Philippines in a month

2,500 villages told to evacuate as 4th typhoon hits Philippines in a month
  • Toraji, packing maximum winds of 130 kph, came on the heels of three cyclones in less than a month that killed 159 people
  • On Thursday, Typhoon Yinxing slammed into the country’s north coast, damaging houses and buildings
Updated 11 November 2024
AFP

MANILA: Thousands of villages were ordered to evacuate and ports shut down, officials said Monday, as the disaster-weary Philippines was struck by another typhoon — the fourth in less than a month.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage as Typhoon Toraji — locally known as Nica — hit the nation’s northeast coast near Dilasag town in Aurora province, about 220 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of the capital, Manila, the national weather agency PAGASA said.
The government ordered 2,500 villages to be evacuated on Sunday, but the national disaster office could not say how many people have taken shelter so far.
Toraji, packing maximum winds of 130 kilometers (80 miles) an hour, came on the heels of three cyclones in less than a month that killed 159 people.
Schools and government offices were shut in areas expected to be hit hardest by the latest typhoon.

Tropical cyclone bulletin released by the Philippine weather bureau PAGASA on Sunday.

The national weather agency warned of severe winds and heavy rainfall across the north of the country, along with a “moderate to high risk of a storm surge” — giant waves threatening the coasts of the main island of Luzon.
Nearly 700 passengers were stranded at ports, according to a coast guard tally on Monday, with the weather service warning that “sea travel is risky for all types or tonnage of vessels.”
“All mariners must remain in port or, if underway, seek shelter or safe harbor as soon as possible until winds and waves subside,” it added.
Toraji was forecast to slice across northern Luzon later Monday, with a tropical depression also potentially striking the region as early as Thursday night, weather forecaster Veronica Torres told AFP.
Tropical Storm Man-yi, currently east of Guam, may also threaten the Philippines next week, she added.
On Thursday, Typhoon Yinxing (local name: Marce) slammed into the country’s north coast, damaging houses and buildings.
A 12-year-old girl was crushed to death in one incident.
Before that, Severe Tropical Storm Trami (local name: Kristine) and Super Typhoon Kong-rey (local name: Queenie) together left 158 people dead, the national disaster agency said, with most of that tally attributed to Trami.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the archipelago nation or its surrounding waters each year.
A recent study showed that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.
 

Topics: Philippines typhoons tropical cyclones

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Paris to deploy 4,000 police officers for France-Israel football match following violence in Amsterdam

A French police officer stands by police vehicles during checks on drivers at Place de la Bastille in Paris on March 17, 2020.
A French police officer stands by police vehicles during checks on drivers at Place de la Bastille in Paris on March 17, 2020.
Updated 7 min ago
AP
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Paris to deploy 4,000 police officers for France-Israel football match following violence in Amsterdam

A French police officer stands by police vehicles during checks on drivers at Place de la Bastille in Paris on March 17, 2020.
  • Israeli fans were assaulted last week after a soccer game in Amsterdam by hordes of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people, according to Dutch authorities
Updated 7 min ago
AP

PARIS: Paris police said Sunday that 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for a France-Israel football match to ensure security in and around the stadium and on public transportation a week after violence against Israeli fans in Amsterdam.

France and Israel are playing in a UEFA Nations League match on Thursday that French President Emmanuel Macron will attend, the Elysee presidential palace said.

“There’s a context, tensions that make that match a high-risk event for us,” Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said on French news broadcaster BFM TV, adding authorities “won’t tolerate” any violence.

Nunez said that 2,500 police officers would be deployed around the Stade de France stadium, north of the French capital, in addition to 1,500 others in Paris and on public transportation.

“There will be an anti-terrorist security perimeter around the stadium,” Nunez said. Security checks will be “reinforced,” he added, including with systematic pat-downs and bag searches.

Nunez said that French organizers have been in contact with Israeli authorities and security forces in order to prepare for the match.

Israeli fans were assaulted last week after a football game in Amsterdam by hordes of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people, according to Dutch authorities. Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.

On Sunday, Dutch police detained several people for taking part in a demonstration in central Amsterdam that had been outlawed following the violence targeting Israeli fans, a local broadcaster reported.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed Friday that the France-Israel match would go ahead as planned.

“I think that for a symbolic reason we must not yield, we must not give up,” he said, noting that sports fans from around the world came together for the Paris Olympics this year to celebrate the “universal values” of sports.

Macron’s expected attendance not only is a show of support for the French team, but also aims as sending “a message of fraternity and solidarity following the intolerable antisemitic acts that followed the match in Amsterdam,” an official in Macron’s entourage said. The official couldn’t be named in line with the Elysee’s customary practices.

Topics: football France Israel

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