World

Interim government of Bangladesh denies trial is politically motivated

Monday, 17 November 2025

A spokesperson for the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which took over after Hasina’s 15 straight years in power ended, denied the trial was politically motivated, saying the court “functioned transparently, allowing observers and publishing regular documentation”.

Hasina was assigned a state-appointed lawyer for the trial, but she refused to recognise the court’s authority and said she rejected all charges. In a written interview with the AFP news agency in October, she said a guilty verdict was “preordained”, and that she would “not be surprised when it comes”.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry also summoned India’s envoy to Dhaka this month, demanding that New Delhi block the “notorious fugitive” Hasina from talking to journalists and stop “granting her a platform to spew hatred”.

The court says the attacks during the student protests last year were “directed against the civilian population”, and “widespread and systematic”.

“Therefore, in the atrocities of killing and gravely injuring protesters, as aforesaid, accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina committed crimes against humanity by her incitement order and also failure to take preventive and punitive measures under Charge 1,” it says.

“Accused Sheikh Hasina committed one count of crimes against humanity by her order to use drones, helicopters and lethal weapons under Charge number 2,” the court adds.

The special tribunal sentenced the toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death, concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

Live footage shows people in the courtroom cheering and clapping as the court issued the death sentence for Hasina.

According to a United Nations report, up to 1,400 people may have been killed during the protests between July 15 and August 5, 2024, with thousands more injured – most of them by gunfire from security forces – in what was the worst violence in Bangladesh since its 1971 war of independence.

During the trial, prosecutors told the court they had uncovered evidence of Hasina’s direct command to use lethal force to suppress the student-led uprising.

Bangladesh has been tense before the verdict, with at least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles torched across the country over the past few days.

The interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has called the death sentence for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a “historic verdict”.

It also warned that any attempt to create chaos and disorder would be dealt with strictly. “We urge people to remain calm, restrained and responsible,” it said.

Live: Bangladesh’s Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity

Monday, 17 November 2025

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity over her government’s violent crackdown on student-led protests last year.

That is ordering the deployment of drones, helicopters and lethal weapons against protesters, and “by virtue of her order” the killings of 12 protesters in Chankarpul of Dhaka and Ashuliya of Sava.

The court also issued a separate sentence of imprisonment till death on three other counts.

That is incitement against protesters, issuing order to kill them and failure to prevent the atrocities and take punitive action against the perpetrators.

“The government is directed to pay considerable amount of compensation to the protesters concerned in this case, who have been killed in the July movement 2024 and also to take measures, to pay adequate compensation to the wounded protesters, in consideration of the gravity of their injury and loss,” the court says.
    
The 78-year-old fugitive politician is on trial in absentia for being the “mastermind and principal architect” behind last year’s suppression of mass demonstrations, in which some 1,400 people were killed.
    
The 2024 uprising ended Hasina’s 15-year “authoritarian” rule marked by allegations of suppression of dissent, and extrajudicial detentions and killings. She has been in exile in India since losing power and has not been seen in public or online.
    
Hasina’s now-banned Awami League party has called the Dhaka tribunal a “kangaroo court” and has urged supporters to protest, raising fears of violence in the country.

“We lost control of the situation but one cannot characterise what happened as premeditated assault on citizens,” Hasina says, according to Reuters news agency.

In a statement carried by AFP news agency, she called the verdicts “politically motivated”.

“The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate. They are biased and politically motivated,” she said from India.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly.”

Bangladesh’s special tribunal sentences former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for crimes against humanity.

Ex-police chief Al-Mamun sentenced to five years

The court says Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun is being awarded leniency for his contribution to the trial, including “material evidence to the tribunal to arrive at the correct decision”.

LIVE: Israel attacks Gaza’s south, north during ‘repeatedly violated’ truce

Thursday, 13 Nov 2025

Israel has carried out an air attack on Gaza’s northern city of Beit Lahiya, eastern areas of Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Younis, where artillery shelling also has been reported, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
    
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel has killed at least 245 Palestinians and wounded 627 in the enclave since the ceasefire came into force on October 10, 2025.
    
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described the ceasefire in Gaza as "fragile" and "repeatedly violated" while appealing for it to be respected and used to advance peace efforts.
    
In southern Lebanon, Israel has struck what its army says is "a weapons storage facility and an underground terror infrastructure site used by Hezbollah".
    
Zikim crossing, the main entry point into the devastated northern Gaza Strip, has been reopened to allow the flow of humanitarian aid into the region, according to Israeli officials.

Israel’s military has conducted overnight incursions in the occupied West Bank, raiding the towns of Tubas, Bal’a, Anabta and Qabatiya, where the Wafa news agency reports soldiers shot and injured a young man and a child.
    
Israel’s military claims to have killed three fighters on Wednesday in southern Gaza’s Rafah while dismantling tunnels in territory under its control.
    
Gaza’s Civil Defence says its crews have recovered 51 bodies from a mass grave in the courtyard of a clinic in Sheikh Radwan in western Gaza City.
    
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 69,185 Palestinians and wounded 170,698 since October 2023. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, and about 200 were taken captive.

Israeli settlers set fire to mosque near West Bank’s Salfit: Report

A group of Israeli settlers have vandalised a mosque near the town of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.

Quoting a local activist, the agency reports that Israeli settlers poured flammable material at the entrance of the mosque and wrote racial slurs on its walls. The report said residents helped put the fire out before it spread through the mosque.

LIVE: India, Pakistan launch probes after blasts in New Delhi, Islamabad

Wednesday, 12 November 2025

Pakistan has blamed "Indian proxies" for being behind the attack in Islamabad that killed at least 12 people on Tuesday, 11 November 2025. 
    
A car explosion in India's capital New Delhi on Monday, 10 November 2025 killed 13 people.
    
India said it "unequivocally" rejects the "baseless and unfounded allegations being made by an obviously delirious Pakistani leadership".
    
Indian police invoked a "terror" law after the Delhi blast as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged a "conspiracy".

India’s prime minister has visited the LNJP Hospital in New Delhi to meet those injured in the deadly explosion near the Red Fort metro station, reiterating his earlier comments, promising to bring those behind the "conspiracy" to justice.

Islamabad bomb blast live: 12 dead in Pakistan capital in 'suicide attack'

Tuesday, 11 November 2025

An explosion has killed at least 12 people and injured 27 others outside a court building in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.
    
A powerful car bomb exploded at the entrance of the sprawling district judicial complex in the city, state-run media and officials said.

Police in Islamabad have told reported that the courthouse in the capital was crowded when the explosion took place which led to injuries to several people.

Those wounded in the attack were taken to PIMS Hospital.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and launched an investigation into the cause of the blast.

Lawyer Rustam Malik, who was in the area, has told AFP news agency that the blast sent people fleeing and damaged vehicles in the area.

"As I parked my car and entered the complex … I heard a loud bang on the gate," Malik said.

"It was complete chaos, lawyers and people were running inside the complex. I saw two dead bodies lying on the gate and several cars were on fire."
    
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Defence Minister Khawaja M Asif have called it a "suicide attack".
    
According to Pakistan TV, the casualties were mostly passers-by or those who had arrived for court hearings.
    
President Zardari has condemned what he described as a "suicide blast" near the Islamabad District Judicial Complex.
    
The explosion occurred at 12:39pm (07:39 GMT), according to Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who also said it was a suicide attack.
    
The blast took place near the entrance of the district court, which is typically crowded with litigants and lawyers during the day.
    
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
    
The explosion came just hours after Pakistani security forces said they thwarted an overnight attempt by armed combatants to storm a cadet college in Wana, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border.
    
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan was "in a state of war", adding that today’s attack should be taken as a "wake-up call".

Islamabad has seen attacks in the past, but it has been relatively calm over the last few years.

This comes at a time when there is an escalation of attacks near the border which Pakistan blames on the Afghan government.

The defence minister said it would be futile to consider peace talks with Afghan government. A few weeks ago, we had deadly exchange of fire across the border and this attack will raise the tension between the two countries.

"In this environment, it would be futile to hold out greater hope for successful negotiations with the rulers of Kabul," he said on X.

"The rulers of Kabul can stop terrorism in Pakistan, but bringing this war all the way to Islamabad is a message from Kabul, to which – praise be to God – Pakistan has the full strength to respond."

NYC mayoral election results live: Mamdani declares victory, Cuomo concedes

Wednesday, 5 Nov 2025

Zohran Mamdani has won the closely-watched mayoral election in New York City, defeating independent Andrew Cuomo, according to projections by the Associated Press news agency.

Mamdani, who calls himself a democratic socialist, will become the city’s first Muslim mayor.

He has drawn liberal voters with plans for free childcare, free bus transport and a rent freeze affecting roughly one million rent-regulated New Yorkers.

Democratic candidates are also racking up wins in other key races, including the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia.

Voters in California have approved new congressional maps that could flip as many as five Republican-held House seats to Democratic control in the 2026 midterm elections.

What are Mamdani’s key policies?

Freeze the rent: Mamdani says he will immediately freeze the rent in rent-stabilised housing, which he says is home to more than two million people in New York.
    
Fast, free buses: Mamdani says he will permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus and make them faster, including by rapidly building priority lanes.
    
Free child care: Mamdani says he will implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged six weeks to five years and bring up wages for childcare workers.
    
City-owned grocery stores: Mamdani says he will create a network of city-owned grocery stores that are focused on keeping food prices low.
    
Taxes on wealthiest New Yorkers: Mamadani says he will pay for his policies by raising the corporate tax to 11.5 percent and by imposing a flat 2 percent tax on those earning above $1million annually.

LIVE: Israel returns 30 bodies of prisoners to Gaza, per terms of ceasefire

Friday, 31 Oct 2025

Israel has returned the bodies of 30 Palestinian prisoners to Gaza, some exhibiting signs of torture, after Hamas returned the bodies of two more deceased Israeli captives yesterday.
    
Israeli warplanes and artillery continue to hit Khan Younis in south Gaza and neighbourhoods of northern Gaza City despite Israel’s claim that it returned to the ceasefire two days ago.
    
Gaza residents say they fear a return to Israel’s full-scale bombing, as they struggle to find food and shelter amid the supposed truce.

Some aid trucks have entered Gaza to deliver much-needed supplies, Aljazeera's correspondent reports, but the number of deliveries still remains insufficient to meet Palestinians’ needs.
    
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Hamas’s armed wing are in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza to search for the remains of Israeli captives, sources in the armed group tell Al Jazeera.
    
The Turkish foreign minister says he will meet with his counterparts on Monday to discuss the Gaza ceasefire and next steps.
    
Israel has carried out two air strikes on southern Lebanon despite an ongoing ceasefire, killing at least one person.
  
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 68,527 people and wounded 170,395 since it began in October 2023. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, and about 200 were taken captive.

Trump-Xi meeting live: China and US to negotiate rare earths, tariffs

Thursday, 30 Oct 2025

United States President Donald Trump is meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, amid frictions over trade.
   
Trump has expressed optimism about the meeting and hinted he may lower tariffs on Chinese exports to the US: “I think we’re going to have a deal.”
    
Tensions escalated this month, with Trump threatening to raise tariffs on Chinese products to 100 percent after Beijing imposed new global restrictions on rare earth minerals, which are key for modern technology.
    
Negotiators from both sides say a “framework” has been agreed leading up to Trump and Xi’s first face-to-face meeting since 2019.
    
Key issues include measures to halt the flow of chemicals using in the manufacture of fentanyl, export controls on rare earths, Chinese imports of US soybeans, semiconductors for artificial intelligence, and the fate of TikTok.

Trump, Xi talks begin

After Xi’s opening remarks, the talks have officially begun.

Trump thanked Xi but did not make additional comments.

Here’s a recap of what they have said so far.

Trump called Xi a “tough negotiator” but also a “great leader of a great country”.
    
“I think we’re going to have a fantastic relationship for a long period of time, and it’s an honour to have you with us,” Trump said.
    
Xi said “it feels warm to see Trump”, adding that it was “normal” for the world’s two largest economies to have “frictions now and then”.
    
The Chinese leader said he believes China’s development “goes hand in hand with” Trump’s Make America Great Again vision and that he stands ready to “work with you to build a solid foundation for US-China relations”.
    
Xi also hailed Trump’s diplomacy, congratulating him on the ceasefire in Gaza and his contributions to the Cambodia-Thailand peace accord. “China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world,” he said.

He said China and the US must be partners and friends.

“This is what history has taught us and what reality demands,” he added.

Xi went on to hail the “basic consensus” and “encouraging progress” reached by the two sides in trade talks, saying this provided the necessary conditions for their meeting.

“Mr President, I’m ready to work with you to build a solid foundation for US-China relations,” he said.

Xi also spoke on Trump’s enthusiasm for “settling various regional hotspot issues” and highlighted the US leader’s “great contribution to the recent conclusion of the Gaza ceasefire agreement”, as well as to a peace deal in the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.

“The world today is confronted with many tough problems. China and the US can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries and work together to accomplish great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world,” he added.

Live: Israel threatens Gaza war restart as Hamas searches for bodies

Wednesday, 29 Oct 2025

The remains of 12 deceased Israeli captives are still in Gaza, with Hamas saying locating the bodies in the vast rubble from Israeli bombardment makes the grim task extremely difficult.

Palestinians in Gaza are burying dozens of bodies that Israel returned in exchange for the remains of Israeli captives, with many unrecognisable and displaying signs of torture and mutilation.

More than two weeks after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, Palestinians are still struggling to find food, clean water, fuel and reliable shelter as Israel continues to curb aid entering Gaza in defiance of an International Court of Justice ruling.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 68,527 people and wounded 170,395 since it began in 7 October 2023. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks and about 200 were taken captive.

The Israeli military said Hamas handed over the body of another deceased captive, as the army’s chief has promised that the war on Gaza will go on until the remains of all abductees are received.

Gaza’s Health Ministry announced it is opening a new office to work on identifying the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians returned by Israel under the ceasefire with Hamas, with many unrecognisable due to decomposition and mistreatment.

Two years of war on Gaza has more than doubled the number of people in the enclave who need mental health care, rising from about 485,000 to more than one million, the World Health Organization said.

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have surged, with 757 incidents recorded in the first half of 2025, 13 percent more than the same period last year, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

The UN and France condemned an Israeli attack near UN peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon after international soldiers neutralised an “aggressive” Israeli reconnaissance drone.

LIVE: Israel’s PM Netanyahu orders ‘powerful, immediate’ attacks on Gaza

Tuesday, 28 Oct 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to carry out “powerful” attacks in Gaza, his office says.

It comes after Netanyahu alleged Hamas committed a “clear violation” of the ceasefire deal. For its part, Gaza’s Government Media Office accused Israel of committing 125 violations of the ceasefire since it came into effect on October 10, including killing 94 Palestinians.

The sound of explosions and drones continues across Gaza despite the ceasefire: “It’s just a constant reminder of how fragile this ceasefire is,” Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports from Gaza City.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 68,527 people and wounded 170,395 since it began in October 2023. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks and about 200 taken captive.

What led to Israel’s decision to attack Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has instructed his military to immediately break the ceasefire and carry out attacks on Gaza.

The following are today’s events that led to the order:

Reports emerged an hour ago of heavy gunfire and explosions in Rafah, southern Gaza. The circumstances of the fighting remains unclear.

Israel accused Hamas of misidentifying the most recently returned captive’s remains, which were of an abductee whose body was recovered two years ago.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s deciding on next steps after Hamas returned the remains of a previously recovered captive.

Israel also accused Hamas of “staging” the return of bodies, claiming drone footage shows Hamas moving and reburying  remains for the Red Cross to witness.

Meanwhile, Hamas claimed Israel is obstructing efforts to recover the bodies of deceased Israeli captives, saying it blocked heavy machinery from entering Gaza and prevented search teams – including Red Cross personnel – from accessing key areas.

While the sides traded barbs, Hamas said it would return the body of another Israeli captive at 8pm local time (18:00 GMT) after it was discovered inside a tunnel in Gaza – which was postponed later after Netanyahu’s announcement of an imminent “powerful” strike.