Priti Patel has been appointed new international development secretary by prime minister Theresa May during her first full day at number 10.
Patel, who campaigned for the UK to exit the EU, was previously employment minister and in the past has called for the department for international development to be replaced with a department for international trade and development in order to “enhance trade with the developing world.”
Muhammad Yunus speaks at a session during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 22, 2025. (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
BANGLADESH's interim leader, who took over after a mass uprising last year, will meet powerful parties pressuring his government later on Saturday (24), days after he reportedly threatened to quit.
Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who leads the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has called for rival political parties jostling for power to give him their full support.
His press secretary Shafiqul Alam confirmed Yunus would meet leaders of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as well as leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim-majority nation's largest Islamist party.
"He is meeting BNP and Jamaat leaders this evening," Alam said. No agenda for the talks has been released.
But the BNP, seen as the front-runners in elections, are pushing heavily for polls to be held by December. They would be the first elections since a student-led revolt forced then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee in August 2024.
Microfinance pioneer Yunus, who has led the country after returning from exile at the behest of protesters, says he has a duty to implement democratic reforms before elections.
Yunus has said polls could be held as early as December, but that holding them later -- with a deadline of June -- would give more time for those changes.
The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since Hasina fled, but this week has seen an escalation with rival parties protesting on the streets of the capital Dhaka with a string of competing demands.
"Our senior members will be there for the talks," said BNP media official Shairul Kabir Khan.
Jamaat-e-Islami's media spokesperson Ataur Rahman Sarkar also confirmed that they were invited.
On Thursday (22), a political ally and sources in his office said Yunus had threatened to resign if Bangladesh's parties and factions did not back him.
That came a day after BNP supporters held large-scale protests against the interim government for the first time demanding an election date.
"If he is unable to announce a specific election date by December, we will reconsider our support for his administration," senior BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed said in an interview on a private TV channel broadcast on Friday (23).
According to local media and military sources, army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman this week also said that elections should be held by December -- aligning with BNP demands.
Bangladesh has a long history of military coups, and the army retains a powerful role in the country.
Jamaat-e-Islami loyalists have also protested against the government, demanding the abolition of a women's commission seeking equality.
Nahid Islam, leader of the National Citizen Party -- made up of many of the students who spearheaded the uprising against Hasina -- said his party meanwhile wanted later elections to give time for change.
The students wanted "fundamental reforms" to Bangladesh's system of governance, Islam, an ally of Yunus, told reporters on Friday, according to the Prothom Alo newspaper.
But he said rival parties considered the overthrow of Hasina to be "regime change and are trying to assume power" under the existing constitution.
"There are efforts to create an unstable situation in the country," Islam added. "We must remain united and not fall into the trap."
Hasina, 77, remains in self-imposed exile in India.
She has defied an arrest warrant to face trial for crimes against humanity related to last year's police crackdown on protesters during which at least 1,400 were killed.
(AFP)
Muhammad Yunus. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
BANGLADESH's Muhammad Yunus "needs to remain" in office as interim leader to ensure a peaceful transition of power, a cabinet member and special adviser to Yunus said Friday (23).
Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who took over after a mass uprising last year, had threatened to quit the job if parties did not give him their backing, a political ally and sources in his office said.
The South Asian nation has been in political turmoil since the student-led revolt that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, with parties protesting on the streets over a string of demands.
"For the sake of Bangladesh and a peaceful democratic transition, Professor Yunus needs to remain in office," Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, a special assistant to Yunus, and head of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said in a post on Facebook.
"The Chief Adviser is not going to step down," he added. "He does not hanker after power."
He later deleted his post.
Bangladesh's political crisis has escalated this week, with rival parties protesting on the streets of the capital Dhaka with a string of competing demands.
Yunus's reported threat to stand down came after thousands of supporters of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) rallied in Dhaka on Wednesday (21), holding large-scale protests against the interim government for the first time.
Yunus has promised polls will be held by June 2026 at the latest in the Muslim-majority nation of around 170 million people.
But supporters of the BNP -- seen as front-runners in the highly anticipated elections that will be the first since Hasina was overthrown -- demanded he fix a date.
Yunus's relationship with the military has also reportedly deteriorated.
According to local media and military sources, army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said on Wednesday that elections should be held by December, warning that Bangladesh was in a "chaotic phase" and that the "situation is worsening by the day".
Taiyeb issued a warning to the army on Friday. "The army can't meddle in politics," he wrote.
"The army doesn't do that in any civilised country," he added.
"By saying that the election has to be held by December, the military chief failed to maintain his jurisdictional correctness."
The army played a decisive role in the ending of Hasina's rule by not stepping in to quash the uprising, after at least 1,400 protesters were killed in a police crackdown.
It was Waker-Uz-Zaman who announced that Hasina had been overthrown, with the military taking brief control, before handing over to Yunus.
The army issued a statement late on Thursday it said was aimed to combat those seeking to create divisions between the military and the public.
"Some vested interest groups are circulating misleading information and trying to create a divide between the army and the general public," the army said in a statement late Thursday (22).
It released a list of the hundreds of people it had briefly sheltered inside army bases in the chaotic days following Hasina's ouster "to save them from extrajudicial killings".
Among those the army said it sheltered to "save lives" were 24 political figures, as well as judges, civil service staff, academics and more 525 police personnel.
The army did not give details on those it accused of seeking to undermine its support.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) -- made up of many of the students who spearheaded the uprising against Hasina, and a group close to Yunus -- has previously accused of the army of supporting Hasina's Awami League party.
Hasina, 77, remains in self-imposed exile in India, where she has defied an arrest warrant to face trial for crimes against humanity related to the police crackdown.
The government banned the Awami League this month after protests outside Yunus's house, a move that sparked criticism from Human Rights Watch, calling it an "excessive restriction on fundamental freedoms that mirrors the previous government's abusive clampdown".
(AFP)
Currently, Harvard hosts around 10,158 students and scholars from across the world at its various schools. (Photo: Getty Images)
THE SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION (SAA), a major student group at Harvard University, has strongly condemned the Trump administration’s decision to revoke Harvard’s eligibility to enrol foreign students. The group described the move as an “unwarranted and flagrant attack” and urged the university’s administration to continue supporting its international student community.
On Thursday, the Trump administration directed the Department of Homeland Security to terminate Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) certification. “This means Harvard can no longer enrol foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status,” the federal agency stated.
In response, SAA said it “strongly condemns" the Department of Homeland Security’s decision, which bars future enrolment of international students and requires current international students to transfer.
“Amid this unwarranted and flagrant attack,” SAA said it was expressing its “unwavering support for our international community.”
The group called on Harvard’s administration, faculty and students to maintain “steadfast support for its international student body in these turbulent times. To all international students: you belong at Harvard and we will stand for you.”
“We stand with our South Asian peers and community members who have been adversely impacted,” SAA said in a statement posted on Instagram.
The association added that international students bring “integral and immeasurable value” to both SAA and the wider Harvard community.
Founded in 1986, the South Asian Association is one of the largest student groups on campus with hundreds of members. It was created as a community space for South Asians from all backgrounds, “most importantly, immigrants, international students and first-generation Americans.”
“Our members come from nations across the entire South Asian diaspora, and we strive to affirm their belonging and importance on campus,” the group stated.
“If this decision by the current federal administration is actualised, Harvard will lose some of its greatest minds and kindest souls, and SAA will irrevocably lose its community,” it added.
Currently, Harvard hosts around 10,158 students and scholars from across the world at its various schools.
According to data from the Harvard International Office, there are 788 students and scholars from India at Harvard for the 2024–25 academic year.
(With inputs from PTI)
The arrests come amid heightened international scrutiny of cannabis trafficking involving young travellers
A 21-year-old British woman has been arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly attempting to smuggle synthetic cannabis worth £1.2 million into the country, amid growing concerns of young travellers being targeted by organised drug trafficking networks.
Charlotte May Lee, from south London, was detained last Monday after arriving at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo. Sri Lankan customs officials allege she was found carrying large vacuum-packed bags of a synthetic cannabis strain known as kush in her luggage. Lee had flown to Sri Lanka from Bangkok, Thailand, echoing the travel route of another British national, 18-year-old Bella May Culley, who was arrested just one day earlier in Georgia on similar charges.
Authorities in both Sri Lanka and Georgia are now reportedly exploring a potential link between the two cases. Both women had travelled alone from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and are suspected of acting as drug couriers for international criminal networks.
Culley, from County Durham, is accused of attempting to smuggle 14kg of cannabis through a Georgian airport and is currently being held in Tbilisi’s No. 5 women’s prison. In her court appearance, Culley claimed she was pregnant. Her family has said she initially left the UK on a backpacking trip during Easter, with her first stop being the Philippines to visit a former partner. She later travelled to Thailand before arriving in Georgia.
Culley’s social media activity suggests she was travelling with a male companion, though he has not been publicly identified. Her posts included captions hinting at a rebellious lifestyle, including one TikTok video labelled: “Don’t care if we on the run baby as long as I’m next to u.”
Lee, meanwhile, is believed to have travelled to Thailand in April to celebrate her birthday with her sister, who lives in Australia. A former summer cabin crew member for Tui, Lee had been training as a beauty therapist before her trip. Her social media profiles also show images of holidays and beach parties, suggesting a keen interest in travel despite reported financial difficulties.
Photographs released by Sri Lankan authorities show the drugs seized from Lee’s luggage were professionally packaged, raising questions about the level of planning and organisation behind the operation. If convicted, Lee could face up to 25 years in prison under Sri Lankan law.
Similarly, Culley faces a sentence ranging from 20 years to life if found guilty in Georgia. She may also remain in custody for up to nine months before her trial begins. Her lawyer, Ia Todua, appointed by Georgian authorities, said Culley appeared deeply shaken by the charges. “My impression was that she ended up in Georgia without even knowing what she was doing,” Todua said. “She looked like she didn’t expect it to have such severe consequences.”
Culley’s father, Niel Culley, has travelled from Vietnam, where he resides, to be with his daughter. Her mother, Lyanne Culley, told reporters she had pleaded with her not to go to Thailand, expressing distrust of some of the people her daughter had met abroad. “I begged her to come home,” she said. “But she wanted to meet up with some friends she made on a previous trip. I don’t know who any of them are.”
The arrests come amid heightened international scrutiny of cannabis trafficking involving young travellers. The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) last year issued a warning about harsh penalties for bringing cannabis into the UK from countries such as Thailand, the US, and Canada, where laws on possession have been relaxed.
Thailand legalised the use of cannabis leaves in 2021 and the full plant in 2022, primarily to reduce prison overcrowding. However, experts now warn the move has inadvertently fuelled global smuggling operations.
In 2024 alone, the NCA reported a dramatic increase in cannabis seizures, rising from two tonnes in 2022 to nearly 27 tonnes. Of 750 smugglers arrested at UK airports that year, 460 had flown from Thailand. The agency highlighted how younger people are often misled by more lenient drug laws abroad, making them vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers.
Darrell Jones, a former Metropolitan Police officer and expert on drug smuggling, said many young people are lured by the promise of easy money. “They think it’s a great idea at the time, especially if they’re running out of money,” he said.
Investigations in Sri Lanka and Georgia are continuing, with both cases serving as stark warnings about the risks facing young travellers drawn into illicit drug operations abroad.
Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force soldiers lower their national flags at the India-Pakistan joint check post at Wagah border. (Photo: Reuters)
INDIA will urge the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to put Pakistan back on its “grey list” and will oppose upcoming World Bank funding to Islamabad, a senior government official in New Delhi told Reuters on Friday.
The move is part of India’s response to what it alleges are Pakistan-backed terrorist attacks, including one last month in Kashmir that killed 26 Hindu pilgrims. India has also decided to keep the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.
“We will not miss any opportunity in opposing Pakistan and the next one is funding by World Bank, and we will raise our protest there too,” the Indian official told Reuters.
Pakistan has denied involvement in the Kashmir attack and said India's move on the Indus Waters Treaty amounts to an act of war.
Pakistan was removed from the FATF grey list in 2022, which improved its standing with global lenders. The grey list includes countries under increased monitoring for shortcomings in their financial systems related to terrorist financing.
The Indian official said Pakistan had not met the necessary conditions for its removal from the grey list and should be re-listed.
India has also told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that Pakistan’s arms purchases increased after it received IMF loans, according to the official.
The FATF, World Bank, and IMF did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Pakistan secured a $7 billion bailout from the IMF last year and a new $1.4 bn arrangement this month under a climate resilience programme.
At a press conference in Washington on Thursday, IMF director Julie Kozack said Pakistan had met all its targets and had made progress on reforms, which led the board to approve the programme.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that Pakistan, its army and its economy would “have to pay a heavy price for every terrorist attack.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
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