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Bangladesh to hold elections in February 2026: Yunus

People watch Muhammad Yunus, leader of Bangladeshi interim government, as he appears on a screen while reading the July Declaration, during celebrations marking the one-year anniversary of student-led protests, outside the parliament building, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2025. (Reuters)
People watch Muhammad Yunus, leader of Bangladeshi interim government, as he appears on a screen while reading the July Declaration, during celebrations marking the one-year anniversary of student-led protests, outside the parliament building, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 05 August 2025

Bangladesh to hold elections in February 2026: Yunus

People watch Muhammad Yunus, leader of Bangladeshi interim government, as he appears on a screen while reading July Declaration.
  • Yunus had earlier said elections would be held in April, but key political parties have been demanding he hold them earlier, and before Ramadan

DHAKA: Bangladesh will hold elections in February 2026, interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Tuesday, the first polls since a mass uprising overthrew the government last year.
“On behalf of the interim government, I will write a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner requesting that the election be arranged before Ramadan in February 2026,” Yunus said in a broadcast on the one-year anniversary of the ousting of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus, 85, is leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections, and has said he will step down after the vote.
“We will step into the final and most important phase after delivering this speech to you, and that is the transfer of power to an elected government,” he said.
Yunus had earlier said elections would be held in April, but key political parties have been demanding he hold them earlier, and before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people.
“I urge you all to pray for us so that we can hold a fair and smooth election, enabling all citizens to move forward successfully in building a ‘New Bangladesh’,” he added.
“On behalf of the government, we will extend all necessary support to ensure that the election is free, peaceful and celebratory in spirit.”


Kenyan prosecution welcomes detention of UK ex-soldier over woman’s murder

Updated 11 sec ago

Kenyan prosecution welcomes detention of UK ex-soldier over woman’s murder

Kenyan prosecution welcomes detention of UK ex-soldier over woman’s murder
Robert James Purkiss, 38, was remanded in custody by a judge after being arrested on Thursday
Purkiss is wanted in Kenya on suspicion of killing 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru in 2012

NAIROBI: Kenya’s prosecution service on Saturday welcomed the detention of a British ex-soldier accused of murdering a woman in the east African country more than a decade ago.
Robert James Purkiss, 38, was remanded in custody by a judge after being arrested on Thursday, Britain’s National Crime Agency said in a statement.
Purkiss is wanted in Kenya on suspicion of killing 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru in 2012, in a case that has caused diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
The body of the young mother was found in a septic tank two months after she reportedly went partying with British soldiers at a hotel in Nanyuki, a town in central Kenya where Britain has a permanent army garrison.
Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) welcomed the “significant development” in a statement on X, adding it was a result of an “extensive and coordinated effort” between the British and Kenyan authorities.
The ODPP “reiterates its unwavering commitment to pursuing justice for Agnes Wanjiru and her family, in collaboration with international partners, to ensure that those responsible are held fully accountable,” the statement added.
In September, a Nairobi High Court judge issued an arrest warrant for Purkiss, with local prosecutors saying extradition proceedings would be initiated to bring him before a Kenyan court.
Purkiss appeared in court on Friday, saying he did not consent to being extradited, the Press Association news agency reported.
The judge rejected his application for bail and ordered him to appear before the court again on November 14.