World
Bangladesh court sentences former PM Sheikh Hasina to death
A special tribunal in Dhaka has sentenced former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia, finding her guilty of crimes against humanity for her government’s role in the deadly crackdown on student-led protests in 2024.
The verdict, delivered by a three-judge panel of the International Crimes Tribunal, concluded that Hasina directly ordered and oversaw operations that resulted in large-scale killings during the July–August unrest that ultimately led to the collapse of her administration.
The 453-page judgment described her as the “mastermind” behind the violent suppression, which left hundreds dead and thousands injured across the country.
Alongside Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also sentenced to death. Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who cooperated with investigators, received a five-year prison term.
Hasina, 78, fled Bangladesh in August 2024 as public anger surged over alleged abuses of power and human rights violations. She has since been living in exile in India and has dismissed the charges as politically motivated. In her first reaction to the ruling, she denounced the verdict as “biased,” claiming the tribunal lacked independence.
The tribunal’s findings stated that security forces used drones, helicopters, and live ammunition to suppress demonstrators, many of whom were unarmed university students demanding reforms and accountability. Some international estimates have put the death toll as high as 1,400, though the exact figure remains disputed.
Political tensions in Bangladesh have remained high since Hasina’s ouster. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been leading an interim government tasked with restoring stability and preparing the country for a new political roadmap. Meanwhile, Hasina’s Awami League has rejected the tribunal’s decision and has begun organizing protests demanding her exoneration.
The ruling marks one of the most dramatic moments in Bangladesh’s recent political history, setting the stage for prolonged legal and diplomatic battles as the country grapples with the legacy of last year’s unrest and the future of its democratic institutions.
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World
US Senate passes Russia sanctions championed by Graham; US House next
In a statement, the Ukrainian embassy in Washington welcomed passage, calling it “a timely and significant step that strengthens pressure on Russia.”
The U.S. Senate easily passed sweeping Russia sanctions legislation on Friday, advancing a long-delayed measure backed by late Senator Lindsey Graham and setting the stage for consideration by the House of Representatives within weeks, Reuters reported.
Graham, a South Carolina Republican who died last month, was among Kyiv’s most outspoken allies in Congress in its four-year-long war with Russia, and the bill aims to increase economic pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
It also includes expanded sanctions on Iran sought by President Donald Trump as lawmakers pushed for a vote on the measure well over a year since it was introduced in 2025.
The Senate’s Republican leaders had not brought the bill up because of resistance from Trump, who had kept decisions on sanctions at the White House, not Congress, since starting his second term in January 2025.
The Senate voted 86-11 to pass the “Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026,” to sanction Russian officials and authorize stiff tariffs on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas.
In a statement, the Ukrainian embassy in Washington welcomed passage, calling it “a timely and significant step that strengthens pressure on Russia.”
However, broad support may not be enough to secure House passage, with some lawmakers and industries wary that new tariff powers for Trump could raise costs for U.S. importers and consumers while exposing Republicans to political blowback.
Representatives Gregory Meeks of New York and Don Beyer of Virginia said in a statement they still had “fundamental concerns” about the tariff powers for Trump, who has made them a central piece of his “America First” approach to foreign policy, read the report.
“What the bill does grant … are sweeping new tariff authorities that the president could weaponize with abandon, as he has repeatedly done in the past,” said Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Beyer, the senior Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee.
Trump’s fellow Republicans control only slim majorities in both the House and Senate.
Only one Senate Republican, Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the bill, likening tariffs to taxes on American consumers.
The chamber erupted into applause after Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, who was appointed to fill his seat, read out the final tally.
The Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Paul and Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon that would have removed the tariff powers.
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, who also sought to change the tariff language, said he had received a written commitment from Trump’s U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, to put guardrails on the tariff authorities, Reuters reported.
If it is approved by the House and signed into law by Trump, the measure would allow the president to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries that are major consumers of Russian energy, including India, Japan and some countries in the European Union, and leave it to his discretion to lift them.
The legislation’s backers insist that the tariffs are narrow enough that they would do their intended job of reducing Russian energy revenue that funds its war on Ukraine without negative consequences.
Supporters called the legislation the best opportunity to support Ukraine, and the strong bipartisan Senate vote provided momentum for it to pass the House after it returns from its summer recess on August 31.
Graham had announced shortly before his sudden death on July 11 that he and Trump agreed finally to move forward with the legislation.
The legislation lets the president impose targeted tariffs on imported goods from countries that buy the vast majority of Russian oil or gas and enable Russia’s evasion of sanctions.
The bill limits these tariffs to the five largest importers of Russian crude oil or gas and the top five countries that aid Russia’s energy sanctions evasion. The measure includes a provision to prevent a lapse in sanctions authority that restricts funding for Iranian energy and weapons.
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