Muhammad Yunus, the interim head of government in Bangladesh, appealed for calm and an end to “senseless violence” amid reports of revenge attacks on members of the previous regime.
“I fervently appeal to everybody to stay calm. Please refrain from all kinds of violence. I appeal to all students, members of all political parties and non-political people to stay calm,” Mr Yunus said.
The appeal came amid reports that 29 bodies of the leaders and families of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party were recovered across Bangladesh on Tuesday.
“Let us not miss the chance by going into any senseless violence. Violence is our enemy. Please don’t create more enemies. Be calm and get ready to build the country.”
Police said mobs had launched revenge attacks on Ms Hasina's allies and their officers, and also freed more than 500 inmates from a prison in Sherpur district.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s office announced late on Tuesday the appointment of Mr Yunus as the head of the interim government after a surprise exit of Ms Hasina who resigned and fled the country on Monday after ruling the country for over 15 years.
Ms Hasina is in Delhi and is seeking asylum in other countries.
Mr Yunus, a 84-year-old Nobel Prize-winning economist, is in Paris and is expected to return to Bangladesh on Thursday.
Army chief Gen Waker-uz-Zaman on Wednesday said Mr Yunus will probably be sworn in later in the evening.
Monday was the deadliest day since protests began, when at least 140 people were killed, taking the toll to least 455 people since early July, according to an AFP tally based on police, government officials and hospital doctors.
“We must protect and make it a wonderful country for us and for our future generations,” Mr Yunus said.
“This is our beautiful country with lots of exciting possibilities”.
The situation has moved quickly since Gen Waker-uz-Zaman announced that an interim government will be formed after Ms Hasina's departure.
The military has reshuffled several generals, demoting some seen as close to Ms Hasina, and firing Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan, a commander of the feared Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.
Gen Ahsan was reportedly detained by authorities at Dhaka airport on Wednesday while trying to escape the country.
Nahid Islam, a key co-ordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement that led the student demonstrations across the South Asian nation, told local media that the students expect the members of the interim government to be finalised by Wednesday.
Mr Shahabuddin’s office has also released political prisoners, including Michael Chakma, an activist jailed in a secret prison since 2019, and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, under house arrest since 2018.
Ms Zia, 78, chairwoman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the country’s first female prime minister, had been serving a 17-year jail term after being convicted of corruption charges in 2018.
She was suffering from poor health and was largely confined to the hospital.
Ms Zia, a key opponent of Ms Hasina, gave a video address to a large number of supporters gathered at her party’s office in the Naya Paltan area in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Some posters at the rally described the BNP chief as the “Mother of Democracy”, Bangladeshi newspaper the Dhaka Tribune reported.
Ms Zia said she will not engage in “revenge politics”.
“We have been able to get independence from this fascist government. I pay my obeisance to the brave ones who gave their lives,” she said.
“We have to build a democratic Bangladesh where all religions are respected. The youth and students will get this done. A progressive Bangladesh where there is peace and prosperity. A country where no revenge and hatred are not present.”
Since Tuesday, streets in the capital have been largely peaceful – with shops opening and international flights resuming at Dhaka airport – but government offices remained mostly closed.
Millions of Bangladeshis had flooded the streets to celebrate after Ms Hasina's departure.
Crowds also stormed and looted her official residence.
The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
- 1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
- 2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
- 3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
- 4th ODI, Sunday, April 16
Squads:
- UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
- Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
UAE%20set%20for%20Scotland%20series
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War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
The Farewell
Director: Lulu Wang
Stars: Awkwafina, Zhao Shuzhen, Diana Lin, Tzi Ma
Four stars
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
