• BNP seeks return to power under Tarique Rahman.
• 300 lawmakers to be elected directly.
• Additional 50 women to be chosen from party lists.

DHAKA: Bangladesh began voting on Thursday in its first national election since the deadly 2024 uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina, with people queued at polling stations across the country amid expectations of tight electoral race.  

Leading prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman, 60, is confident his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) can regain power – but he faces a stiff challenge from the Muslim-majority country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.

Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, has mounted a disciplined grassroots campaign, and, if victorious, the former political prisoner could lead the first Islamist-led government in constitutionally secular Bangladesh.

Opinion polls vary widely, though most give the BNP the lead – with some suggesting a knife-edge race.

“The significance of this day is far-reaching,” interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who will step down after the polls, said ahead of the vote in the country of 170 million people.

“It will determine the future direction of the country, the character of its democracy, its durability, and the fate of the next generation.”

The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has led the South Asian nation since Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule ended with her ouster in August 2024. His administration has barred her Awami League from contesting the polls.

Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity for the bloody crackdown on protesters during her final months in power, and remains in hiding in neighbouring India.

‘Crucial test’

Yunus has also championed a sweeping democratic reform charter to overhaul what he called a “completely broken” system of government and to prevent a return to one-party rule.

On Thursday, the 127 million voters will also decide in a referendum whether to endorse proposals for prime-ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.

Voters will elect 300 lawmakers directly, with a further 50 women chosen from party lists.

More than 300,000 security personnel have been deployed for the polls, which open at 7:30 am (0130 GMT), with counting by hand to begin after they close at 4:30 pm.

Results in past elections trickled in hours later – though counting this time also includes referendum ballots.

“The crucial test for Bangladesh now will be to ensure the election is conducted fairly and impartially, and for all parties to then accept the result,” said Thomas Kean, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.

“If that happens, it will be the strongest evidence yet that Bangladesh has indeed embarked on a period of democratic renewal.”

‘Just and inclusive’

The next government will inherit a battered economy in the world’s second-largest garment exporter, alongside delicate relations with neighbouring India.

The BNP’s Rahman – whose late parents both led the country – told AFP that his first priority, if elected, would be restoring security and stability. But he warned the challenges ahead were immense.

“The economy has been destroyed,” he said. “There are a huge number of unemployed. We need to create businesses for these young people to have jobs.”

But his Islamist political rivals, who have campaigned on a platform of justice and ending corruption, sense their biggest opportunity in decades.

“We want to build a country of unity with everyone on board,” Jamaat leader Rahman said in his closing campaign speech. “It will be a country where nobody gets the driving seat because of their family background.”

Around 10 percent of Bangladesh’s population are non-Muslim, most of them Hindu.

In his final address to the nation before voting, Yunus urged citizens to honour the “sacrifice” of the 2024 uprising and to put the “national interest above personal and party” agendas.

“Victory is part of democracy; defeat is also an inevitable part,” he said. “Please dedicate yourselves to building a new, just, and inclusive Bangladesh.”

• Nine people killed in remote British Columbia community.
• Police say suspect killed family members before school attack.
• Prime Minister orders flags flown at half-mast nationwide.

OTTAWA: Canadian police have identified the attacker behind one of the country’s deadliest school shootings as an 18-year-old woman with a history of mental health issues. 

Authorities said she acted alone in the attack in British Columbia, which left nine people dead before she took her own life.

The killer, who police named as Jesse Van Rootselaar, committed suicide after the shooting on Tuesday in Tumbler Ridge, a remote community in the Pacific province of British Columbia. Police revised the death toll down to nine from the initially reported 10.

“Police had attended that (family) residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect,” said Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commander of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia.

McDonald said Van Rootselaar, who was born male but began to identify as a female six years ago, had first killed her mother, 39, and 11-year-old step-brother at the family home.

She then went to the school, where she shot a 39-year-old woman teacher as well as three 12-year-old female students and two male students, one aged 12 and one aged 13.

“We do believe the suspect acted alone … it would be too early to speculate on motive,” he told a press conference.

Earlier in the day, a visibly upset Prime Minister Mark Carney promised Canadians would get through what he called a “terrible” shooting.

Carney, who has postponed a trip to Europe, said he had ordered flags on all government buildings be flown at half-mast for the next seven days.

“We will get through this. We will learn from this,” he told reporters, at one point looking close to tears.

“But right now, it’s a time to come together, as Canadians always do in these situations, these terrible situations, to support each other, to mourn together and to grow together.”

Several prominent world leaders sent messages of condolence. King Charles, Canada’s head of state, said he was “profoundly shocked and saddened” by the deaths.

Shooting among deadliest in Canadian history

The shooting ranks among the deadliest in Canadian history. Canada has stricter gun laws than the United States, but Canadians can own firearms with a licence.

In April 2020, a 51-year-old man disguised in a police uniform and driving a fake police car shot and killed 22 people in a 13-hour rampage in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia, before police killed him at a petrol station.

In Canada’s worst school shooting, in December 1989, a gunman killed 14 female students and wounded 13 at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, before committing suicide.

“There’s not a word in the English language that’s strong enough to describe the level of devastation that this community has experienced,” said Larry Neufeld, a local provincial legislator.

“It’s going to take a significant amount of effort and a significant amount of courage to repair that terror,” he told CBC News.

• Two leaders meeting for seventh time in nearly 13 months.
• Netanyahu seeks broader US talks with Iran beyond nuclear issues.
• Trump threatenes strikes on Iran if no agreement is reached.
  

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump hosted Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday, with the Israeli prime minister expected to press him to widen US talks with Iran to include limits on Tehran’s missile arsenal and other security threats beyond its nuclear program.

In his seventh meeting with Trump since the president returned to office nearly 13 months ago, Netanyahu was looking to influence the next round of US discussions with Iran following nuclear negotiations held in Oman last Friday.

Trump has threatened strikes on Iran if no agreement is reached, while Tehran has vowed to retaliate, stoking fears of a wider war. He has repeatedly voiced support for a secure Israel, a longstanding US ally and arch-foe of Iran.

In media interviews on Tuesday, Trump reiterated his warning, saying that while he believes Iran wants a deal, he would do “something very tough” if it refused.

Trump says no to Iranian nuclear weapons, missiles  

Trump told Fox Business that a good deal with Iran would mean “no nuclear weapons, no missiles,” without elaborating. He also told Axios he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group as part of a major US buildup near Iran.

Israel fears that the US might pursue a narrow nuclear deal that does not include restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program or an end to Iranian support for armed proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, according to people familiar with the matter. Israeli officials have urged the US not to trust Iran’s promises.

“I will present to the president our perceptions of the principles in the negotiations,” Netanyahu told reporters before departing for the US The two leaders could also discuss potential military action if diplomacy with Iran fails, one source said.

Iran has said it is prepared to discuss curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions but has ruled out linking the issue to missiles.

“The Islamic Republic’s missile capabilities are non-negotiable,” Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said on Wednesday.

Netanyahu’s arrival at the White House was lower-key than usual. He entered the building away from the view of reporters and cameras, and a White House official then confirmed he was inside meeting with Trump.

Gaza on the agenda 

Also on the agenda was Gaza, with Trump looking to push ahead with a ceasefire agreement he helped to broker. Progress on his 20-point plan to end the war and rebuild the shattered Palestinian enclave has stalled, with major gaps over steps such as Hamas disarming as Israeli troops withdraw in phases.

Netanyahu’s visit, originally scheduled for February 18, was brought forward amid renewed US engagement with Iran. Both sides at last week’s Oman meeting said the talks were positive and further talks were expected soon.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ahead of the Oman meeting that negotiations would need to address Iran’s missiles, its proxy groups, and its treatment of its own population. Iran said Friday’s talks focused only on nuclear issues.

Trump has been vague about broadening the negotiations. He was quoted as telling Axios on Tuesday that it was a “no-brainer” for any deal to cover Iran’s nuclear program, but that he also thought it possible to address its missile stockpiles.

Iran says its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, while the US and Israel have accused it of past efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Last June, the US joined Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during a 12-day war.

Israel also heavily damaged Iran’s air defenses and missile arsenal. Two Israeli officials say there are signs Iran is working to restore those capabilities.

Trump threatened last month to intervene militarily during a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran, but ultimately held off.

Israel wary of a weakened Iran rebuilding 

Tehran’s regional influence has been weakened by Israel’s June attack, losses suffered by its proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, and the ousting of its ally, former Syrian President Bashar al‑Assad.

But Israel is wary of its adversaries rebuilding after the multi‑front war triggered by Hamas’ October 2023 assault on southern Israel.

While Trump and Netanyahu have mostly been in sync and the US remains Israel’s main arms supplier, Wednesday’s meeting could expose tensions.

Part of Trump’s Gaza plan holds out the prospect for eventual Palestinian statehood – which Netanyahu and his coalition, the most far-right in Israel’s history, have long resisted.

Netanyahu’s security cabinet on Sunday authorized steps that would make it easier for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israel broader powers in what the Palestinians see as the heartland of a future state. The decision drew international condemnation.

“I am against annexation,” Trump told Axios, reiterating his stance. “We have enough things to think about now.”