Bangladesh BNP leader, Prime Minister since 2026
The president has cited autonomic neuropathy and health concerns, prompting his resignation. Parliament will appoint a caretaker president within 90 days, while Hasina’s position tightens as she returns to Bangladesh.
Ousted Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina has said she will return to Bangladesh, insisting she must answer to her people. Speaking via videolink from New Delhi on the second anniversary of the 2024 uprising, she has pledged to confront the charges against her while Bangladesh seeks extradition and India says the request is under review. A memorial museum marks the uprising as Dhaka and New Delhi navigate a fragile reengagement.
Several political developments surround Bangladesh’s exiled prime minister Hasina, who has said she will return to Bangladesh amid a death sentence. Attacks on Shakib Al Hasan’s ancestral home in Magura have raised security and diplomatic concerns as Dhaka and New Delhi spar over Hasina’s Delhi appearance.
The BNP-backed Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has won the presidential election with 255 votes to 88 for Oli Ahmed in a 349-seat parliament. The vote follows the resignation of President Shahabuddin and marks a new phase in Bangladesh’s political landscape as Tarique Rahman moves to lead a two-thirds majority government. Hasina remains in exile in India, with a return planned for December.
The trial has advanced in Bangladesh, where journalists Mozammel Babu, Farzana Rupa, and Shyamal Dutta remain jailed after being accused of inciting suppression during a student uprising. Hasina has fled to India and is expected to return; India has refused extradition. The next court date is October 25, 2026.
Myanmar’s president Min Aung Hlaing has visited Malaysia for two days while Kuala Lumpur is proceeding with a programme to repatriate up to 5,000 Myanmar nationals. Malaysia says roughly 10,000 people have returned this year and that repatriations are voluntary; the UN and rights groups have warned they cannot verify voluntariness and say returnees, including possible Rohingya, face grave risks in a country at war.
Bangladesh has recorded hundreds of suspected measles deaths and more than 187,000 infections since March while vaccinating roughly 19–20 million children; officials say pockets of unvaccinated children and past procurement delays left gaps. In the U.S., Pennsylvania has confirmed four measles-linked deaths and nearly 700 cases this year as vaccination rates have fallen.