Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved parliament on Friday ahead of a snap election on February 8, counting on her cabinet’s high poll numbers to steer her otherwise unpopular ruling party to victory. The country’s first woman premier had announced her intentions on Monday, seeking public backing for measures to shield households from rising living costs and increase spending on ...

The United States officially left the World Health Organization on Thursday after a year of warnings that doing so would hurt public health in the US and globally, saying its decision reflected failures in the UN health agency’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump gave notice that the US would quit the organisation on the first day of ...

Ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election, BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman participated in election rallies across seven districts on Thursday. During his speeches at these rallies, he urged voters to cast their ballots for BNP by voting for the party’s symbol, the sheaf of paddy. After concluding the rallies, he returned to Dhaka on Friday morning. Earlier, on Thursday (22 ...

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has said that if the party forms the government, it will be able to work for the nation. “We will work and build the country – Bangladesh first,” he said while addressing an election rally in Araihazar upazila of Narayanganj in the early hours of Friday. The rally was held at the Panchrukhi Begum Anowara Degree ...

Tower Hamlets councillors rejected calls to publicly discuss increasing concerns from ministers over the way it is being run after the Government stepped up its interventions in the borough. At a meeting on Wednesday night, councillors for the town hall’s ruling Aspire party voted down a motion from Labour to debate minister claims that the town hall’s “financial management and ...

Former Labour minister Andrew Gwynne has announced he is standing down as an MP, paving the way for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham to potentially run in a by-election in his Gorton and Denton constituency. In a statement, Gwynne said he had suffered “significant ill health” and had been advised by his GP that it wasn’t safe for him to ...

The minister responsible for council elections has confirmed that 29 English councils planning elections for May will now have these postponed. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed told the House of Commons he had approved delays until 2027, with a final application still under consideration due to it being submitted on Thursday morning. Opposition MPs have criticised the decision, saying delays ...

Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain has said that India should take responsibility for safeguarding the rights of its minority communities, just as Bangladesh protects its own minorities, amid heightened tensions between the two neighbouring countries. In an interview with BBC Hindi in Dhaka, Touhid Hossain said Bangladesh does not comment on actions against minorities in India and expects Indian authorities ...

The German Football Association (DFB) is to decide whether the German national team will boycott the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in 11 US cities, Mexico and Canada. DFB mulls 2026 FIFA World Cup boycott The German government has said that the country’s football association can decide on whether Germany’s national team will boycott the FIFA World Cup, ...

‘Past elections were a mockery, protect your vote’ BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman on Thursday addressed a massive election rally in Shayestaganj upazila of Habiganj district, criticizing past elections as a mockery of democracy and urging citizens to safeguard their voting rights. He pledged that a BNP-led government would prioritize employment, social welfare and support for farmers and religious leaders while ...