WORLD BRIEFING: August 5, 2024
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and fled the country. Hasina, who has led Bangladesh since 2009, is onboard a helicopter heading to the Indian city of Agartala, according to BBC Bengali. Hasina's resignation comes as thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the capital Dhaka - with thousands more set to follow, a day after clashes between police and protesters left at least 90 people dead. Some demonstrators have reportedly stormed Hasina's official residence in Dhaka. Some 300 people have been killed over the past month as authorities have cracked down on anti-government protesters. The student protest started last month with peaceful demands to abolish quotas in civil service jobs, but have since transformed into a wider anti-government movement and nationwide unrest, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina - BBC
In a briefing to reporters, Bangladesh Army Chief Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman announced he was assuming control at “a critical time for our country” and would establish an interim government. “I am taking responsibility now and we will go to the president and ask to form an interim government to lead the country in the meantime.”
Boosted by Democrats, younger and Black voters becoming more engaged and likely to vote, and by women decidedly thinking she'd favor their interests more, Vice President Kamala Harris has reset the 2024 presidential race. She has a 1-point edge nationally — something President Biden never had (he was down by 5 points when he left the race) — and Harris and former President Donald Trump are tied across the collective battleground states. - CBS News
A far-right mob have set fire to a Rotherham hotel used to house migrants as police brace for more violence across the UK on Sunday. Masked rioters, some draped in England flags, assembled outside a Holiday Express hotel in Manvers, South Yorkshire, as they clashed with police. After thugs threw bricks and smashed windows, footage emerged of a fire raging from a bottom-floor window as hotel guests looked on from the top floor. It is unclear if they were migrants. It comes after at least 90 people were arrested after riots rocked major cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Hull and Stoke on Saturday, leaving destruction in their wake. A library was torched in Liverpool, Merseyside, after “violent thugs” descended on it and left part of the building reduced to ash. Meanwhile, shoe shops, vape shops and cafes were destroyed in other towns and cities. In Belfast, a Syrian cafe owner said he had “no words” after his business was destroyed. Chief Constable BJ Harrington, who speaks on public order for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said authorities are prepared for people to “try and do this again in the coming days”. - The Independent
Some Western companies still operating in Russia are pausing their plans to exit, despite the continued efforts to isolate the country's economy. But nearly two and half years on, more than 2,000 foreign firms remain in Russia, according to the Kyiv School of Economics. That is compared to around 1,750 that have either scaled back their operations or left completely. The price and difficulty of corporate withdrawal have both significantly increased since the start of the war in Ukraine, as the Kremlin has sought to minimise capital outflow. Chris Weafer, an investment strategist who has worked in Russia for more than 20 years, told Sky News the mounting cost and bureaucratic barriers have caused some clients to put departure plans on hold. "There is a sense that maybe it is too late to leave," he said. "Most companies that are still here have the attitude of let's keep our head down and hope conditions change and we won't have to leave." - SKY News
Vladimir Putin, who has long cultivated an aura of machismo as Russia’s strongman leader, is enlisting women to grow Russia’s population through childbirth and to rebuild his nation as a great power steeped in traditional family values — a campaign that is eroding equal rights and protections, human rights advocates and Russian feminists say. “Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had seven or eight children, and maybe even more,” Putin declared to an audience of ultraconservative religious and political figures who had convened in the State Kremlin Palace in November. “We should preserve and revive these wonderful traditions.” As Putin seeks to restore Russia’s status as a superpower, his revanchist policies are rolling back women’s rights, Russian feminists say, with idealized roles fitted to the imperial era that predated communism. Women are being told to forgo education and careers to prioritize child-rearing, even as the war in Ukraine drains men from the workforce, creating critical labor shortages. - Washington Post
From the Paris Olympics…
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he was "outraged" by the cyberbullying of the Olympic Games opening ceremony's choreographer. Macron went on to praise what the called artist Thomas Jolly's "audacity," adding that the nation was proud of the Paris 2024 opening ceremony. “The French were very proud of this ceremony," said Macron on the sidelines of a visit to Paris Olympics volunteers. "France showed its audacity with the artistic freedom that it comes with." - DW
Some Parisians have experienced the Games as security and transportation headaches. Some fled town early to avoid the disruptions, feeling that these Olympics were not geared toward them. Others stuck around, sacrificing a traditionally sacred vacation period in the hope of Olympic tourism profits. In some cases, they have ended up disappointed. At Brasserie Moliteuil, down the street from the Parc des Princes stadium, waiter Sabrina de Staël said her boss hired extra staff for the summer, thinking that proximity to the Olympic soccer venue would translate into a surge in customers. But just days before the competitions kicked off, police told restaurants near Olympic venues that they couldn’t put tables outside, de Staël said — effectively shutting down the terrasse, the outward-facing sidewalk seats that are a staple of summer life in Paris. The brasserie, mostly empty during the opening Israel vs. Mali soccer qualifying match last week, lost money as a result, she said. - Washington Post
