Category: 2. World

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A special tribunal has sentenced Bangladesh’s former leader Sheikh Hasina to six months in jail after she was found in contempt of court for allegedly claiming she had a license to kill at least 227 people.

Wednesday’s sentence was the first in any case against Hasina since she fled to India during a mass uprising last year that toppled her 15-year rule.

The contempt case stemmed from a leaked audio recording of a supposed phone conversation between Hasina and a leader of the student wing of her political party. A person alleged to be Hasina is heard on the audio saying: “There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a license to kill 227 people.”

The Criminal Investigation Department confirmed the audio’s authenticity through forensic analysis.

The recording showed Hasina’s anger at the charges of murder and numerous other crimes against her under the interim administration of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who vowed to punish Hasina and her top aides for the deaths of hundreds of people in the uprising against her.

The sentencing by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal came as a trial against her being held in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity began in June.

The tribunal had ordered Hasina and her former home minister to respond by May 15. When they failed to do so, the tribunal summoned them May 25 to appear in court June 16. Later the tribunal asked for notices to be published in newspapers asking Hasina to appear.

The prosecution said later neither of the suspects appeared before the court or explained their absence through a lawyer. In such circumstances, the tribunal has the authority to issue a sentence under the law.

Hasina and her Awami League party had earlier criticized the tribunal and its prosecution team for their connection with political parties, especially with the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

The Yunus-led government has banned the former ruling Awami League party and amended laws to allow for the party to be prosecuted for its role during the uprising.

In February, the U.N. human rights office estimated that up to 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over three weeks in the crackdown on the student-led protests against Hasina, who was the country’s longest serving prime minister.

The tribunal was established by Hasina in 2009 to investigate and try crimes involving Bangladesh’s independence war in 1971. The tribunal under Hasina tried politicians, mostly from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, for their actions during the nine-month war against Pakistan. Aided by India, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father and the country’s first leader.

The death toll in Gaza has continued to rise, with at least 139 Palestinians killed and 487 wounded in Israeli airstrikes over the past 24 hours, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

The ministry also reported that three more bodies were recovered from beneath rubble caused by earlier attacks.

The latest count includes 223 deaths newly confirmed by a judicial committee reviewing reports of missing persons.

Among those killed in the past day, 39 were aid seekers who arrived at hospitals, with over 210 others injured. The Health Ministry said the total number of aid seekers killed since the start of the conflict has now reached 640.

One of the deadliest strikes occurred in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, where a tent was hit, killing 13 people — among them a couple and their four children.

Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinians, who, according to Gaza’s health ministry, were killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a tent, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip on July 3, 2025. —Reuters

Another attack struck the Mustafa Hafez School, which was sheltering displaced residents in western Gaza City, resulting in 11 fatalities.

A Palestinian girl looks at the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS

Read: At least 27 killed in Gaza City after fresh evacuation orders

An air strike near the Nabulsi Roundabout, also west of Gaza City, left at least six people dead and around 100 injured, many of whom were reportedly waiting for aid.

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS

Palestinians inspect the damage at a school sheltering displaced people, following an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, July 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS

UNRWA calls for control of Gaza aid distribution

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has urged an independent investigation into the deaths and injuries of Palestinians attempting to access food via the current US- and Israeli-supported aid delivery system in Gaza.

In a statement posted on X, the agency accused Israeli forces of opening fire on civilians and of people being fatally crushed by aid trucks.

“Lift the siege now,” UNRWA said. “Aid delivery must be safe, dignified and accessible to all. Let the UN, including UNRWA, do the work.”

UN rights expert calls for global sanctions on Israel

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese has urged states to impose a full arms embargo and sever trade and financial ties with Israel, which she accused of carrying out “one of the cruellest genocides in modern history” in Gaza.

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, Albanese presented a report naming more than 60 companies allegedly involved in supporting Israeli settlements and military operations in Gaza.

“This is not just a list; it’s a system,” she said. “We must reverse the tide.” She called on countries to suspend trade agreements and hold corporations accountable for violations of international law.

Read more: At least 27 killed in Gaza City after fresh evacuation orders

UN expert accuses Israel of weapon-testing in Gaza amid 85,000-tonne explosive devastation

In a report presented to the UN Human Rights Council, Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said arms manufacturers had made near-record profits by supplying Israel with cutting-edge technology used to unleash 85,000 tonnes of explosives — six times the power of the Hiroshima bomb — on the Gaza Strip.

Albanese said the destruction in Gaza had coincided with gains on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since October 2023. “One people enriched, one people erased,” she told the council.

She alleged that the conflict had turned Palestine into a live-testing zone for “new weapons, customised surveillance, lethal drones and radar systems,” calling Gaza “an ideal laboratory for the Israeli military-industrial complex.”

The report named 48 companies — including arms manufacturers, banks, tech firms, energy conglomerates and academic institutions — allegedly tied to what Albanese described as an “economy of occupation.”

“From data systems that surveil Palestinians to fossil fuels that power illegal settlements, corporate complicity runs deep,” she said.

Citing international law, Albanese said even indirect ties to these systems carry legal responsibility. She urged states to impose a full arms embargo on Israel, suspend all trade and investment agreements, and ensure companies involved face legal consequences.

“Member states must act. The time for bold steps is now,” she said.

Israel’s government did not attend the session and has previously dismissed Albanese’s findings as “legally unfounded” and an abuse of her UN mandate.

Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli minister’s call for sovereignty over occupied West Bank

Saudi Arabia has strongly criticised recent statements by Israeli ministers advocating full sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kingdom said it “condemns and denounces” the remarks made by Israeli officials, reaffirming its stance against any moves to assert Israeli control over Palestinian territories.

Hamas reviews 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal

Hamas said on Wednesday it was studying what US President Donald Trump called a “final” ceasefire proposal for Gaza but that Israel must pull out of the enclave, and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas would be eliminated.

Trump said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed to the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas after a meeting between his representatives and Israeli officials.

In a statement, the Palestinian group said it was studying new ceasefire offers received from mediators Egypt and Qatar but that it aimed to reach an agreement that would ensure an end to the war and an Israeli pullout from Gaza.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu called for the elimination of Hamas in his first public remarks since Trump’s announcement.

“There will not be a Hamas. There will not be a ‘Hamastan’. We’re not going back to that. It’s over,” Netanyahu told a meeting hosted by the Trans-Israel pipeline.

The two sides’ statements reiterated long-held positions, giving no clues as to whether or how a compromise agreement could be reached.

Israel’s war on Gaza

The Israeli army has launched a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing at least 57,012 Palestinians, including 134,592 children. More than 111,588 people have been injured, and over 14,222 are missing and presumed dead.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

 

CNN
 — 

House Republicans remain in a dramatic overnight stalemate as President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson attempt to cajole nearly a dozen holdouts to support the effort to move forward on the president’s sweeping domestic policy agenda bill.

Johnson has said he plans to keep a key vote to advance the bill open “as long as it takes.” Johnson and his leadership team are whipping members to back the procedural vote in a furious last-minute scramble.

If GOP leadership succeeds, the House would move onto final passage as quickly as possible, following debate on the bill. If the vote fails, however, it would deal a major setback to Republicans, and GOP leaders would need to go back to the drawing board to find a way forward.

A number of House Republicans are — for now — standing in the way of delivering Trump the first major legislative victory of his second term.

For weeks, Trump and his team have promised Hill Republican leaders that he would deliver the headstrong GOP hardliners who are still vowing to defy the president on his agenda, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

Now, it’s all coming down to the wire. Trump and his team have spent much of the day in talks with the GOP holdouts on the bill, including summoning groups of Republicans for meetings at the White House to air their grievances with the Senate-passed version of the package. And Johnson is again facing a test of his powers in the narrowly divided House, as he seeks to steer his fractious conference to swallow a vote that many of them dislike.

In a meeting with centrist-leaning Republicans, Trump’s tone was “cordial,” one GOP member in the room said. The White House brought in Dr. Mehmet Oz – who leads the agency in charge of Medicaid – to help educate members on related provisions in the Senate GOP bill, such as provider taxes and a bolstered fund for rural hospitals, and the potential impacts to hospitals in their districts, according to another person familiar with the discussions. Trump and Vice President JD Vance were both in attendance, helping to convince members to back the bill, those two people said.

“Those meetings are having a big impact, members are moving to yes,” Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota told reporters after returning from the White House meeting with Oz, Trump and Vance.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise nodded to the importance of Trump’s involvement in the discussions earlier Wednesday, telling reporters at the US Capitol, “The president from day one has been our best closer, and he’s going to continue to be through today.”

Both Johnson and Trump have been adamant that the bill land on Trump’s desk in time for him to sign it on the Fourth of July, leaving almost no time for more talks. They also have almost no room for error: House Republicans can only afford to lose three votes if they have full attendance.

It all amounts to a pivotal week that could define Trump’ second term: So far, the push to pass his agenda in Congress has been marred by weeks of tense GOP infighting that has even some Republicans worried about how the bill could play in the 2026 midterms.

Yet if it passes next out of the House, Trump and his Hill allies believe it will help cement his legacy on issues like border security and tax policy – including fulfilling his campaign promises of no taxes on tips or overtime pay – while attempting to rein in federal spending by instituting work requirements for able-bodied adults for Medicaid and SNAP.

Meetings were ongoing at the White House as of midday Wednesday, but key conservatives were still insisting they want to change the Senate bill — a promise that Trump and Johnson aren’t willing to make.

“It’s not ‘take it or leave it.’ I don’t need take it or leave it legislating. How about we send it back to him. We say, ‘Take it or leave it,’ all right? So the Senate doesn’t get to be the final say on everything,” Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, one of the most vocal critics of Trump’s bill, said before he left for the White House on Wednesday. “We need more spending restraint.”

Roy is a leading member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, which outlined their opposition to the Senate’s version of Trump’s domestic policy bill in a new memo obtained by CNN.

The right-wing group of Republicans pointed to more than a dozen problems they have with the current bill, including what they described as watered-down energy tax credit measures, an increase to the deficit and various Medicaid provisions that differ from the House-passed version of the bill.

And in another troubling sign for the White House, the Freedom Caucus’ chairman, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, told reporters he declined to attend the meeting with Trump. “I’m still voting no on the rule. We have to get this thing right,” Harris said.

Another possible “no” vote, Rep. Keith Self of Texas, said he was not invited to the White House.

The Senate’s Tuesday passage of the bill had been a hard-fought victory for Trump, who spent days wrangling fellow Republicans behind the multi-trillion-dollar bill, which includes tax cuts and funding boosts for the Pentagon and border security. It also includes more contentious spending cuts to pay for the rest of the bill, including the biggest downsizing of the federal safety net in decades.

Across the Capitol, House GOP leaders are confident the latest version can pass the House, according to multiple sources. But it will likely take significant political muscle, as Johnson grapples with his own high-stakes battle between centrists and right-wing hardliners.

The legislative brawl inside the US Capitol has also included some dramatic moments – including over the weekend when a key Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis, stunned Washington by announcing he would not seek reelection after defying Trump and voting to block his bill on the floor. (Within a day of Trump threatening to primary him, Tillis exited the race altogether.)

Those high-stakes moments will likely continue on Capitol Hill. Before the bill can come to a final passage vote in the House, the chamber must first take a key procedural vote known as a vote on the rule – and some conservative are threatening to rebel against it, creating a new headache for the speaker. (That vote was already delayed by several hours Wednesday.)

The bill did clear one early hurdle in the House: The House Rules Committee voted to advance the rule on Trump’s agenda bill in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the panel met for almost 12 hours. GOP Reps. Ralph Norman and Chip Roy, two conservatives who have harshly criticized the Senate’s version of the package, joined Democrats on the panel to oppose advancing the rule.

Some Republicans, including Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, still insist July 4 was an “arbitrary” deadline.

Massie, who has consistently voted against the bill over his deficit concerns and has faced the ire of Trump, said he intends to stand firm against the bill.

Asked if there was anything at all leadership could do to win his vote, he said, “We could go back to the drawing board.” Asked about the self-imposed deadline, he added: “There’s no reason to bankrupt the country because you want to go shoot off some fireworks.”

This headline and story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Sarah Owermohle, Lauren Fox, Arlette Saenz, David Wright, Aileen Graef, Kevin Liptak and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.

DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — The Dalai Lama has announced that he intends to reincarnate, paving the way for a successor to take on a mantle stretching back 500 years after his death.

But as he approaches his 90th birthday, that news hasn’t eased the worries of Tibetan Buddhists who wonder: What will happen when this Dalai Lama is gone?

For decades, the 14th Dalai Lama has been more than a spiritual leader. He has sustained a nation in exile and managed to build a community that’s kept the Tibetan culture and identity alive. He is the China -reviled spokesperson for a Tibetan homeland that many, like him, can see only from afar. He has received a Nobel Peace Prize and been courted by royalty, politicians and Hollywood stars, helping him draw global attention and support for Tibet.

When his death comes, it will pitch the global Tibetan community into uncertainty, perhaps for years. His successor will have to be found through the traditional process of reincarnation. China, whose troops took control of Tibet in 1950, says it will reject anyone chosen without Beijing’s consent.

Tibetans in India’s Himalayan town of Dharamshala, the Dalai Lama’s home in exile, and scattered around the world fear a new onslaught on their cultural and religious identity.

“The absence of His Holiness would be a huge setback for the Tibetans,” said Penpa Tsering, the head of the democratically elected Tibetan government-in-exile. “The responsibility lies on us as to how we carry forward the legacy of His Holiness.”

A long gap

The Dalai Lama has become one of the world’s most recognizable figures while leading a Tibetan diaspora through their struggle for autonomy and opposition of China’s control of Tibet. He has not named a successor, but he says they will be born in the “free world” — outside China.

Previous Dalai Lamas have been identified by senior monastic disciples, under strict religious rituals meant to identify their predecessor’s reincarnation. Monks interpret signs, consult oracles and send search committees to Tibetan households looking for a child who exhibits the qualities of the Dalai Lama.

All of this takes years of effort, leaving a leadership vacuum. Years of religious education and training are needed before the identified successor grows up and takes up full responsibilities as spiritual leader.

China has already sought to elevate other spiritual figures, particularly Tibetan Buddhism’s No. 2 figure, the Panchen Lama, whose legitimacy is highly contested by many Tibetans at home and in exile.

Gyaltsen Norbu was installed by Beijing as the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995 after followers of the Dalai Lama recognized a different boy as the Panchen’s incarnation. That boy disappeared soon after.

Joy and stubbornness

And there’s no guarantee the successor will have the current Dalai Lama’s charisma, or his ability to balance a sense of joy with the stubbornness needed to counter China.

“He is a fulcrum, he’s the epitome of the Tibetan movement,” said writer and activist Tenzin Tsundue, who was born in India.

Tsundue for years has advocated for Tibet’s autonomy. To him, the current Dalai Lama’s absence will be hugely felt.

Like many other Tibetans, however, his hopes are pinned on the government in exile. “How is home not anything but a genuine human demand?” he added.

Such concerns are most prevalent in Dharamshala, where a Tibetan community of over 20,000 administers its own schools, hospitals and monasteries and elects its own lawmakers and president. The Dalai Lama handed over his political powers to a democratically elected government in 2011.

Beijing is likely to appoint its own candidate

China doesn’t recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile and brands the Dalai Lama a dangerous separatist. It has shunned direct contact with his representatives for more than a decade.

It has insisted that the Dalai Lama’s successor will be from inside China and must be approved by its government.

Tibetans in exile have long been wary of the officially atheist Chinese government’s attempts to meddle with the Tibetan Buddhism reincarnation system. They see it as part of Beijing’s plan to tighten its control over Tibet.

“If they do it, they are actually making a mockery of themselves among the free countries,” said Geshe Lhakdor, a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, calling Beijing’s stance “hypocrisy.”

Tibetans say they were effectively independent for centuries and accuse China of trying to wipe out Tibet’s Buddhist culture and language. Many of the more than 7 million Tibetans living under Chinese rule accuse Beijing of stifling religious freedoms, changing its ethnic makeup by moving millions of Han Chinese into the region and torturing political prisoners.

The Chinese government denies these allegations.

Waning global attention

For years, governments across the world have feted the Dalai Lama for advocating for Tibetan rights and spreading a message of nonviolence. They have also helped him raise tens of millions of dollars to build Tibetan cultural and religious institutions.

But Tsundue said that global powers have become more unreliable in their support of the Tibetan cause as China’s influence grows.

“Everybody has benefited at our cost because they have been trading with China,” Tsundue said. “We are, in a way, a victim of geopolitics.”

Some countries, including the United States, view Beijing’s attempts to control the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama as a violation of religious freedom and Tibetan cultural tradition. Others, like the European Union and India, have maintained a cautious stance to avoid friction with China.

Tsering, the president of the government-in-exile, acknowledged this, calling Tibetans’ efforts to keep the issue of Tibet alive “a miracle.”

He also cautioned that the future depends on the Tibetan people at large.

Under the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” policy, the movement for Tibet’s autonomy has largely been nonviolent. It espouses autonomy under Chinese sovereignty.

The newly announced succession plan, however, can prompt a reckoning of that policy, and it is unclear how the Dalai Lama’s successor might approach dialogue with Beijing.

Tsering cautioned that much could change in the coming years. His biggest worry is that the Dalai Lama’s death in exile could trigger a violent response inside Tibet, where in recent years hundreds of monks and others reportedly set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule.

“I hope the Tibetans won’t get radicalized,” he said.

Hamas has not yet agreed or denied a 60-day ceasefire proposal by the US that President Donald Trump has said Israel has accepted, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly addressed it.

It is this lack of overall communication and negotiation that is stalling peace in Gaza. Despite US mediation,
Israel and Hamas remain at odds over key conditions for a proposed 60-day cease-fire and hostage release deal.

The two sides have publicly rejected the other’s red lines, making compromise difficult even as humanitarian pressure mounts. Trump and international mediators push for a breakthrough, but mutual distrust and shifting priorities, like Israel’s potential focus on rescuing hostages over military victory, are complicating negotiations.

‘Eager to resume talks’

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has said that the country is eager to resume negotiations with Hamas over a ceasefire agreement “as soon as possible”.

“There are some positive signs. But our goal is to begin proximity talks as soon as possible,” Saar told reporters, referring to the details of the ceasefire that still need to be agreed upon through diplomacy.

At the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to eradicate Hamas. “We will free all our hostages, and we will eliminate Hamas. It will be no more,” he said.

Hamas said in a statement that it was studying the latest proposals and aiming “to reach an agreement that guarantees ending the aggression, achieving the withdrawal (of Israeli forces from Gaza) and urgently aiding our people in the Gaza Strip”.

Possible terms of the deal

A Palestinian source familiar with the ongoing mediated negotiations told AFP that the new proposal on the table shows “no fundamental changes” compared to earlier terms presented by the United States. This suggests that the underlying framework of the talks remains largely the same.

The source explained that the revised proposal includes a 60-day truce. During this period, Hamas would release half of the Israeli captives still alive in Gaza, in exchange for Israel freeing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

As of now, 49 hostages from the 251 captured by Palestinian militants in October 2023 remain in Gaza. According to the Israeli military, 27 of these hostages have already been confirmed dead.

With inputs from agencies

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A special tribunal has sentenced Bangladesh’s former leader Sheikh Hasina to six months in jail after she was found in contempt of court for allegedly claiming she had a license to kill at least 227 people.

Wednesday’s sentence was the first in any case against Hasina since she fled to India during a mass uprising last year that toppled her 15-year rule.

The contempt case stemmed from a leaked audio recording of a supposed phone conversation between Hasina and a leader of the student wing of her political party. A person alleged to be Hasina is heard on the audio saying: “There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a license to kill 227 people.”

The Criminal Investigation Department confirmed the audio’s authenticity through forensic analysis.

The recording showed Hasina’s anger at the charges of murder and numerous other crimes against her under the interim administration of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who vowed to punish Hasina and her top aides for the deaths of hundreds of people in the uprising against her.

The sentencing by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal came as a trial against her being held in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity began in June.

The tribunal had ordered Hasina and her former home minister to respond by May 15. When they failed to do so, the tribunal summoned them May 25 to appear in court June 16. Later the tribunal asked for notices to be published in newspapers asking Hasina to appear.

The prosecution said later neither of the suspects appeared before the court or explained their absence through a lawyer. In such circumstances, the tribunal has the authority to issue a sentence under the law.

Hasina and her Awami League party had earlier criticized the tribunal and its prosecution team for their connection with political parties, especially with the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

The Yunus-led government has banned the former ruling Awami League party and amended laws to allow for the party to be prosecuted for its role during the uprising.

In February, the U.N. human rights office estimated that up to 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over three weeks in the crackdown on the student-led protests against Hasina, who was the country’s longest serving prime minister.

The tribunal was established by Hasina in 2009 to investigate and try crimes involving Bangladesh’s independence war in 1971. The tribunal under Hasina tried politicians, mostly from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, for their actions during the nine-month war against Pakistan. Aided by India, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father and the country’s first leader.