Bangladesh’s ousted leader Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death

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A Bangladesh court sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to be hanged for crimes against humanity on Monday, with cheers breaking out in the packed court as the judge read out the verdict. Hasina, 78, defied court orders that she return from India to attend her trial about whether she ordered a deadly crackdown against a student-led uprising last year that eventually ousted her. The highly anticipated ruling, which was broadcast live on national television, came less than three months before the first polls in the South Asian country of 170 million people since her overthrow in August 2024. “All the… elements constituting crimes against humanity have been fulfilled,” judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder read to the court in Dhaka. The former leader was found guilty on three counts: incitement, order to kill, and inaction to prevent the atrocities, the judge said. “We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence — that is, sentence of death.” Crowds waved the national fl...
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Peru evacuates 1,600 tourists from Machu Picchu amid protest

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Peru has evacuated around 1,600 tourists from a train station that serves the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu after a local protest escalated into clashes with police.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, the ancient fortified complex receives around 4,500 visitors a day, many of them foreigners, according to the tourism ministry.

Visitors travel some 110 kilometers (68 miles) by train from the city of Cusco — the Inca empire’s ancient capital — to the Aguas Calientes train station, then take a bus to the entrance of Machu Picchu.

Residents placed logs and rocks on the tracks Monday to demand that their interests be represented in the bidding process for the new bus operator, after the previous firm’s 30-year concession expired.

Authorities on Tuesday evening evacuated 156 visitors, adding to the approximately 1,400 that were brought out before.

A police statement said 14 officers were injured in clashes with protesters during Monday night’s temporary unblocking of the tracks.

Tourism Minister Desilu Leon said earlier Tuesday that around 1,400 tourists had been evacuated while another 900 were stranded.

Later in the day, Oscar Luque — representative of the Ombudsman in Cusco — told AFP that evacuations had resumed and protests paused until Wednesday morning.

“Right now, I’m on a train with all the tourists who were stranded at Machu Picchu,” he said.

– Architectural marvel –

Among the foreign tourists were French, Japanese, American, Polish, Brazilian, German, and Portuguese nationals, according to the list seen by AFP.

Luque said that any other stranded tourists will be moved by Wednesday morning, adding some had chosen to remain at the site.

The protest is organized by the Machu Picchu Defense Front, which announced in a Sunday statement that it would continue its action indefinitely until the new transport company started operations.

It argued that the new bus operator should be owned by one of the communities involved in the protest.

Machu Picchu was built in the 15th century at an altitude of 2,500 meters (about 8,200 feet) on orders from the Inca ruler Pachacutec.

It is considered a marvel of architecture and engineering, but has repeatedly been the scene of protests by locals pressing social demands.

Tourism is key to the economy of Peru.

SOURCE: AFP AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/hKb2FwJ

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