TRANSCRIPT
- The Prime Minister of Bangladesh resigns and flees the country
- US stocks fall sharply over fears of a recession
- Australia's Noémie Fox has won the women's kayak cross final at the Paris Olympics
Bangladesh's Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has resigned and left the country for "a safer place", ending 15 years in power.
It has prompted the border security force in India to issue a 'high alert' to all units along India-Bangladesh border.
Prime Minister Hasina's resignation follows the storming of her residence by thousands of demonstrators, amid deadly anti-government protests.
Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman addressed the nation.
"I had invited the leaders from all political parties and we had a discussion. We have decided to form an interim government. The country will be now run by an interim government. We are now going to meet the honourable President and will discuss about the formation of the interim government under which the country is going to run as of now."
Human Rights Watch Asia Deputy Director Meenakshi Ganguly says "the people have won".
"A lot of people have lost their lives in this fight, which really began peacefully over quotas in government jobs, but escalated because of mishandling by the government, by the absolute arrogance of the political leadership, by excesses of the security forces into something which was so angry and demanded that the prime minister, step down, so they will be happy today."
Sheikh Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won a fourth straight term in January, in an election boycotted by the opposition.
**
Stock markets in the United States have fallen sharply following falls in Australia, Europe and Asia.
The decline in the US comes over fears the United States economy could be heading towards a recession following the release of weaker than expected jobs data.
The Nasdaq index opened at 6.3 per cent lower and other indexes also dropped before recovering .
In Australia, the share market has suffered its worst day in more than four years with panic selling over the fears of a U-S recession.
The benchmark S&P/A-S-X-200 index dropped 293.6 points, or 3.7 per cent - its biggest single day fall since May 2020.
That amounts to a loss of 5.81 per cent - or $160 billion - over the past two days of trading.
And in Japan, the Nikkei 225 share index plunged more than 12 per cent its worst single-day decline since 1987.
The Nikkei index logged its worst two-day decline ever, dropping 18.2 per cent in the last two trading sessions.
Tokio Marine Asset Management Senior Strategist, Hirofumi Kasai, says much of the panic came from investors dumping a range of stocks due to concerns the US economy may be in worse shape than expected.
"I think there is a sense of selling in a panic. The trigger was concerns over the US economy, and interest rates rising in Japan with a more hawkish than expected tone from the news conference from the Bank of Japan governor last week."
**
New data shows Indigenous Australian children make up a high percentage of young people struggling to find a place to call home even after seeking professional help.
The report from Homelessness Australia suggests more than 76,000 Australian children under the age of 18 sought help from homelessness support services across the nation between 2022 and 2023.
The report has also found many young people were failed by child protection and justice systems prior to becoming homeless.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are particularly over-represented in the data, making up almost a third of homeless children despite comprising 6.8 per cent of the population under 18.
Chief Executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency, Aunty Muriel Bamblett, says the situation is dire.
"Particularly our Aboriginal children are in crisis. They're ringing, they're looking for help, they're homeless. Our children are suffering with mental health, drug and alcohol. Young children are living in homes where it's not safe, and so it is about how do we actually focus on children. Why do you think so many of our children end up in the justice system; because there's nothing else and so you commit a crime and at least you get a bed and three meals a day."
**
British Interior Minister Yvette Cooper has warned of a "reckoning" following days of violent anti-immigration protests in towns and cities in England.
Riots erupted after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, with 420 people arrested so far.
They are driven by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups who believe the suspected attacker was a radical Islamist who had just arrived in Britain, as was reported on social media.
These claims have been debunked as misinformation, with police confirming the suspect was born in Britain.
Yvette Cooper says tensions had been amplified and inflamed online, and the government would be pursuing the issue with social media companies.
"There are also obviously issues around social media and social media acted really as a rocket booster behind both the spread of misinformation and also the organisation of this violence. Social media companies need to take some responsibility, we also need to make sure that criminal activity online is being pursued and I think it's really important that none of us forget this minority of thugs do not speak for Britain, they do not speak for the towns and cities that they were causing havoc in."
**
Noémie Fox has won the women's kayak cross final at the Paris Olympics.
She joins her sister Jess Fox as a gold medallist.
And the Hockeyroos are out of the Olympics after a 3-2 loss to China in the quarterfinals.
