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What We’re Watching: Trump and Musk feud, Russia retaliates, Bangladesh sets elections
Will Trump and Musk kiss and make up?
The extraordinary public feud between US President Donald Trump and his former government efficiency czar Elon Musk continues. Despite late night reports that the two alphas were seeking detente, Trump was reportedly unwilling to engage with Musk again on Friday morning. The potential break-up risks fracturing the MAGA coalition and could affect Trump’s efforts to pass his “big beautiful” spending agenda (which Musk has called “an abomination.”) And if things get really ugly, could Musk actually start a third party?
Russia responds “very strongly”
Russia has pounded Ukraine with airstrikes over the past 24 hours, in response to Kyiv’s recent drone attacks which crippled a third of Russia’s strategic bombers. The ferocious exchange comes after Ukraine-Russia talks earlier this month went nowhere: Kyiv wants an unconditional ceasefire, Russia wants only a partial one. Trump, who spoke with Putin this week and warned that Russia would respond “very strongly”, said yesterday the two sides, already at full-scale war since 2022, may “need to fight for a while.”
Bangladesh to hold elections next spring.
Bangladesh, a South Asian country of 173 million people, will hold national elections in April 2026, the country’s de facto prime minister, Muhammad Yunus, announced on Friday. The textile-exporting nation has been without an elected leader since a student uprising last August forced then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party had pushed for an election this December, but Yunus said he wanted to ensure a free and fair electoral process before sending voters to the polls.Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus during the inauguration of the Muhammad Yunus place in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, on July 22, 2024.
Bangladesh taps Nobel laureate as interim leader
Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will lead the country’s interim government, student protest leader Nahid Islam announced Tuesday. The news came a day after the student-led uprising against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led to her fleeing the country. At a meeting with the military and other political stakeholders, student protest leaders proposed that Yunus should take the helm.
Who is Yunus? He’s a longtime critic of Hasina and called her resignation the country’s “second liberation day.” The 84-year-old was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the use of microfinance to help impoverished people, particularly women.
In 2007, he announced he would form a political party when the country was run by a military-backed government but abandoned the idea. He has faced investigations and allegations of embezzlement ever since, which his supporters say are politically motivated because he challenged Hasina.
The challenge ahead: Yunus must reassure fellow Bangladeshis and restore order to the 170-million-strong population that’s been rattled by violent protests in recent weeks. Beyond that, he will need to shape the interim government and push for elections to choose the country’s next leader.
“I am honored by the trust of the protesters who wish for me to lead the interim government," he said in a statement. “If action is needed in Bangladesh, for my country, and for the courage of my people, then I will take it.”