A woman just looking to blow out her candles lit herself up as her birthday celebration turned into a scene from “Apocalypse Now,” nearly nuking her face! Nozza Usmanova’s loved ones recently surprised her with a birthday cake, sparklers and…
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– As many of you know, out of the blue, I have been called in to assist the Interim Government led by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus in stabilising the economy left in ruins by the fallen autocratic-kleptocratic regime that looted the banks, stole public money and robbed small investors in the capital market to siphon off billions of dollars out of the country. I had never served in a government; neither had I ever expected this opportunity. However, my UN experience and political economy understanding have been handy.
Anis Chowdhury
Reflecting back the year that we have just passed, I trust, you have been well as we wished each other at the start of 2025 the best of our health and spirit. Unfortunately, despite our earnest wish, the world was not peaceful during 2025.
Hopes and global disorder
Hopes kindled briefly for justice for the Palestinians as the European powers, including Australia (a European settler colony) were forced to recognise the Palestine State, and Narcissist Trump pushed for some peace in both Ukraine and Gaza in his mad desperation for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Yet Gaza is still being bombarded with Israel’s genocidal intent, making a mockery of deranged Trump’s rhetorical claim of achieving “peace in the Middle East for the first time in 3,000 years”, and the illegal occupation of the West Bank along with settler violence continues unabated with complete immunity in blatant violations of international laws.
Narcissist Trump sanctioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) in his desperate attempt to save Israeli war criminals, including Benjamin Netanyahu and justify Israel’s genocide and settler violence. Trump upended his assault on the rule-based order with arbitrary so-called ‘reciprocal tariff’.
Bangladesh
As for the post-fascist Hasina Bangladesh, the year 2025 began with high expectations. And as for me, the year 2025 has been extra-ordinary.
Today, I am pleased to say that we have been able to avert a full-blown crisis. Heart-felt thanks to our ‘remittance fighters’ who whole-heartedly trusted the Interim Government’s various reform initiatives. Expatriate Bangladeshis sent a record $30.04 bn in remittances in the 2024–25 fiscal year, the highest amount ever received in a single fiscal year in the country’s history. Forex reserves surged to $33 bn, hitting 3-year high as December remittances crossed $3bn. You can get a report card by Finance Advisor, Dr. Salehuddin and myself, published in the Daily Star on 18 August 2025.
Of course, not everything has been rosy. The much-hoped systemic transition remains full of uncertainty. I see systemic transition as the process of total transformation of a caterpillar inside a cocoon. We still do not know whether the ‘caterpillar in the cocoon’ will turn out to be a butterfly or a moth. People are genuinely worried as the past systemic transition opportunities were wasted.
I myself found road-blocks at every turn. Bureaucratic inertia and resistance have frustrated my efforts for genuine reforms. It has been a real-life experience of the classic British political satire, “Yes, Minister”. Like Sir Humphrey Appleby, the bureaucrats will display outwardly extra-ordinary humbleness, but will politely defy citing rules of business. Bureaucratic resistance is the main stumbling block for achieving coordination, coherence and integration in policy making and implementation, thus, causing wasteful duplications, inefficiency and lack of effectiveness.
Nevertheless, I achieved some success. One of them is the agreement to expand the voluntary Bangladesh National Cadet Corps programme to cover ALL youths (aged 18) in 10-12 years, so that we can have a disciplined workforce to be readily deployed during any national emergency. Needless to say, that this is an imperative to realise demographic dividend. We are hoping to roll out the programme from July 2026 to coincide with the July Revolution anniversary.
Despite frustrations and uncertainties, I am hopeful as I can see a seismic shift in the political dynamics of the country. This coincides with the demographic shift – the youth (15-30 years) representing nearly 30% of the population. These youths have a different vocabulary of politics; they want justice, inclusion, self-respect, and dignity – they are fiercely nationalist.
Recently martyred Hadi is their embodiment. The establishment is understandably threatened and tried to silence the youth by assassinating Hadi; but they failed to extinguish the flame, instead, everyone has become a Hadi, standing unwavering in their commitment to carry out Hadi’s mission of building a just nation where citizens can live with dignity, free from fear, subjugation, and oppression. Hadi re-centred our national conscience on Insaf: justice, dignity, and fairness not as rhetorical slogans, but as non-negotiable ethical foundations of the State and society.
In an era of moral drift, Hadi reminded the nation that no political order can last without justice at its core. He ignited a generation with civic courage and moral responsibility. Free from fear, patronage, or transactional politics, young people saw in Hadi a new model of leadership: ethical, principled, and accountable. In doing so, he reshaped the future political character of Bangladesh and moved national thinking beyond entrenched legacy power structures toward people-centric, principled governance. He challenged the inevitability of corruption and coercion, insisting instead that politics could be reclaimed as a moral vocation. His life poses an enduring question to those who seek power: Will you serve justice, or merely rule?
Let me end this year-end message with my personal tribute to Khaleda Zia, who has recently passed away after a long illness imposed on her by the vindictive Hasina regime, falsely convicting her and imprisoning in a substandard cell. Like her husband, Shaheed President Zia, she was thrust into the whirlpool of history. They never sought power; but when the responsibility fell on their shoulders, they carried out their duties to the nation whole-heartedly and selflessly; thus, they became a true statesman (woman), winning hearts and minds of their people.
Perhaps Khaleda Zia’s most enduring legacy lies in her extraordinary restraint and dignified disposition, even under severe and prolonged adversity. Her self-restraint, rooted in grace rather than weakness, distinguished her from many of her contemporaries and offers a powerful lesson for today’s often abrasive and confrontational political culture.
Warmest regards and best wishes for the New Year
IPS UN Bureau
Minnesota state law enforcement officials are working with the FBI to investigate the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer.
U.S. forces boarded a tanker carrying sanctioned oil after a two-week chase across the Atlantic, as the Trump administration expands plans to take control of Venezuela’s oil sales indefinitely.
And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new dietary guidelines flip decades of advice, elevating meat and dairy and alarming many public health researchers.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Kelsey Snell, Kate Bartlett, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from David Greenburg. Our technical director is Stacey Abbott.
And our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:54) Minnesota ICE Shooting
(05:48) Venezuela Oil Tanker Pursuit
(09:35) RFK Jr’s New Dietary Guidelines
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Noah Cyrus is turning 26 today, so we’re flooding your timeline with her sexiest pics and a little game of trivia about the indie-pop darling. While the biblical Noah saved pairs of animals from the rain, our Noah reined in her assets from the…
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WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)-U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the Ranking Member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has issued a statement condemning the ongoing repression of opposition figures, civil society leaders, and activists in Uganda as the country gears up for its tightly contested January 15, 2026 general election.
Senator Shaheen has demanded that Ugandan authorities must “refrain from violence and suppression especially around the elections,” warning that “the arrests of citizens, opposition figures, and civil society leaders cannot go unaddressed.”
The Senator has particularly called for the immediate release of human rights lawyer Sarah Bireete, writing, “I call on the Ugandan authorities to release Sarah Bireete immediately.”
Bireete’s arrest has become emblematic of broader concerns over shrinking civic space in Uganda.
Sarah Bireete, the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance (CCG) and head of regional election-observer coalitions, was detained on December 30, 2025, after security forces surrounded her home in Kampala, according to multiple reports.
She was subsequently charged with unlawfully obtaining or disclosing personal data under Uganda’s Data Protection and Privacy Act, alleged to involve National Voters’ Register information.
During her appearance at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Court, she denied the charges and was remanded to Luzira Prison while a bail hearing is set for later in January.
The circumstances of the arrest have drawn widespread condemnation from local and international observers, with civil society organisations arguing that the charge is politically motivated and part of a broader pattern of intimidation aimed at stifling critics ahead of the polls.
Amnesty International has documented reports of security forces using tear gas against peaceful crowds, pepper-spraying and beating individuals, and launching what its Regional Director for East and Southern and Africa, Tigere Chagutah, called a “brutal campaign of repression” that inhibits fundamental freedoms ahead of the elections.
The international community is increasingly concerned about the shrinking civic space in Uganda and the government’s crackdown on opposition voices, with Senator Shaheen’s statement adding to the growing pressure on Ugandan authorities to respect human rights and ensure a free and fair election.
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The High Court in Lilongwe has dismissed an application by the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet to discharge a stay order obtained by five senior Malawi Defence Force (MDF) officers, challenging their redeployment to civilian institutions.
Judge Kenyatta Nyirenda ruled that the substantive judicial review proceedings will be heard in open court on January 16, 2026.
The five officers, Major Generals Francis Kakhuta Banda, Swithun Mchungula, Chikunkha Soko, Saiford Kalisha, and Brigadier General Harold Dzoole, had filed an application on November 20, 2025, seeking a stay of their secondments and permission to pursue judicial review.
The court initially granted the stay and leave to commence judicial review, but the hearing was halted following an application by the Attorney General on December 10, 2025, seeking to discharge the stay order.
The redeployment of these senior MDF officers to civilian institutions, including roles as directors of security at state-owned enterprises such as ESCOM, NOCMA, ADMARC, and EGENCO, has sparked controversy.
Critics argue that the move risks politicizing the MDF and undermining its institutional integrity.
Lawyer for the MDF officers, Alan Chinula SC, confirmed that arguments in the judicial review will proceed on the scheduled date, stating, “We have been granted permission to proceed with the judicial review application and interim relief orders against the redeployments”
The court’s decision has been seen as a significant development in the ongoing debate about the government’s handling of security personnel redeployments.
Observers warn that such moves could compromise the independence and effectiveness of national security organs, and call for transparent and justified personnel movements.
The affected officers’ challenge to their redeployment is seen as a test of the government’s commitment to respecting institutional norms and the rule of law.
The outcome of the judicial review is eagerly awaited, with implications for the future of security governance in Malawi.
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