Bangladesh held its first general election since the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024, with vote counting underway after polls closed on February 12, 2026, according to Al Jazeera and Sky News. More than 127 million people were eligible to vote in the contest, which saw a turnout of just under 48% across more than 36,000 polling centers, as reported by Al Jazeera.
The election followed the collapse of the government in 2024 during a crackdown on protesters, as detailed by Sky News. The vote pitted the Bangladesh Nationalist Party against its former ally, the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami. Al Jazeera's Tanvir Chowdhury reported from Dhaka as vote counting commenced.
In other news, hospitality bosses in England urged the government to scrap proposals for a holiday tax, according to BBC Business. Over 200 hospitality and leisure bosses expressed concern that a "modest" tourist tax, or visitor levy, would drain money from local businesses. Major holiday providers, including Butlin's, Hilton, and Travelodge, have voiced their opposition. "Holidays are for relaxing, not taxing," a representative from the hospitality industry stated, as reported by BBC Business.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives voted to rescind tariffs that Donald Trump imposed on Canada last year, representing a rare bipartisan rebuke of the White House's trade policy, according to The Guardian. The resolution, which passed 219 to 211, disapproved of the national emergency Trump declared to impose the tariffs.
Finally, a top Iran official accused Israel of trying to sabotage US nuclear talks, as reported by Al Jazeera. Iran's security chief Ali Larijani claimed Israel was attempting to spark a destabilizing regional war.
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