• Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been selected as the temporary head of the Bangladeshi government following longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster.
• Yunus, who founded regional microfinance giant Grameen Bank, will serve in a caretaker position until new elections are held.
• Yunus, 84, is a longtime foe of the Hasina government. He has been the target of multiple state-led corruption investigations.

Bangladesh’s Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been chosen to head the country’s interim government after the nation’s longtime prime minister resigned and fled abroad in the face of violent unrest against her rule.

Known as the “banker to the poorest of the poor” and a longtime critic of the ousted Sheikh Hasina, Yunus will act as a caretaker premier until new elections are held. The decision followed a meeting late Tuesday that included student protest leaders, military chiefs, civil society members and business leaders.

Hasina was forced to flee on Monday after weeks of protests over a quota system for allocating government jobs turned into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule, which was marked by a rising economy but an increasingly authoritarian streak.

BANGLADESH PM RESIGNS, LEAVES COUNTRY AFTER RESIDENCE IS STORMED BY PROTESTERS, ENDING 15-YEAR RULE

Hasina’s departure has plunged bangladesh into a political crisis. The army has temporarily taken control, but it is unclear what its role would be in an interim government after the president dissolved Parliament on Tuesday to pave the way for elections.

Student leaders who organized the protests have wanted Yunus, who is currently in Paris for the Olympics as an adviser to its organizers, to lead an interim government.

He could not immediately be reached for comment, but key student leader Nahid Islam asserted that Yunus agreed to step in during a discussion with them. The 83-year-old is a well-known critic and political opponent of Hasina.

Yunus called her resignation the country’s “second liberation day.” She once called him a “bloodsucker.”

An economist and banker by profession, Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the use of microcredit to help impoverished people, particularly women. The Nobel Peace Prize committee credited Yunus and his Grameen Bank “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.”

Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1983 to provide small loans to entrepreneurs who would not normally qualify to receive them. The bank’s success in lifting people out of poverty led to similar microfinancing efforts in other countries.

He ran into trouble with Hasina in 2008, when her administration launched a series of investigations into him. He had announced he would form a political party in 2007 when the country was run by a military-backed government but did not follow through.

During the investigations, Hasina accused Yunus of using force and other means to recover loans from poor rural women as the head of Grameen Bank. Yunus denied the allegations.

Hasina’s government began reviewing the bank’s activities in 2011, and Yunus was fired as managing director for allegedly violating government retirement regulations. He was put on trial in 2013 on charges of receiving money without government permission, including his Nobel Prize and royalties from a book.

He later faced more charges involving other companies he created, including Grameen Telecom, which is part of the country’s largest mobile phone company, GrameenPhone, a subsidiary of Norwegian telecom giant Telenor. In 2023, some former Grameen Telecom workers filed a case against Yunus accusing him of siphoning off their job benefits. He denied the accusations.

Earlier this year, a special judge’s court in Bangladesh indicted Yunus and 13 others on charges over the $2 million embezzlement case. Yunus pleaded not guilty and is out on bail for now.

Yunus’ supporters say he has been targeted because of his frosty relations with Hasina.

Yunus was born in 1940 in Chittagong, a seaport city in Bangladesh. He received his PhD from Vanderbilt University in the United States and taught there briefly before returning to Bangladesh.

In a 2004 interview with The Associated Press, Yunus said he had a “eureka movement” to establish Grameen Bank when he met a poor woman weaving bamboo stools who was struggling pay her debts.

“I couldn’t understand how she could be so poor when she was making such beautiful things,” he recalled in the interview.

As tensions in the Middle East continue to rise, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has reassured citizens and military personnel that the south European country is prepared to respond to any escalation.

In a parliamentary briefing on Tuesday, Tajani emphasised the Italian government’s commitment to protecting the 4,000 Italians living in Lebanon and its troops deployed in the region.

Speaking about Italian nationals who are still in Lebanon, Tajani said his country is “ready for any event should the situation deteriorate,” adding that “those who can should return”.

The foreign minister’s comments come as Italy continues to try and help de-escalate the situation as tensions between Hezbollah and Israel ramp up following last week’s events.

Israel killed Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander and founding member of the group, in an airstrike in Beirut on 30 July for his alleged involvement in the Golan Heights of northern Syria, which killed 12 children. Hezbollah has sworn to retaliate against Israel in kind.

Iran has also vowed revenge against Israel after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike while visiting Tehran on the next day. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the assassination.

‘Rarely have we seen a more tense situation’

Under Italy’s presidency, Tajani called a G7 meeting to address the worsening crisis. The group of seven nations voiced their support for US President Joe Biden’s plan for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“We call on the parties involved to desist from any initiative that could hinder the path of dialogue and moderation and favour a new escalation,” the G7 said, according to a final statement issued by the Italian Foreign Ministry.

Emanuele Loperfido, a member of the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee from the right-wing populist Fratelli d’Italia (FDI) party, described the current geopolitical climate as one of unprecedented tension.

“Rarely have we seen a more tense situation,” Loperfido said, stressing that the Western bloc’s commitment to international law and the protection of victims is crucial.

Meanwhile, opposition parties have criticised both the Israeli and Italian governments. Giuseppe Conte, leader of the left-wing populist Five Star Movement (M5S) party, condemned the Italian government’s handling of the situation, accusing it of failing to recognise the Palestinian State.

In a video posted on his Instagram account, Conte labelled the government’s approach as cowardly and complicit with the US administration.

“We think this government is cowardly. Three times, it had the chance to recognise the Palestinian State during the UN General Assembly and interrupt this military action and failed to do so,” Conte said.

Recent developments in Lebanon and Iran have complicated ceasefire talks. Despite neither Israel nor Iran seeking an all-out war, they seem unlikely to listen to calls for restraint at this stage.