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Seething international tensions over the South China Sea have struck an unlikely victim in Vietnam: popular children’s dolls pulled from shops over a facial mark supposedly resembling Beijing’s claims in the flashpoint waterway.Small and fluffy, with large eyes and rabbit ears, Chinese-made “Baby Three dolls” became a must-have among Vietnamese kids and Generation Z earlier this year and had been flying off shelves across the country.That was until an online backlash began over the “Town rabbit V2” model of the doll — and a marking on its cheek that was said to resemble China’s so-called “nine-dash line”.Beijing has long used the line to justify its claims over most of the resource-rich South China Sea, often to the displeasure of Vietnam, which also claims parts of the waterway.In response to the online outcry, the industry and trade ministry ordered an inspection of toys supposedly displaying the nine-dash line, which it warned were “affecting national security and territorial sovereignty”.Vendors in Hanoi told AFP that most of the offending dolls had been pulled from shelves, but their once-booming business has been shattered, with sales of all models vastly down.Le, who declined to give her full name, said she used to regularly sell 100 Baby Three dolls a day for up to $20 each, but her sales had dwindled to almost nothing, with just a few now flogged at reduced rates. “Almost all children started to boycott (the dolls) because they saw it as a nationalistic issue, thinking that buying Baby Three was unpatriotic,” she said.”I’ve invested so much money into this… it feels like such a waste,” she added.- First ‘Barbie’, now this -According to data cited by state media from YouNet ECI, an e-commerce data analysis platform, the average selling price of Baby Three on Shopee and TikTok Shop plummeted by half in the first 10 weeks of 2025.Vu Tu, 19, told AFP that the toys were “cute and adorable” but the “nine-dash line scandal” had put him off.”In my opinion, toys with the nine-dash line affect Vietnam’s sovereignty and I don’t support them,” he said.The controversy comes as the website of Chagee — a Chinese milk tea brand due to open its first store in Vietnam — was flooded with angry comments and threats of a boycott last week over a nine-dash line map featured on its website. In 2023, “Barbie”, the fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was banned from cinemas due to scenes featuring the nine-dash line.And in 2018, Vietnam cut a scene from the romantic comedy “Crazy Rich Asians” that featured a designer bag with a map of the world showing the disputed South China Sea islands under Beijing’s control.The South China Sea is home to valuable oil and gas deposits and shipping lanes, and several of China’s neighbours have voiced concern that Beijing is seeking to expand its reach.

Young, urban women in Afghanistan are increasingly ditching the all-enveloping blue burqa with a face mesh that has become a symbol of the Taliban’s oppression of women.Since their return to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed an ultra-strict vision of Islamic law, modelled on their previous rule from 1996 to 2001.But while women must still have their bodies and faces covered, restrictions from the feared religious police do not specifically mention the burqa.So young women are instead following fashions seen in many Gulf nations.Many prefer a flowing abaya robe, worn with a hijab headscarf and often a face covering as well — sometimes a medical mask, or a Saudi-style cloth niqab veil that exposes only the eyes.”The new generation would never accept wearing a burqa, because of the design and colour,” said 23-year-old Tahmina Adel in the capital Kabul.With social media, “everybody follows the trends”, Adel added, who was forced to quit her economics degree because of the Taliban government’s ban on women’s education.”I prefer wearing an abaya because I am comfortable in that,” she said.Young women in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif said that abayas and headscarves offer more freedom of expression than burqas, with a variation in colour, material and pattern.”Only elders wear a burqa,” said Razia Khaliq, as she embroidered one at a workshop in Mazar-i-Sharif.Khaliq began wearing the billowing head-to-toe burqa aged 13, like her mother and grandmother before her.But her daughter, in her 20s, prefers the abaya.”Young people wear the abaya because it is more comfortable,” Khaliq said.- ‘Stifling’ -The burqa has long roots in Afghanistan.It was strictly enforced during the first Taliban government rule of Afghanistan, when women were lashed for failing to wear one in public.But the abaya and hijab headscarf combination grew in popularity during the time of the foreign-backed government.When the Taliban recaptured Kabul in 2021, they had promised to be more flexible than during their first rule, when women were deprived of almost all their rights.They have gradually erased Afghan women from public space, imposing what the United Nations has called a “gender apartheid”.They outlawed the loose headscarves commonly worn by urban women.Billboards were erected ordering women to once again wear the burqa — or an abaya, headscarf and a face covering.A law in August confirmed restrictions imposed on men and women by the religious police.It stipulates that, while women can go out “in case of necessity”, they must cover up.”Whether a burqa or hijab, there is no difference,” said Saif ul Islam Khyber, spokesman for the morality police, known officially as the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.Nasima, in her 40s, insisted that “showing your face is a sin”.But she admitted to sometimes wearing an abaya and headscarf to free her nose and mouth from the “stifling” burqa.- ‘Very strange’ -Niha, 22, said she was reprimanded for not wearing a burqa in public buildings, which are guarded by the Taliban authority’s security forces.It is common to be asked to readjust the headscarf, or ordered to add a medical mask.”As soon as we enter offices, we are mistreated,” said Niha, who did not give her surname.Hayatullah Rafiqi, a specialist in Pashtun culture, said the burqa was “strictly imposed” under the first Taliban government — when some women were “whipped if they did not wear it” — but that “today it is worn less.”Burqas vary only in colour according to province, from blue to light brown, and green to pink.Gul Mohammad has been selling burqas in Kabul for 40 years, and said many now come from China — made of nylon rather than cotton, making them cheaper and stronger but less breathable.”The Chinese burqa is very cold in winter, and it is like fire in summer,” said Gul. “This makes the women sweat.”For Sabrina, 23, from the Taliban’s spiritual cradle of Kandahar, life under a burqa is fraught with pitfalls.She is regularly lectured if she does not wear it.The first time she wore it was after the Taliban government seized back control in 2021, and it was not her choice.”I couldn’t see my way, I didn’t know if I was going right or left,” she said. “It was very strange.”

A motorbike rider inches slowly over bumpy terrain deep in Cambodia’s Virachey national park, carefully adjusting the basket strapped behind him. Inside is precious cargo — a critically endangered Siamese crocodile.The reptile is one of 10 being released into the park in Cambodia’s northeast for the first time — part of a years-long effort that has brought the Siamese crocodile back from the brink of extinction in the wild.”Often what we see is species are declining, species are disappearing,” said Pablo Sinovas, Cambodia country director for the Fauna & Flora conservation group, which has led the conservation programme.”In this case, we are seeing actually that the species seems to be recovering.”The crocodile, which can grow up to four metres (13 feet) long, is distinguished by dragon-like bony crests behind each eye.Just 25 years ago, experts feared that the Siamese crocodile might no longer exist outside zoos and the crocodile farms that helped decimate its population.But in 2000, a biodiversity survey led by Fauna & Flora uncovered a small number in the remote Cardamom Mountains in southwest Cambodia, kicking off a conservation effort that has given the species a 400-strong foothold in the country.Discoveries and conservation elsewhere mean there are now up to 1,000 Siamese crocodiles in the wild globally, though in just one percent of its former range.Cambodia has been central to that success, said crocodile expert Charlie Manolis, chief scientist at Wildlife Management International in Australia.”There’s an opportunity in Cambodia,” he said, explaining that, unlike neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam, there are still “large tracts” of protected land.- ‘Best possible headstart’ -Key to Cambodia’s effort is a programme to help the species — which was once found all over Southeast Asia — breed more successfully.In the wild, fragmented populations might struggle to find a mate, and both eggs and juvenile offspring are vulnerable to predators. For every 50 or so born in the wild, perhaps as few as three survive, said Joe Rose, captive breeding officer at the Phnom Tamao facility outside Phnom Penh.”Breeding within a facility like this, we can ensure a 100 percent survival rate from hatchlings… and healthy young crocodiles to take out and release, to give them the best possible headstart”, Rose said.There are around 200 crocodiles at the facility at any one time, including 50 breeding adults, who produced nearly 200 eggs last year.Eggs are taken into incubators, and hatchlings are raised in enclosures with progressive exposure to the fish and frogs they will one day catch in the wild.After several years, they are ready for release.Until now, that has meant heading to the Cardamom Mountains, where last year 60 crocodiles were recorded hatching in the wild — the highest number in a century.The growing population holds promise not just for the species but for its broader environment too.Crocodiles are top predators which regulate their ecosystems, and there is evidence that fish diversity is higher in the rivers they inhabit.The conservation effort’s growing success has bred a need for new habitats, a challenge given that crocodiles need space, prey and enough distance away from humans to minimise conflict.Virachey’s rugged, remote terrain makes it ideal, with relatively untouched plant and animal life, and few residents.”It’s essentially protected mostly by the remoteness,” said Sinovas.- Ultrasound ‘pings’ -Releasing the crocodiles into a new environment is still risky.They could face predators or struggle to feed themselves — and tracking their progress can be difficult and expensive.”Often reintroduction programmes with crocodilians, you sort of hurl them all out there, and then everybody sort of walks away and hopes that they live and grow,” said Manolis.But Fauna & Flora will keep tabs using acoustic monitors, inspired by lessons from Australian crocodile conservation efforts.In Phnom Tamao, each of the 10 crocodiles is fitted with a thimble-sized transmitter, placed beneath their dappled scaly skin.These send ultrasound “pings” every time the creatures pass receivers placed along a 10-kilometre stretch of their new river home in Virachey.The data will be recorded for several months and then collected and analysed for clues on the programme’s success.Reaching their new home was no easy task for the reptiles.First, there was 18 hours of travel in cylindrical bamboo baskets transported by car, motorbike and boat. Next, they acclimatised in a temporary enclosure.Receivers were installed and checked, and then it was time.Electrical tape that had been wound around their snouts to prevent snapping was peeled away, and each creature was gradually lowered into the water.They quickly splashed away, carrying great hopes on their scaly shoulders.Conservationists credit part of their success to cooperation with local communities, who have protected crocodiles in the Cardamoms and helped document new hatchlings.For Chroub Srak Er, a resident and ranger at Virachey, the reptiles offer hope.”These crocodiles disappeared a long time ago,” he said. “We are so happy, we will preserve them together.”

Bangladesh has rebuked Washington’s intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard, saying her comments on religious violence in the South Asian country were unfounded and risked fanning sectarian tensions. Gabbard arrived this week for a diplomatic trip to India, whose relations with Bangladesh have soured since a student-led uprising overthrew the latter nation’s government last year. New Delhi has repeatedly accused its Muslim-majority neighbour of failing to adequately protect its minority Hindu citizens — charges denied by the caretaker administration now in charge. But Gabbard appeared to give credence to the claims when she was asked about violence in Bangladesh during a Monday interview with Indian broadcaster NDTV.”The long-time unfortunate persecution, killing, and abuse of religious minorities… have been a major area of concern for the US government,” she said in response.She added that the issue, along with Islamist extremism, remained “central focus areas of concern” and said the Trump administration has already raised them with the Bangladeshi government.Bangladesh responded in a statement late Monday that Gabbard’s comments were both “misleading” and “damaging” to the country’s image and reputation.”Political leaders and public figures should base their statements, especially on sensitive issues, on actual knowledge and take care not to reinforce harmful stereotypes, fan fears, or potentially stoke sectarian tensions,” the statement said. Hindus make up about eight percent of Bangladesh’s 170 million people.In the chaotic days following the August ouster of autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, there was a string of attacks on Hindus — seen by some as having backed her rule.The caretaker government that replaced her has insisted that many of those attacks were motivated by politics rather than religion.It has also accused India’s media and government of spreading disinformation exaggerating threats to Bangladeshi Hindus.Gabbard met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington last month soon after her confirmation as director of national intelligence under President Donald Trump. The pair met again on Monday and Gabbard used a speech to a geopolitical conference in New Delhi to praise the enduring partnership between the United States and India. “I am confident that this partnership and friendship between our two nations and our leaders will continue to grow and strengthen,” she added. 

Countries must move rapidly to slash CO2 emissions from homes, offices, shops and other buildings — a sector that accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas pollution, the United Nations said Monday. Carbon dioxide emissions from the building sector rose around five percent in the last decade when they should have fallen 28 percent, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).      It said emissions had plateaued since 2023 as climate policies began to have an impact, particularly green building standards, the use of renewable energy and electrified heating and cooling. But the building sector still consumes 32 percent of the world’s energy and contributes 34 percent of CO2 emissions, the report found. “The buildings where we work, shop and live account for a third of global emissions and a third of global waste,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “The good news is that government actions are working. But we must do more and do it faster.”She called on nations to include targets to “rapidly cut emissions from buildings and construction” in their climate plans. The report said that while most of the countries that signed up to the 2015 Paris climate deal — nearly 200 have signed — mention the sector, so far only 19 countries have sufficiently detailed goals in their national carbon cutting plans. The report said that as of 2023, important metrics like energy-related emissions and the adoption of renewable energy “remain well below required progress rates”. That means that countries, businesses and homeowners now need to dramatically pick up the pace to meet the 2030 emissions reduction targets. – ‘Critical challenge’ -Direct and indirect CO2 emissions will now need to fall more than 10 percent per year, more than double the originally envisaged pace. The rollout of renewables is a similar story. The share of renewables like solar and wind in final energy consumption rose by only 4.5 percentage points since 2015, well behind the goal of nearly 18 percentage points.That now needs to accelerate by a factor of seven to meet this decade’s goal of tripling renewable energy use worldwide, UNEP said.The report urged countries to accelerate the roll-out of renewable technologies and increase the share of renewables in the final energy mix to 46 percent by 2030 — a rise of around 18 percent.  It also called on policymakers to increase energy efficiency retrofits to include better design, insulation and the use of renewables and heat pumps. More work also needs to be done to improve the sustainability of materials like steel and cement, whose manufacture accounts for nearly a fifth of all emissions from the building sector.   But the report did say that circular construction practices were increasing in some areas, with recycled materials accounting for 18 percent of construction inputs in Europe. The authors urged all major greenhouse gas emitters to take action by introducing zero-carbon building energy codes by 2028, and called on other countries to create and tighten their regulations within the next 10 years.The report highlighted positive national policies from China, France, Germany, Mexico and South Africa among others.  But it said financing remained a “critical challenge”. In 2023, it found that global investment in energy efficiency in buildings fell seven percent from a year earlier to $270 billion, driven by higher borrowing costs and the winding back of government support programmes, notably in Europe. Those investments now need to double — to $522 billion — by 2030, it said.

A court in Bangladesh upheld on Sunday death sentences of 20 former university students convicted of murdering a fellow student in 2019 who had criticised the country’s former government on social media.Abrar Fahad, 21, a student at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), was killed hours after publishing a Facebook post that criticised the then government of Sheikh Hasina for signing a water-sharing treaty with India.Fahad was beaten for nearly six hours with cricket bats by a group of 25 students, all members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of former prime minister’s political party, the Awami League.The student wing was accused of creating a reign of terror on university campuses before Hasina was ousted last year following a student-led uprising.”I am satisfied. I hope the legal procedures will be completed soon, and justice will be served,” Fahad’s father, Barkat Ullah, told reporters after the verdict was announced by the court on Sunday.”I don’t want to blame the parents who sent their sons to the top university, but they got involved in bad politics. I would urge others to stay away from harmful activities,” he added.Fahad’s killing sparked nationwide protests, forcing Hasina to pledge the highest punishment for the perpetrators.Due legal process will be followed to implement the verdict, Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman told reporters. “The High Court upheld the lower court verdict that handed down death sentences to 20 and life imprisonment to five,” Asaduzzaman said.  “The convicts will be allowed to appeal against the verdict and will have all the rights ensured by the court.”Syed Mizanur Rahman, one of the group’s defence lawyers, said, “We will appeal against the verdict.”Of the 20 sentenced to death, four are still on the run. One of them, Muntasir Al Jamie, who was convicted in Faha’s murder, broke through the prison wall of a high security jail on August 6.Death sentences are common in Bangladesh, with hundreds of people currently on death row. All executions are carried out by hanging, a legacy of British colonial rule.

Mumbai Indians won their second Women’s Premier League title on Saturday after a sharp performance from their bowlers and a solid knock from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur helped them beat Delhi Capitals by eight runs.The champions also fended off a valiant effort by Marizanne Kapp (40) in the second innings to secure a victory in the final over of the match at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai.Mumbai started the final off on a rough note, after Delhi captain Meg Lanning won the toss and elected to bowl first, with Kapp striking to leave them reeling at 15-2 at the end of the fifth over.But Kaur quickly picked up the slack, stitching together an 89-run partnership with Nat Sciver-Brunt (30), before the latter fell in the 15th over.Amelia Kerr (2) and Sajeevan Sajana (0) were then dismissed quickly, while Kaur (66) herself departed in the 17th over. Some smart batting from Amanjot Kaur (14 not out) helped Mumbai finish with a flourish and post 149-7. Delhi didn’t get off to a great start either in their chase, with openers Lanning (13) and Shafali Verma (4) falling quickly to leave them at 17-2 at the end of the third over.Jemimah Rodrigues helped them rebuild, hitting 30 runs off 21 balls, but was dismissed by Kerr in the 11th over.The mantle then fell to Kapp, who valiantly smacked 40 runs off 26 balls, before falling in the 18th over. While Niki Prasad offered a glimmer of hope in the final few overs, hitting 25 runs off 23 balls, Mumbai ultimately fell short on 141-9.Kaur, also named the player of the match, called Mumbai’s win a “great team effort”.”We fought till the last ball, all about being there and doing the right things again and again,” she said.Lanning said that while Delhi had a good season, they could not “get over the line”.”Another partnership for a couple of overs might have given us a chance. We are all pretty disappointed.”

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday the organisation is exploring the possibility of a humanitarian aid channel from Bangladesh to Myanmar.Guterres is on a four-day visit to Bangladesh that saw him meet on Friday with Rohingya refugees, threatened by looming humanitarian aid cuts.Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of whom arrived after fleeing the 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.”We need to intensify humanitarian aid inside Myanmar to create a condition for that return (of the Rohingyas) to be successful,” Guterres said during a press briefing.Guterres suggested that under the right circumstances, having a “humanitarian channel” from Bangladesh would facilitate the return of the Rohingya community, but said it would require “authorisation and cooperation”.Asked if dialogue with the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic minority rebel group in Myanmar, was essential for the repatriation of Rohingyas, Guterres said: “The Arakan Army is a reality in which we live.”He acknowledged that in the past relations with the AA have been difficult but said, “Necessary dialogue must take place”.Guterres added that engaging with the AA was important as sanctions against the group would require the UN Security Council’s approval, which could prove difficult to obtain.”It’s essential to increase pressure from all the neighbours in order to guarantee that fighting ends and the way towards democracy finally established,” Guterres said.The UN chief’s remarks came after human rights group Fortify Rights issued a statement urging the Bangladesh government to facilitate humanitarian aid and cross border trade to reach war-affected civilians in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.The AA is engaged in a fierce fight with the military for control of Rakhine, where it has seized swaths of territory in the past year, all but cutting off the state capital Sittwe.The UN’s World Food Programme said on Friday that it will be forced to cut off one million people in war-torn Myanmar from its vital food aid because of “critical funding shortfalls”.The upcoming cuts would hit 100,000 internally displaced people in Rakhine — including members of the persecuted Rohingya minority — who will “have no access to food” without its assistance, it said.Last year, the UN warned that Rakhine faces an “imminent threat of acute famine”.

Sri Lanka carried out a nationwide census Saturday of nuisance wildlife, including monkeys and peacocks, in a bid to prepare countermeasures to protect crops, officials said.Some 40,000 local officials were deployed to count wild boar, lorises, peacocks, and monkeys near farms and homes during a five-minute period on Saturday morning.In the north-central district of Anuradhapura, farmer families gathered in open fields to count the animals and record them in sheets provided by the agriculture ministry.”We are having census during a very short time period to ensure there is no double counting,” ministry official Ajith Pushpakumara told reporters in the capital Colombo.”We are expecting that the results will be about 80 percent accurate. After we have an idea of the number of these animals, we can plan out the next steps to deal with them.”In Anuradhapura, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Colombo, residents were out early in the fields preparing for the census.”We had a very successful count from very enthusiastic participants. They are the farmers who continuously suffer crop damage. Our count was 227 toque monkeys and 65 purple faced langurs,” Chaminda Dissanayake, an agriculture department bureaucrat who conducted the census at Anuradhapura’s Mihintale area told AFP.Opposition legislator Nalin Bandara criticised the census, calling it a “waste of money”. “This is a complete failure, a waste of money. What about the pests that attack farms at night. They are not being counted,” said Bandara, adding that newer technologies could have been deployed for the counting exercise.Officials say more than a third of crops are destroyed by wild animals, including elephants, which are protected by law as they are considered sacred.While elephants are major raiders of rice farms and fruit plantations, they were not counted in Saturday’s census.In 2023, the-then agricultural minister proposed exporting some 100,000 toque macaques to Chinese zoos, but the monkey business was abandoned following protests from environmentalists.Sri Lanka removed several species from its protected list in 2023, including all three of its monkey species as well as peacocks and wild boars, allowing farmers to kill them.

Arrested for sexually harassing a Bangladeshi university student, Asif Sardar Arnab was soon released — greeted by a cheering crowd who presented him with flower garlands and a Koran.His alleged victim was a student who enthusiastically supported the youth-led uprising that overthrew the Muslim-majority nation’s autocratic government last year.That young woman, after receiving a torrent of violent threats from religious hardliners emboldened by the political upheaval, now wonders whether she made the right choice.”A perpetrator was freed because of a mob,” she said in a social media post.”You can’t imagine the number of rape and death threats I’ve received,” added the woman, who cannot be identified due to Bangladeshi laws designed to protect sexual harassment complainants from retribution.”We made a mistake by joining the movement. So many people sacrificed their lives in vain.”Ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, ousted in last August’s revolution, took a tough stance against Islamist movements during her 15-year tenure.Her government was blamed for gruesome human rights abuses and for many, her departure heralded change.Since her exit, the hardline religiously fuelled activism that Hasina’s government had driven underground has resurfaced.Much of it is directed at Bangladeshi women, accused of failing to act with sufficient modesty.Arnab, who works at the library of the prestigious Dhaka University, was accused of accosting a student on campus, saying that her choice of attire did not sufficiently cover her breasts.The student complained, and Arnab was arrested. Supporters of Arnab who believed he had acted in appropriate deference to his religious convictions surrounded the police station and demanded his release. They yielded when a court quickly bailed Arnab — something the female student attributed to mob pressure. A spokesman for Dhaka’s police force, Md Talebur Rahman, told AFP that Arnab was still under investigation, and also acknowledged the menacing behaviour his victim had faced.”She can lodge a complaint against those who have been threatening her,” Rahman added.- ‘A crisis’ -It is far from an isolated incident. Several women’s football matches were cancelled this year after pitch invasions by Islamists angry at women’s participation in sport.Two women were briefly taken into protective custody by police this month, after an altercation that began when they were harassed for publicly smoking cigarettes by a crowd of men on their way to pray at a mosque.Islamist groups have also demanded organisers of religious commemorations and other public events remove women from the line-up.Dhaka University student Jannatul Promi, 23, said that the rising incidences of harassment had left young women feeling unsafe.”We are going through a crisis,” she said. “The other day, I was waiting for the metro when a man approached me and asked if I should be outside without a veil. As soon as I responded, more people joined him against me.”Fellow student Nishat Tanjim Nera, 24, said the authorities had failed in their duty.”Harassment incidents are happening repeatedly, but there is no redress from the government,” she said.- ‘Complete denial’ -Several recent cases of sexual violence have captured public attention.An eight-year-old girl died Thursday from wounds she sustained during a rape days earlier — a case that prompted days of protests and vigils by women in Dhaka and elsewhere. Such is the level of public anger that police have begun transporting rape suspects to court in the middle of the night, fearful of attacks. Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who leads the interim government which replaced Hasina, condemned the “horrific acts of violence” against women. “This is deeply concerning and completely at odds with our dream of building a new Bangladesh,” he said.Yunus’s administration has struggled to restore law and order, with many police officers refusing to return to work and the army brought in to help.It has since last month also directed scant police resources to a sweeping crackdown, dubbed Operation Devil Hunt, against gangs allegedly connected to Hasina and working to foment unrest.Maleka Banu, of the feminist campaign group Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, said those resources would have been better spent on trying to curb sexual violence. “What good is it for the government to simply express concern? We expected action,” she said.”After Sheikh Hasina’s fall, a series of violent incidents followed. The government was in complete denial… Now, they claim the fallen dictator is behind every crime.”