BARCELONA: A ceremony was held in Barcelona on Monday in memory of the 16 people who died during attacks in the Spanish city and a nearby resort three years ago.
Wearing face masks and maintaining social distance because of the pandemic, dozens of relatives of the victims laid white carnations on the famous Las Ramblas boulevard where on August 17, 2017 a van mowed down pedestrians leaving behind a trail of bodies.
Health Minister Salvador Illa and the president of the regional government of Catalonia, Quim Torra, were also in attendance.
Claimed by the Daesh group, the attacks were carried out by a cell made up mostly of young people of Moroccan descent who grew up in Catalonia.
Younes Abouyaaqoub drove the van down Las Ramblas at high speed before fleeing in a car he stole after killing the driver. Abouyaaqoub, 22, was shot dead by police four days later.
Several hours after the attack, five of his accomplices drove into more pedestrians and stabbed a woman who later died of her injuries in Cambrils, a seaside resort 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the south. All five were shot dead by police.
Spanish prosecutors are seeking prison terms of up to 41 years for three men over their involvement in the 2017 attacks, which also injured 140 people.
The cell had been planning attacks on a grand scale involving explosives, with sites such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the stadiums of Barcelona and Real Madrid football clubs among alleged targets.
But the accidental explosion of its arsenal in Spain — which killed the suspected leader of the cell — pushed the group to hurriedly improvise the two attacks in Catalonia.
Spain marks third anniversary of deadly Catalonia attacks
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Spain marks third anniversary of deadly Catalonia attacks
- The Daesh-claimed attack claimed the lives of 16 people and injured 140 more
Bangladesh’s Yunus announces resignation, end of interim govt
- Yunus handed over power after congratulating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its leader Tarique Rahman
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus stepped down on Monday in a farewell broadcast to the nation before handing over to an elected government.
“Today, the interim government is stepping down,” the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said.
“But let the practice of democracy, freedom of speech, and fundamental rights that has begun not be halted.”
Yunus returned from self-imposed exile in August 2024, days after the iron-fisted government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown by a student-led uprising and she fled by helicopter to India.
“That was the day of great liberation,” he said. “What a day of joy it was! Bangladeshis across the world shed tears of happiness. The youth of our country freed it from the grip of a demon.”
He has led Bangladesh as its “chief adviser” since, and now hands over power after congratulating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader Tarique Rahman on a “landslide victory” in elections last week.
“The people, voters, political parties, and stakeholder institutions linked to the election have set a commendable example,” Yunus said.
“This election has set a benchmark for future elections.”
Rahman, 60, chief of the BNP and scion of one of the country’s most powerful political dynasties, will lead the South Asian nation of 170 million.
‘Rebuilt institutions’
Bangladeshi voters endorsed sweeping democratic reforms in a national referendum, a key pillar of Yunus’s post-uprising transition agenda, on the same day as the elections.
The lengthy document, known as the “July Charter” after the month when the uprising that toppled Hasina began, proposes term limits for prime ministers, the creation of an upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.
“We did not start from zero — we started from a deficit,” he said.
“Sweeping away the ruins, we rebuilt institutions and set the course for reforms.”
The referendum noted that approval would make the charter “binding on the parties that win” the election, obliging them to endorse it.
However, several parties raised questions before the vote, and the reforms will still require ratification by the new parliament.
The BNP alliance won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, according to the Election Commission.
Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman conceded on Saturday, saying his party would “serve as a vigilant, principled, and peaceful opposition.”
Newly elected lawmakers are expected to be sworn in on Tuesday, after which Tarique Rahman is set to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister.
Police records show that political clashes during the campaign period killed five people and injured more than 600.
However, despite weeks of turbulence ahead of the polls, voting day passed without major unrest and the country has responded to the results with relative calm.
