Polling ends in Bangladesh for parliamentary election and referendum for constitutional changes
Bangladesh completed polling for the general election and referendum for constitutional changes on Thursday (February 12, 2026). Polling started in 36,031 election centres at 7:30 a.m. and ended at 4:30 p.m., with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) accusing Jamaat-e-Islami, leader of an 11-party alliance, of intimidating voters in various locations. In total, 2,028 candidates are in the fray for the election that will pave the way for the handover of power from the interim government to an elected administration. Credible early trends of the results are expected to trickle in by early morning on Friday (February 13, 2026), party sources said.
MEA refuses to deny U.S. claims on India’s Russian oil imports
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has once again refused to directly deny claims by the United States government on Russian oil imports on Thursday (February 12, 2026). This comes after a senior U.S. official said that India had reduced its purchases of Russian crude, as the U.S. “wanted [India] to.” The government expressed satisfaction at the amendments made by the U.S. administration to its “fact sheet” on the India-U.S. trade deal. “The amendments in the U.S. fact sheet reflect the shared understandings contained in the Joint Statement,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. The joint statement does not contain any mention of Russian oil purchases.
