Northern Ireland is to swear in Michelle O'Neill as the first Irish nationalist leader in its history after an agreement with pro-UK unionists. The development is seen by many as a milestone on the path to reunification. Northern Ireland lawmakers were set to elect Irish nationalist Michelle O'Neill as first minister on Saturday — a landmark event in a province established more than a century ago to ensure that pro-British unionists would never lose their grip on power. O'Neill's ascent to the role is the latest sign that her Sinn Fein party's ultimate goal of achieving a united Ireland may be within touching distance.   What is the importance of this? The 1998 Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, brought with it the end of three decades of sectarian violence over UK rule in Northern Ireland. Under its terms, intended to maintain a delicate balance between the province's largely Catholic nationalist and mainly Protestant unionist communities, the first minister and deputy first minister essentially share power. The only real difference in the first-among-equals arrangement is that the first minister greets official visitors to Northern Ireland before the deputy first minister. The 47-year-old O'Neill has been first minister-designate since May 2022, when Sinn Fein emerged as the largest party in elections for the 90-seat Northern Ireland Assembly. She will share power with a deputy first minister from the pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). That development reflects the shifting demographics of the province since the island of Ireland was divided into two states in 1921. "This is an historic day. It is about the future," O'Neill said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, ahead of her swearing-in. "As a First Minister for All, I am determined to lead positive change for everyone, and to work together with others to progress our society in a spirit of respect, cooperation, and equality."   Why is it happening now? O'Neill had not been able to take up the role of first minister because of a boycott of the assembly by Sinn Fein's arch-rival, the DUP. The DUP said it was unhappy about post-Brexit trading rules for Northern Ireland, which shares the only border that the UK has with the European Union. Under the 1998 peace deal, signed when the UK was a member of the EU, the land border needs to be kept open with no customs checks and infrastructure. As a result, checks had to be introduced on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from mainland Britain.   The arrangement — keeping only Northern Ireland in the EU single market— upset unionists who feared it risked cutting the province adrift from the rest of the UK. In turn, there were fears that this would make a united Ireland more likely.   The DUP finally agreed to a deal this week after the UK government eased customs checks and other constraints on goods crossing the Irish Sea. That followed the agreement of the so-called Windsor Framework with the EU to make the changes possible.   There were also small legal changes to assure unionists that Northern Ireland's position in the UK is secure, at least for the time being. A referendum on Irish unity is at the discretion of the British government, which would come under pressure to approve such a vote if it appears likely a majority would seek to join a united Ireland.   When Northern Ireland was formed, the population split was roughly two-thirds Protestant to one-third Catholic. A 2021 census showed Catholics outnumbering Protestants for the first time.

48 hours blockade has been started from today, November 5 by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Meanwhile, 4 buses were set on fire at Elephant road, Sayedabad, Newmarket and Gulistan in the capital on Saturday evening. Rozina Akhter, Duty Officer of Fire Service Headquarters confirmed the news. She said, Miscreants set fire to a Green University bus in front of Multiplan City on Elephant Road around 7:30 pm. Five minutes later another bus named Mirpur Link was set on fire in front of Chandni Chowk gate in Newmarket area.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been called a day long Hartal on Sunday, October 29. The announcement came from the party on Saturday at noon. Earlier, chase and counter chase between police, BNP leaders and activists in Kakrail. Witnesses said leaders and activists of BNP brought out a procession towards InterContinental hotel around 1 pm. After that, BGB deployed at Kakrail Church crossing. However, Additional Commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) Harun-or-Rashid has said while talking with reporters in front of Kakrail Church that some BNP activists attacked police in front of the Judges' Residence Complex in Dhaka’s Kakrail earlier today.    

Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) got permission to hold their rallies in the capital’s Baitul Mukarram’s South Gate and Nayapaltan respectively. Dhaka Metropolitan Police Headquarters issued separate letters to these parties with 20 conditions. AL got permission at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque while the BNP in front of their party office at Nayapaltan according to that letters.  The conditions state that DMP would only allow people to gather at the venues after 12:00pm. Earlier, AL and BNP submitted applications to the DMP for the permission of the rallies on October 20 and 21, respectively.