Month: January 2026

CHRISTIE Brinkley’s daughter, Sailor, has recreated her mother’s iconic photoshoot from over four decades ago in sexy new pics.

The 26-year-old couldn’t resist posing in shots reminiscent of her mom’s famous Sports Illustrated cover while vacationing in the Caribbean over the weekend.

Sailor posted numerous photos on Instagram of her donning a skimpy blue string bikini and her blonde locks flowing straight down during the tropical getaway.

One captured the fashion model holding her hair up, one leg lifted, with a breathtaking view of tall greenery and the ocean in the background.

Another pic showed her leaning her back against a tree, her tiny frame on display as she gazed into the camera.

Other photos further showed Sailor’s confidence in front of the camera as she cheekily looked over her shoulder while riding a bicycle on the sand in another sultry swimsuit, took selfies while admiring the sunset, and checked out her tan lines in the mirror after a day in the sun.

LEGS GO!

Christie Brinkley, 71, puts stunning figure on display in a blue swimsuit

Fans were immediately reminded of Christie‘s memorable SI photoshoot in February 1981, when she posed similarly in a Florida setting.

The mother-daughter pair looked nearly identical in their separate beach pics.

Sailor is the youngest of Christie’s three children and the only one she shares with her ex-husband, Peter Cook, whom she married from 1996 until 2008.

Christie is also a mother to Alexa Ray Joel, whom she shares with her first ex-husband, Billy Joel, and Jack Paris Cook, 30, with her ex-husband, Richard Taubman.

While Sailor appeared comfortable in her skin in her social media pics, she’s admitted that she’s struggled with body dysmorphia since a young age.

“I just have this awful feeling that if I’m not skinny, I’m not worth being celebrated and I’m not worth being praised,” Sailor confessed during a 2020 appearance on Good Morning America.

“I’ve been just been having these moments where I look in the mirror, and I’m just disgusted with myself,” she continued, explaining that the thoughts come on even after witnessing “the tiniest little things like a roll on my stomach, a little pooch on the bottom of my stomach.”

Sailor also said that her mother wasn’t aware of the gravity of her struggles, noting that she first developed an eating disorder at 15 years old.

“My mom didn’t fully know the pain that I was going through when I was at my worst,” she shared.

“I was looking up at all these major figures in modeling that are size double zero, and they’ve got these thin legs and these tiny waists.

“I was seeing them being so celebrated by everyone everywhere and being wanted by all the boys and all that greatness that comes around being this tiny supermodel. And I wanted that,” Sailor revealed.

Christie’s modeling career began in the late 1970s before reaching global fame.

The Uptown Girl author is still wowing fans with her ageless beauty, as she shared photos last week from her island vacation.

Just a few weeks earlier, Christie stunned again in a skintight dress while celebrating her daughter Alexa’s 40th birthday.

Published on
20/01/2026 – 8:14 GMT+1

Eurogroup’s session in Brussels this Monday confirmed Croatia’s Boris Vujčić as the successor to Spain’s Luis de Guindos, whose eight-year mandate at the ECB expires in May.

While the nomination must still undergo consultative hearings at the European Parliament, and a review by the ECB’s Governing Council, this process is mostly protocol.

Vujčić is expected to take office on 1 June and become Christine Lagarde’s right-hand man.

The decision defied predictions and dismissed the European Parliament’s recommendations.

The Croatian beat five other candidates for the job, including the favourite to win, Finland’s Olli Rehn, and the Parliament’s favoured choices, Portugal’s Mário Centeno and Latvia’s Mārtiņš Kazāks.

Following the meeting, the president of the Eurogroup, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, said there was “an agreement on both the process and the person which is a sign of institutional maturity on the background of an exceptional number of candidates and past experiences”.

For Croatia, the promotion of its central bank governor to the ECB’s Executive Board is a swift ascent. The country only adopted the euro in 2023 and is the second-newest member after Bulgaria, which integrated the single currency at the start of this year.

Croatia’s infancy in the eurozone stands in stark contrast to the veteran status of the man who shepherded the nation through its transition.

Currently serving his third term, Vujčić has led the Croatian National Bank since 2012, playing a key role in negotiating the country’s accession to the EU in 2013 and overseeing the adoption of the euro a few years ago.

A “moderate hawk”

The ECB vice president makes a substantial contribution to the Governing Council’s financial stability analysis, influencing interest rate decisions, and also substitutes the President whenever necessary.

In the technical jargon of central banking, Vujčić is frequently classified as a “moderate hawk”.

Vujčić is a seasoned economist who has repeatedly cautioned against lingering inflation threats, pushing for a slow and measured reduction in interest rates to guarantee that price stability is firmly reinstated.

However, the Croatian’s colleagues have also previously described him as pragmatic, data-driven, and relatively predictable.

The Eurogroup likely sees Vujčić as someone who will not focus on political optics and instead help the ECB steadily navigate the tail end of its post-pandemic inflation fight.

The great reshuffle of the ECB

Despite Vujčić’s appointment being meaningful for Croatia, the vice presidency is not among the most desired roles in the ECB.

In fact, the EU’s major member states did not even propose candidates for this nomination, as they prepare for the many seats that become vacant next year.

The positions of president, chief economist, and head of market operations, will all be available in 2027.

The EU’s “big four”, Germany, Spain, France and Italy, are all expected to compete for those spots, aiming to preserve their controlling influence over the ECB.

The most enduring question surrounding Farrell’s squad has evolved in the months since Ireland last played.

What was viewed as a straight shootout between fly-halves Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley is now a three-way tug of war for the 10 jersey with Harry Byrne firmly back in the mix.

The Leinster player, who this time last year was so far down the pecking order that he was allowed to join Bristol on loan, started two of four Champions Cup pool games ahead of Prendergast and kicked the winning penalty against La Rochelle this month.

That Prendergast was still on the pitch at the time of Byrne’s matchwinner was an interesting added wrinkle when it comes to judging the pair’s goalkicking. Farrell’s consistent namechecking of Byrne, who has not played Test rugby since 2024, during November felt significant too.

With continued questions over Prendergast’s defensive contributions, and Crowley steering an out of form Munster side, could Ireland begin a fourth consecutive Six Nations with a different player as their starting 10?

Scrum-half is considerably more straightforward. Leinster’s Jamison Gibson-Park has regained his sharpness as the season has progressed while, after an injury scare this month, Craig Casey is fit to be his back-up.

Connacht’s Caolin Blade was third-choice in November but has played just twice since and it will be interesting to see if one of the western province’s other nines, or Ulster’s Nathan Doak, comes into the mix on Wednesday.

The UK was ranked second most miserable country in a 2024 mental wellbeing survey, with only Uzbekistan scoring lower – but YouTuber Wendall travelled 4,000 miles from Walsall to discover a thriving nation full of friendly people

A global survey conducted in 2024 has ranked the UK as the second most miserable country on Earth, according to a report on people’s mental well-being. The Mental State of the World Report revealed that increased wealth and economic growth do not necessarily equate to better mental health.

While countries like the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania top the rankings, nations such as Britain and Australia trail at the bottom of the list.

The team from Sapien Labs, who compiled the report, suggest that factors including high smartphone usage, particularly among children, along with the declining significance of family and community, are contributing to widespread dissatisfaction with life.

Only one landlocked former Soviet republic in Central Asia scored lower than the United Kingdom. Adventurous YouTuber Wendall, known for his global travels seeking out intriguing stories about different ways of life, journeyed all the way from Walsall to the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, to explore what life is like in Uzbekistan – a country supposedly even more downbeat than Britain.

However, what he found was a vibrant community with a positive, upbeat outlook on life and an absolute passion for European football. He also noticed a stark contrast with the people he met during his travels around the UK.

There are no direct flights to Uzbekistan, so Wendall’s 4,000-mile trek required a stopover in Turkey, where he splashed out £12 on a pint at 5am. Prices, however, are considerably more wallet-friendly in Tashkent.

His £60-per-night hotel was remarkably luxurious compared with UK lodgings, and there was little evidence of the hardship one might anticipate from a country that spent 67 years under Soviet rule.

“In recent years it’s been slowly, carefully reopening to the world,” Wendall explained. “On the surface, this seems a nation very much on the up, now open for tourism and business like never before.”

There’s certainly a laid-back approach to daily life that would be unthinkable in Britain. City park booths allow residents to try their hand at archery, while a vendor at Tashkent’s vibrant street market peddles beautifully crafted — yet menacing-looking — knives that would undoubtedly raise eyebrows on British high streets.

Surprisingly, most residents were perfectly comfortable appearing on camera, while back in the UK many of his interviewees preferred to remain off-screen.

One resident explained how dramatically Uzbekistan has transformed over the last decade: “You can say that it changed a lot in terms of education, politics and freedom. There is no war. It’s peaceful.”

While salaries were modest in the years following the Soviet collapse, they’re now climbing, she noted, with many Uzbeks who had sought opportunities overseas now choosing to return home. Tashkent’s metro network is significantly cleaner — and far more architecturally captivating — than the London Underground, Wendall noted, with ticket prices well below what you’d pay for a similar trip back home.

At the bustling street bazaars, you can snap up a knock-off Real Madrid top for next to nothing. And while English isn’t widely spoken among residents, they’ll enthusiastically shout out names of major European football teams in a bid to connect with visitors who don’t speak Uzbek.

When browsing the city’s street stalls, costs can initially appear eye-watering due to the exchange rate — one Uzbekistani som equals just £0.000062. A basic stuffed flatbread might cost 5,000 som, which works out at roughly 30p.

For a modest sum more, you can tuck into a serving of plov, a rice-based creation with lamb, carrots, and onions that’s celebrated as Uzbekistan’s signature dish. Wendall wasn’t particularly keen on it, though at those prices it’s hard to grumble.

Even a generous measure of brandy at one of the capital’s swankiest establishments will only set you back £1.50. It’s puzzling why Uzbeks have earned a reputation for being even gloomier than Brits.

Ultimately, Wendall was thrilled with his journey to the “world’s most miserable country.” He reflected: “It’s the supposedly most miserable, depressing country in the world — the only country more depressed than the UK. Well, I’ve met some wonderful people. I’ve been met with nothing but smiles, hospitality and a welcome I’ll never forget.”

Chinese exports of rare earth magnets to Japan fell 8% in December from November, following a diplomatic spat that rattled markets and raised fears about supply security. The drop came just weeks before Beijing imposed a January ban on exports of dual-use items to Japan materials that can have both civilian and military applications. Although December shipments of 280 metric tons were still 31.4% higher than a year earlier, the monthly decline signaled growing political risk in a sector where China dominates global supply.

Why it matters:
Rare earth magnets are critical inputs for electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronics, and defense technologies. Any disruption in supply has immediate implications for Japan’s advanced manufacturing sector and longer-term consequences for global clean energy and high-tech industries. The episode highlights how trade in strategic materials is increasingly shaped by geopolitics rather than pure market forces.

Drivers behind the decline:
The immediate trigger was worsening political relations after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated Japan would respond militarily if China attacked Taiwan—a comment that angered Beijing. The subsequent ban on dual-use exports deepened uncertainty. At the same time, the strong year-on-year rise in December shipments suggests Japanese firms were stockpiling magnets in anticipation of tougher restrictions, temporarily inflating demand before a likely January drop.

Stakeholders:
Japan’s automakers, electronics manufacturers, and defense planners are directly exposed to supply risks. Chinese producers face the challenge of balancing geopolitical directives with commercial interests, particularly as exports to key markets soften. The United States is another major stakeholder: December shipments to the U.S. fell 3% month-on-month, and total 2025 exports dropped over 20%, underlining how Washington is also affected by China’s export controls.

Global context:
While exports to the U.S. partially recovered after President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump agreed to pause some controls, overall Chinese rare earth magnet exports declined 1.3% in 2025. This points to a broader trend of fragmentation in strategic supply chains, with China using its dominance in rare earths as leverage amid rising great-power competition.

What’s next:
Shipments to Japan are expected to fall further in January as the ban takes full effect. Japanese firms are likely to accelerate diversification efforts, including sourcing from alternative suppliers and investing in recycling and substitution technologies. In the medium term, continued tensions over Taiwan could make rare earth trade an even more politicized tool of statecraft.

Analysis:
This episode illustrates how economic interdependence no longer guarantees stability in East Asia. China’s control over rare earths gives it a powerful instrument of coercion, but repeated use risks pushing countries like Japan and the U.S. to reduce dependence over time. In the short run, Japan bears the adjustment costs through higher uncertainty and potential production bottlenecks. In the long run, however, China may weaken its own leverage as strategic competitors invest heavily in alternative supply chains. The rare earth market, once a niche industrial sector, has become a frontline of geopolitics.

With information from Reuters.

THIS isn’t war; it’s an all out nuclear one.

After 18 months of dignified silence, young Brooklyn Beckham has finally hurled his grenade.

And wow, did he hit his target.

Not since Coleen Rooney Tweeted with her famous ellipsis ……. It’s Rebekah Vardy, has my phone popped off the way it did after his story.

Make no mistake, though, this is MAD: mutually assured destruction. Some might say “mad” in the other sense of the word. 

Unequivocally there is no way back now.

I am told Brooklyn made this decision to launch his weapons-grade statement himself. 

He was under absolutely no coercive control from anyone. Indeed it is crystal clear he is utterly sick of the lazy misogynistic trope that has been used against his American wife. The notion he has no mind of his own, and does what his missus tells him.

He, of course, shared his plan with Nicola, who gave him over unwavering support. They are, after all, a team.

For 26 years Brooklyn has toed the Beckham party line, holding his silence and never once airing his family’s dirty laundry. 

Now, for whatever reason, he has decided this ends. Today.

He has, as his generation say, spoken his truth.

Of course no-one knows outside of the two families – the Beckhams and the Peltzs – what has really happened over the past year and a half.

And as the late Queen once said, recollections may vary.

Which is fitting because Brooklyn and Nicola’s situation is so incredibly similar to that of royal exiles, Meghan and Harry (about whom the Queen was referencing in her statement).

Brooklyn, by virtue of his surname, has grown up in the spotlight. 

And as Harry once said, he cannot help who he was born to. He never asked for fame, never asked to be part of this world.

Will Brooklyn now drop his family name? If it is such an albatross around his neck, perhaps he will.

Certainly, married to a billionairess, he doesn’t need their millions. His in-laws, after all, have billions.

However, Brooklyn must surely be aware that he has his platform – 16million followers on Instagram alone – thanks to his superstar parents. To suggest otherwise would be utterly disingenuous.

Brooklyn is genuinely a lovely boy by all accounts. Polite and down to earth. This just seems so extraordinarily out of character.

Clemmie Moodie

They have helped him financially in the past, and given him a leg-up when he’s needed it. 

But not any more.

Brooklyn is genuinely a lovely boy by all accounts. Polite and down to earth. This just seems so extraordinarily out of character. 

Friends tell me his incendiary six-part Instagram soliloquy has absolutely “floored” David and Victoria. 

They are, I’m told, “absolutely blindsided” by this truth bomb.

For a family who, as Brooklyn points out, been at such odds to control their narrative, their very lucrative brand, this is unbelievably out of their hands.

His siblings, too, are devastated to have lost a once loving and loyal brother. 

Over the next few weeks, newspapers, social media and the world of showbiz will be poring over this statement, dissecting it word by word.

I hope all parties concerned can somehow navigate a way through this, and that everyone is getting the support.

Clemmie Moodie

Yet in all this, it’s important we don’t lose sight of the fact these are real human beings with real feelings. Everyone is hurting. No-one wanted this.

For Brooklyn to have gone this far, he must be desperate. Certainly he sounds like a man in pain.

Victoria told me in our interview two months ago that she had therapy; She believes in mental health, and this will hurt her. 

Her beloved eldest son’s words are deeply personal, and she must be hurt, embarrassed and very, very confused.

I hope all parties concerned can somehow navigate a way through this, and that everyone is getting the support – both personal and professional – they may need.

Will the Beckhams do what Brooklyn alleges they have refused to do, and contact him away from prying eyes? (Something David and Victoria folly refute). 

No-one, except them, can possibly know. 

But one thing is for sure – Brooklyn isn’t staying silent any more. 

If Madison Keys was not nervous enough about starting her Australian Open title defence, facing an unknown opponent only added to the tension.

The 30-year-old American had a fairytale run in Melbourne 12 months ago, culminating in her lifting the first Grand Slam trophy of her career.

However, she made an edgy start to her title defence on Tuesday, losing the first four games to Grand Slam debutant Oleksandra Oliynykova.

Keys said afterwards she had struggled to find footage of her opponent to help her prepare, with Oliynykova’s defensive play style not matching up well with her big-hitting game.

But the ninth seed eventually settled down to clinch a 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 victory over the Ukrainian.

“I’ve been thinking about this moment for basically a year,” said Keys.

“The moment they say, ‘Ready, play’, it all hits you in a way that I don’t think you can ever really explain.

“As nerve-racking and stressful as that can be, I’m still reminding myself of just how few people get to be in that moment.

“Being able to walk out today and have the crowd be as welcoming as they were, I’ll take the stress any day.”

‘Penguins? In Snowdonia?” I asked incredulously. “That’s right!” came the enthusiastic reply from our newest hostel companion. We were standing in the large kitchen of The Rocks hostel in Capel Curig, a village in the north-east of Eryri national park (Snowdonia), chatting amiably while waiting for our teas to brew.

“Head up Moel Siabod to the lake, and that’s where the penguins are. You’ll see a sign warning about feeding them,” he said. “But even if they’re hiding and you don’t see one, it’s one of the best walks in the area.”

Spotting a penguin in the Welsh mountains seemed unlikely, but that hardly mattered, least of all to my 11-year-old son, who was thrilled by the idea of a day spent hunting for penguins. And with that, our daily adventure plans were settled, inspired not by an internet search or guidebook, but by the easy exchange of recommendations that happen so often in the communal spaces of hostels.

It was our fourth and final day at The Rocks and, to my relief, we’d settled into a comfortable rhythm: exploring the mountains by day and spending evenings relaxing at the hostel with fellow residents. Initially, my suggestion to try something different for our family holiday by staying at a hostel had been met with scepticism. My husband, haunted by memories of school trips, imagined bleak dormitories with creaking iron beds and draughty communal spaces, while our sons (one teen and one tween) were unenthusiastic about shared living spaces and polite chit-chat.

Still, I was eager to give it a go. Lately I’d begun to feel uninspired by holidaying in the UK. Endless scrolling through lists of private rentals – cottages, lodges, cabins – was exhausting and downright unaffordable. Seclusion, it seemed, had become highly prized and came with a hefty price tag. Yet I found myself thinking back to childhood memories of hostel holidays: communal dinners filled with laughter and nights spent tearing around with other kids. It made me wonder why privacy was so coveted.

In the golden era of travel, around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, meeting new acquaintances while away was common. Think of Lucy Honeychurch’s transformative trip to Florence in EM Forster’s A Room With a View, shaped largely by her meeting the Emersons in their pensione. Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile also reminds us how trips were once far more social affairs – even if the passengers did keep bumping each other off. By retreating into isolation, have we lost the very essence of travel: the pleasure of meeting new people; sharing stories; hearing word-of-mouth tips; and stepping outside our familiar routines?

Hostels offer a gateway to those old ways of travel. First established in the UK in the 1930s to provide affordable accommodation, especially for young travellers, while also encouraging outdoor pursuits and socialising, their core purpose has changed little over time. What has evolved are the standards and the demographics. Today, private rooms are commonplace alongside bunk rooms, and guests range from solo travellers and students to families, couples and groups of friends.

To my delight, standards at The Rocks were exceptional: bright and stylish interiors ran throughout, with Scandi-style wooden furniture and colourful cushions. The fire in the shared lounge was a beacon of warmth, while the firepits outside allowed us a night of stargazing and marshmallow toasting. Upstairs, our snug but smart private family room was cosy and warm, kitted out with comfy mattresses, soft sheets and Welsh woollen blankets. Even my luxury-loving eldest son was impressed.

But what about the social element? Would this be an opportunity to meet like-minded folk, or just a series of awkward encounters to be endured before scuttling away to hide in our room? I needn’t have worried. Conversations flowed easily between guests, whether cooking dinner in the well-equipped kitchen, eating together in the airy dining room, surrounded by maps, games and puzzles, or gathering around the fire. There was a comforting pattern of change, with people coming and going, and new friendships forming quickly.

After our daily adventures, we looked forward to returning to the hostel and sharing our experiences. One evening, over cards and a glass of rum with two lads from the Midlands, we learned the recipe for “mountain doughnuts” (banana, jam and peanut butter spread between slices of bread, wrapped in tinfoil and gradually squished in a backpack during a hike). I picked up tips on thermal gloves from an army nurse who shared my despair over cold fingers, and talked 90s rave music with a couple from Spain. The children made friends instantly, disappearing for snowball fights and board games until bedtime. There was no pressure to socialise – some guests retreated to their rooms or books, others dipped in and out of communal life – and that flexibility was part of the appeal.

After a challenging few years through Covid, hostelling is enjoying a quiet revival. According to Sam Dalley, founder of the Independent Hostels network, “hostelling is in better health than ever. People want inexpensive stays where mingling is part of the adventure. There are more hostels now than at the height of the youth hostel movement in the 1950s.”

With places such as The Rocks combining comfort with affordability, privacy with community, the future looks bright for British hostelling, proof that meeting new people and sharing experiences can still be found at the heart of travel.

As we hiked up Moel Siabod, with the muffled crunch of snow underfoot and the promise of mountain doughnuts in our backpacks, I felt deeply satisfied. The trip had sparked an appreciation for something I hadn’t realised our holidays were missing; a sense of community. From now on, hostels will be my go-to for adventures like this, rather than the closed doors of private rentals. We never did see those elusive penguins, and we’re still baffled by the mysterious “Do not feed the penguins” sign perched on that remote Welsh mountainside, but who knows what adventures our next hostel stay may lead to?

The Rocks has dorm beds from £36pp, private family rooms from £115.60

For most of his adult life, Rafiul Alam did not believe that voting was worth the walk to the polling station. He is 27, grew up in a middle-class neighbourhood of Dhaka, and became eligible to vote nearly a decade ago. He never did – not in Bangladesh’s national elections in 2018, nor in the 2024 vote.

“My vote had no real value,” he said.

Like many Bangladeshis in his age group, Alam’s political consciousness formed under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s long period of government, when opposition parties and election watchdogs repeatedly questioned the credibility of polls.

Over time, he said, disengagement with politics became normal, even rational, for a generation. “You grow up knowing elections exist, but believing they actually don’t have the power to decide anything. So you put your energy elsewhere… studies, work, even trying to leave the country,” he said.

This calculation began to shift for him in July 2024, when student protests over a government job reservation system favouring certain groups spiralled into a nationwide uprising. Alam joined marches in Dhaka’s Mirpur area and helped coordinate logistics for protests, as Hasina’s security forces launched a brutal crackdown.

The United Nations Human Rights Office later estimated that up to 1,400 people – most of them young – may have been killed before Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024, ending nearly 15 years in power.

When Hasina left, Alam said the moment felt like something that had appeared permanent had broken. “For the first time, it felt like ordinary people could push for a change,” he said. “Once you experience that, you feel responsible for what comes next.”

Bangladesh is now heading for a national election on February 12, the first since the uprising. European Union observers have described the upcoming vote as the “biggest democratic process in 2026, anywhere”. And Alam plans to vote for the first time.

“I’m thrilled to exercise my lost right as a citizen,” he said.

He is not alone. Bangladesh has about 127 million registered voters, nearly 56 million of them between the ages of 18 and 37, according to the Election Commission. They constitute about 44 percent of the electorate, and are a demographic widely seen as the driving force behind Hasina’s downfall.

“Practically speaking, anyone who turned 18 after the 2008 parliamentary election has never had the chance to vote in a competitive poll,” said Humayun Kabir, director general of the Election Commission’s national identity registration wing.

“That means people who have been unable to vote for the last 17 years are now in their mid-30s… and especially eager to cast their ballots.”

This eagerness comes after three post-2008 elections that “were not considered credible”, Ivars Ijabs, the EU’s chief observer, said.

The 2014 polls saw a mass opposition boycott, and dozens of seats where Hasina’s Awami League party faced no contest. The 2018 vote, though contested, became widely known as the “night’s vote”, after allegations that ballot boxes had been filled before polling day.

The 2024 election, meanwhile, again went ahead amid a major boycott by opposition parties, with critics arguing that conditions for a “fair contest did not exist”.

A pivotal electorate

Fragmented by class, geography, religion and experience, Bangladesh’s young voters are united less by ideology than by a shared suspicion of institutions, which, for most of their adult lives, have failed to represent them, say analysts.

“There is a significant age gap between pre–Hasina regime voters and new voters,” said Fahmidul Haq, a writer and faculty member at Bard College in New York and a former professor at the University of Dhaka. “Because of the nature of elections under the Hasina administration, we do not know the actual level of public acceptance of the political parties.”

As a result, he said, the current cohort of first-time voters will play a decisive role in shaping the future direction of politics in Bangladesh. Haq described the upcoming election as a psychological release valve after years of repression, during which young people “could not hold their representatives accountable; rather, those representatives appeared to them as oppressors”.

Many young people still do not trust the existing system, Haq argued, and some remain sceptical of the democratic transition itself.

Umama Fatema, a Dhaka University student who emerged as a prominent leader during the 2024 protests, said the uprising generated powerful expectations among young people: promises of “no corruption, no manipulation, equality of opportunity and political reform”.

But translating these aspirations into institutions has proven far more difficult. As the transition unfolded, Fatema said the reform process, led by the interim administration of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, alongside manoeuvring by political parties – including those born out of 2024’s protests – became increasingly complex.

“Very few people and their aspirations have been meaningfully involved and incorporated,” she said.

A fraught alliance

With the Awami League barred from political activity by the interim Yunus government, the election has turned into a battle between two rival coalitions: one led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and the other by Jamaat-e-Islami.

For many young protesters, this outcome cuts against the spirit of 2024.

Pantho Saha, a 22-year-old student from the Cumilla district in the country’s southeast, said many with whom he protested in 2024 had hoped the leaders who emerged from the uprising would break what he described as the “same old dynastic” patterns.

That expectation began to fracture, he said, when the National Citizen Party (NCP), a youth-led formation born out of the protest movement, moved towards an electoral alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami. A far-right Islamist party, the Jamaat’s opposition to Bangladesh’s independence during the 1971 war has long limited its mainstream appeal.

“Historically, those who rule us come to power with big promises,” Saha said. “But after a few years, power blinds them, and the same abuses repeat.”

The NCP, he said, initially felt different. “We thought of the NCP as a beacon of light. But seeing it align with a party that carries so much historical baggage made many of us lose hope.”

Fatema, who led the protests alongside several figures who later founded the NCP, said the party’s alignment with the Jamaat risks shrinking the significance of the July 2024 uprising. “Over time, it could seriously damage how this uprising is remembered in history,” he warned.

The NCP positioned itself at its launch as a generational alternative to Bangladesh’s traditional parties, promising what it called a “new political settlement” rooted in the 2024 July movement. But as talks advanced over the electoral alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami, the party saw a wave of resignations, including from several senior figures and women leaders who had been expected to contest parliamentary seats. Many of them have since announced independent bids, saying the party was “drifting from its founding commitments”.

Nahid Islam, the NCP’s chief, has defended the alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami, describing it as a “strategic electoral arrangement aimed at greater unity”, rather than an ideological alignment.

Between hope and politics

Even so, the February 12 ballot carries particular weight for many younger Bangladeshis who helped drive last year’s uprising.

Moumita Akter, 24, a master’s student at Chittagong University who took part in the anti-Hasina protests, described the vote as “the first step to restore at least the most basic democratic practices”.

“I don’t expect miracles from a single vote. But I want to see whether the system can at least function properly. That alone would be a major change,” she said.

For others, like Sakibur Rahman, 23, a voter from the eastern Brahmanbaria district who studies philosophy at the University of Dhaka, the appeal of democracy remains conditional.

“You can talk about democracy all day, but if people don’t feel safe, can’t speak freely and can’t earn a living, democracy feels abstract, he told Al Jazeera.

Rahman said he would support whichever party could credibly guarantee public safety, freedom of expression, religious freedom, and minorities living without fear.

For many women voters, the calculation is sharper still. Women make up nearly half of Bangladesh’s electorate, but young women say questions of dignity and everyday security will shape their ballot.

“We hear promises of women’s rights, but the lived reality is far from ideal. That will shape how many of my female friends will vote,” Akter, the master’s student, said.

Yet the political field they are being asked to choose from remains overwhelmingly male. Election Commission data shows that only 109 of the 2,568 candidates contesting the election, or about 4.24 percent, are women.

Fatema said the political space for women has narrowed rather than expanded since the uprising. “After August 5, women who speak about their agency, their contributions, and their right to representation have been suppressed in many ways,” she said.

“Harassment, from online abuse to sexual threats, has become routine in political spaces.” These pressures are pushing women out of visible political roles, just as the country enters a critical political transition, she added.

Mubashar Hasan, a political observer and adjunct researcher at Western Sydney University’s Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative, said the disconnect between women’s prominence in protest movements and their marginalisation in formal politics raises doubts about the depth of reform.

“No structural change is possible without women’s political representation, and participation at the highest levels… both in parliament and in policymaking,” he said. “Without that, promises of any new political order remain incomplete.”

Fahmidul Haq of Bard College said political parties would have to approach young voters differently than in the past, by addressing “their traumas, desires, and demands sincerely”, and by campaigning with honesty and transparency.

“Young people are deeply sceptical of absurd promises,” he said, adding that those may in fact alienate them.

Still, something fundamental has changed. For Alam, the first-time voter from Dhaka’s Mirpur, July 2024 permanently altered how his generation relates to power.

“We now dare to question everyone,” he said. “Whoever comes to power, that habit won’t disappear.”