Muhammad Yunus: The Nobel winner tasked with leading Bangladesh

Muhammad Yunus has been chosen to lead an interim government after the ouster of Bangladesh's ex-PM.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatchHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS ElectionUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessWomen at the HelmFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersThe Nobel winner tasked with leading a nation out of chaosGetty ImagesThe microloans pioneer is known as a 'banker to the poor'Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has been chosen to lead Bangladesh's interim government after the country's former prime minister Sheik Hasina resigned and fled the country following weeks of violent unrest.

A well-known critic of Ms Hasina, Mr Yunus called the day of Ms Hasina's departure Bangladesh's "second liberation day".

So what do we know about the 84-year-old Nobel laureate?

One of nine children, Mr Yunus was born to a family of Muslim merchants in the coastal Bangladeshi city of Chittagong. At 25 he travelled to the United States to study under a Fulbright scholarship, and returned to Bangladesh in 1971 – the same year the country won its independence from Pakistan in a brutal, bloody war.

Upon his return, Mr Yunus was elected to head Chittagong University’s economics department, and soon became passionately involved with combatting the famine that ravaged Bangladesh in the mid-70s.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz73jwy8nnwo

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