Motiur Rahman Nizami, 72, was seeking a review of the Supreme Court decision to uphold a war crimes tribunal verdict.
He was convicted of genocide, rape and torture, charges the defence said were not proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Unless he seeks clemency from the president he could be hanged in days.
His party responded to the Supreme Court decision by calling a nationwide strike for Sunday and has said it will hold street protests. Security has been tightened across the country.
"All the legal battles are over," a lawyer for Nizami told reporters. "Now it is up to him, whether he will seek clemency from the president, or not."
Correspondents say it is unlikely clemency would be granted, even were Nizami to appeal.
Four politicians have so far been hanged for war crimes since the controversial tribunal was set up in 2010. Scores of people have been killed in violence following previous judgements.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionSecurity personnel gather on Thursday near graffiti on a Dhaka road relating to the war crimes trials
Bangladesh independence war, 1971
Civil war erupts in Pakistan, pitting the West Pakistan army against East Pakistanis demanding autonomy and later independence
Fighting forces an estimated 10 million East Pakistani civilians to flee to India
In December, India invades East Pakistan in support of the East Pakistani people
Pakistani army surrenders at Dhaka and its army of more than 90,000 become Indian prisoners of war
East Pakistan becomes the independent country of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971
Exact number of people killed is unclear - Bangladesh says it is three million but independent researchers put the figure at up to 500,000 fatalities
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up the war crimes tribunal to look into abuses during the independence war.
Nizami, a former government minister, is one of the most important figures to be found guilty.
He was convicted of setting up a militia which helped the Pakistani army identify and kill pro-independence activists.
Opponents of independence argued at the time that it would divide the Muslim community, and many feared that an independent Bangladesh would come under the political and economic influence of neighbouring India.
Critics have said the government is using the tribunal to target political opponents. Human Rights Watch has previously said the court's procedures are not up to international standards.
The Awami League, which leads the current government, says it is necessary to help the country come to terms with its past.
North Korea is poised to hold its first party congress in decades, as leader Kim Jong-un seeks to cement his status and chart a vision for the future.
Thousands of delegates begin meeting on Friday for a choreographed show of support which experts view as an unofficial coronation.
The congress could also see a new generation of leaders put in place.
Its run-up has seen attempts at missile launches amid speculation the North will conduct a fifth nuclear test.
Sanctions on North Korea were tightened after it conducted a fourth nuclear test in January, and subsequent missile tests.
But in the seventh party congress, the first since 1980, experts say Kim Jong-un is likely to declare his so-called "Byongjin" policy, which is the simultaneous push towards economic development and nuclear capability.
The state has allowed foreign journalists to cover the congress, although their movements are controlled and they are not allowed access to ordinary North Koreans.
No congress was held during the rule of Kim Jong-il - Kim Jong-un's father. His death in 2011 brought Kim Jong-un to power when he was still in his twenties.
The meeting will also elect a new central committee, which appoints a Politburo and other key political roles, and many say loyalists to the current leader will be rewarded with high profile posts.
Who he chooses will be watched carefully. In 2013 Kim Jong-un had his uncle executed for "acts of treachery" and there have followed many reports of purges of high profile figures in the establishment.
Some experts have said that Mr Kim's sister Kim Yo-jong, with whom he attended school in Switzerland, is tipped for promotion.
Image copyrightReutersImage captionAll of the nuclear tests have been conducted underground at the Punggye-ni site in the north-east
Many observers will observe announcements carefully to evaluate the North's commitment to a planned economy, but the congress is also being seen as the public stage for Kim Jong-un to define his leadership for the years to come.
Delhi’s state-run schools finish for the summer on 10 May anyway, but private and municipal schools’ term dates vary. Many schools’ end-of-term tests will now need to be rescheduled.
Nav Bharti public school was due to break up for the summer on 18 May. Its headteacher, Sanjay Bhartiya, said the government’s decision would cause a scheduling nightmare. “We had cycle tests and unit tests scheduled for the second week of May, so now all our schedule will be disturbed,” he said.
“We are going to follow the government’s order, there is no alternative right now. But in the school calendar, one week matters a lot. We understand the government’s concern over the heatwave but this abrupt decision will definitely affect us.”
Madhulika Sen, headteacher at Tagore International school, Vasant Vihar, which will lose three working days because of the government’s order, was less forgiving. “Where the temperature is concerned, the government schools have no infrastructure – no fans, no back up for electricity, drinking water. They can’t handle the heatwave, so it makes sense for the government schools to be closed.”
“But I don’t know why private schools have been affected because we have all the infrastructure – many schools even have air conditioning. The government just doesn’t want to make it sound as though children in government schools are finishing earlier than private school students,” she said.
India's new 'enclave' citizens in historic first vote
Thousands of people living in enclaves along the Bangladesh border have voted for the first time in India after remaining virtually stateless for six decades.
They became citizens of India last year after Bangladesh and India exchanged more than 160 enclaves located in each other's territory. The enclaves, created in the 18th Century, endured through British colonial rule, the independence of India and the creation of Bangladesh.
On Thursday, the new citizens got their first taste of democracy when they voted in the West Bengal state assembly elections.
Photojournalist Ronny Sen captured the historic occasion.
The 103-year-old first-time voter
Asgar Ali (centre) is 103 years old and voted for the first time in Moshaldanga in Cooch Behar district. Three generations of his family, including his son and grandson, accompanied him to the polling booth. His grandson Jaynal Abedin was keen to mark the occasion with a selfie.
'Freedom after 200 years'
Abdul Mannan, 61, is a resident of Poaturkuthi, the largest enclave with 1,800 voters. He said three generations of his family lived and died there without an official identity for nearly two centuries. "Today, after nearly 200 years, we got freedom. We have an identity. We had nothing earlier," he said.
'Finally included'
Maksedul Hoque, 29, said he would often feel left out when his friends from mainland India would talk about politics and elections. "It's something I grew up watching but was never a part of, and that made me feel excluded," he told the BBC. Now after voting, he says he feels more empowered and included. He wants the candidate he voted for to build new roads, hospitals, schools and create jobs for young people.
'Excited to vote'
Bashanti Shil, 90, came to the polling booth with her grandson Sudama Shil, who is 30. She said she was "very excited" to vote and hoped that participating in elections would bring prosperity and happiness to her family members and everyone in the enclave of Moshaldanga.
A part of the process
Mizanur Rahman, 37, and his wife Arjina Aktar, 20, excitedly show off their new voting ID cards. Mr Rahman said he wasn't allowed to vote in Bangladesh but saw political campaigns and always wanted to be a part of the process. He said he wanted politicians to fulfil promises to bring growth and prosperity to the region. He added that he hoped for free movement of people between the Indian and Bangladeshi enclaves.
Voting for development
Rokeya Bibi (right), 20, went to the polling booth with her mother-in-law Majia Bibi. "I want schools and colleges in this area so that my children don't have to travel far," Rokeya Bibi said.
Pakistan elders 'ordered girl's killing' in Abbottabad
Arrested members of the Jirga, their faces covered, are to appear in court in Abbottabad
Police in Pakistan say village elders ordered the murder of a teenage girl because she had helped a school friend to elope.
The 16-year-old was kidnapped from her home near Abbottabad, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and put inside a vehicle that was set alight, police said.
Graphic images of her body have been circulated on social media.
Police say the victim's mother and the leader of the local council, or jirga, are among several people arrested.
The killing has been linked to orders given last week by the jirga, a traditional assembly of elders, in Makol village, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported.
According to police, the 15-member jirga had ordered the girl, named as Amber, to be killed and set alight as punishment for helping her friend to marry of her own free will.
The girl was kidnapped, drugged and killed and then placed in the back seat of a parked van that was doused with petrol and set on fire, Dawn reported.
Other media reports said the victim was still alive when the van was set alight.
'Honour killings'
A local official who brought the charred body to the morgue said: "We went to the place and found three vehicles parked next to each other that were burnt. In one of them we saw a body. We couldn't recognise her then. But found a few bangles on one of her arms establishing that this was a woman's body."
Thirteen people have been arrested, police said.
The girl's school friend and her boyfriend are reported to have married and be living at an undisclosed location.
Correspondents say so-called honour killings are a major issue in Pakistan and many go unreported.
Last year, nearly 1,100 women were killed by relatives who believed they had dishonoured their families, a report by the country's independent Human Rights Commission said.
In February, Punjab, the country's largest province, passed a landmark law criminalising all forms of violence against women.
No wedding tents for child marriages, Indian suppliers vow
MUMBAI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Suppliers of wedding tents may not be the most obvious allies in the battle to prevent child marriage, but in India's Rajasthan state they have come together to tackle some of the highest rates of early marriage in the country.The Tent Dealers Welfare Samiti (Association) of Rajasthan, which has more than 9,000 members, has been demanding to see the birth certificates of the brides and grooms it has been supplying.
In India, the legal age of marriage for a woman is 18 and 21 for a man. The charity Girls Not Brides estimates the rate of child marriage to be as high as 65 percent in Rajasthan and almost 70 percent in the eastern state of Bihar.
The tent dealers association has stopped at least 80 child marriages in Rajasthan in the past two years, its president Ravi Jindal said.
"We want to show people that this is wrong, that they should not be doing this," Jindal told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "We complain to the police and the village headman, get them to intervene, so there is pressure on them to not do it."
Despite their efforts, and similar actions by thousands of suppliers across the state, the practice is rampant, he said.
In Rajasthan, a state famed for its palaces and forts, weddings peak during the Akshaya Tritiya festival in April and May, which is considered an auspicious period.
Colorful tents decorated with flowers and lights are often erected for guests to enjoy the wedding feast.
Worldwide, more than 700 million women were married before their 18th birthday, according to a 2014 UNICEF report.
While boys are also married as children, girls are disproportionately affected, it said. Early marriage makes it more likely that girls will drop out of school, and campaigners say it also increases the risks of exploitation, sexual violence, domestic abuse and death in childbirth.
South Asia is home to 42 percent of all child brides worldwide. India alone accounts for one-third of the global total, according to UNICEF.
Child marriage is most common in rural areas and among the poor, where a girl is seen as a financial burden, said Sanjay Sharma, general manager at the Save the Children charity in Rajasthan.
Girls are also married early because of fears for their safety, he said.
"It is not as though people are not aware of the law, that it is not permitted," Sharma said.
"But they say it is their tradition. So every little action helps, be it from the police, from the government or tent suppliers," he said.
(Reporting by Rina Chandran, Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org to see more stories.)
Ashish Kumar last saw his brother Vinod when he was being driven away by a senior police officer in Ludhiana, in northern India.
Vinod’s body was never found but the CBI, India’s intelligence agency believes that the officer, Sumedh Singh Saini, was responsible for his death.
They filed murder charges against him within a month.
That was in 1994.
Twenty-two years have passed since the murder case began. Only three of 36 witnesses have been heard so far. Four witnesses have already died without being presented in court.
At 94 years old, Vinod’s mother Amar Kaur can’t hear or speak well. She doesn’t seem to understand much about life at present. But when she hears her son’s name, she yells at the top of her voice, “Insaaf!” “Justice”.
Kaur, who used to go to court in a stretcher, gave her testimony in her son’s murder case when she was aged 86, 14 years after he went missing.
94-year-old Amar Kaur is still waiting for justice after the death of her son, Vinod, in 1994. Photograph: Vidhi Doshi
She asked the court several times to hear her statement sooner, fearing that she didn’t have long to live. When she was finally heard, the judge had to step down from the podium and stand next to the witness box to be able to hear her thin, fading voice. But before she could finish, he decided to break for lunch. The next available date for her to deliver her statement was a month later.
In the time that has passed since Vinod disappeared, Saini has continued in his role and was promoted to Director General of Police in Punjab. He still has charges hanging over him.
Vinod’s family on the other hand, has had to leave their family home, give up their business, and move to Delhi. They claim to have been threatened on numerous occasions and moved in order to remain safe and follow the case.
Last week, Chief Justice of India’s supreme court, Tirath Singh Thakur broke down while addressing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, blaming the government for inaction over judicial delays, particularly for failing to appoint enough judges to deal with the huge backlog of pending cases.
In the government’s budget for 2016, only 0.2% of the total budget was given to the Law Ministry, one of the lowest in the world.
More than 22 million cases are currently pending in India’s district courts
“There is a systematic problem with India’s courts,” Vinod’s younger brother Ashish says. “And because of it our family has suffered so much.”
The number of cases, however, is only a part of the problem. Take a walk through any court building in India and you’ll see long queues of people waiting outside courtrooms without any guarantee of getting a complete hearing.
Ashish Kuar last saw his brother Vinod in 1994 when he was murdered. The Indian court system currently has a backlog of nearly 27 million cases. Photograph: Vidhi Doshi for the Guardian
India has one of the world’s lowest judges to population ratios in the world, with only 13 judges per million people, compared to 50 in developed nations. As a result, judges hear scores of cases every day, which leads to a large number of adjournments, multiple judges passing cases between them, and increasingly long queues of people waiting outside courtrooms on the off chance that their case is heard.
“Judges are under enormous pressure,” justice Mukul Mudgal, a former high court judge, says. “You have around 30 or 40 cases every day, and usually, you spend an hour before court reading the files. I used to do half of them the previous night. It’s a lot of work, and it is chimerical to hope that any judge will read every page of every case he’s dealing with.”
Judges are paid little compared to lawyers, which has led to a steady decline in the quality of judges.
“Judges are under enormous pressure,” says justice Mukul Mudgal, a former high court judge. Photograph: Vidhi Doshi for the Guardian
To add to the burden, lawyers frequently use delaying tactics such as appealing verdicts endlessly, or saying they’re sick or failing to show up to court.
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“Adjournments are given freely, witnesses don’t come on time, and there’s nobody looking at judicial administration,” explains Harish Narsappa, whose thinktank Dakshanalyses data on judicial delays.
“If you go to court and ask the judge for an adjournment, the judge will ask ok, what day do you want? At that time, neither the judge nor the lawyer has any clue what the judge’s capacity is for that day next week. What’s the point of saying I’ll hear you on this day next week, if he just doesn’t have the time?”
Narsappa estimates that the delays cost India’s economy trillions of rupees every year.
Major Manjit Rajain had to skip a day of work every month for nine years over a case against him which was was eventually dismissed as a clerical error.
After he retired from the army and opened his first business, the Registrar of Companies filed a suit against him for misrepresenting himself because his army files showed his surname to be Rajan, without the i, and he had written his surname Rajain, with an i on the forms to register his company.
Major Rajain explained how trivial the error was.
Even though the former soldier showed the court his passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, and several other documents to prove there was an ‘i’ in his last name, the case against him was not dismissed for nine years.
“The good thing that came out of it,” Major Rajain says “was that I made friends with many major businessmen sitting outside the courtroom, because they had all been dragged there for equally trivial reasons.
