Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, has claimed it downed an MQ-9 Reaper drone in the Strait of Hormuz. The report, published on August 3, 2026, said the drone was brought down while flying over Hormuz. It did not identify where the aircraft had come from.

According to Sepah News, which is affiliated with the IRGC, an active IRGC air-defense system in Hormuz struck the drone. The report provided no further details on the drone’s ownership, mission, or the circumstances following the reported strike.

The report also said Iran had previously downed several dozen Reaper drones belonging to the US military. The current account attributes the claim to the IRGC and cites Al Jazeera as its source.

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a space telescope used to observe gamma-ray bursts and other high-energy astronomical events, is descending because of orbital decay. The report, published on August 3, 2026, says recent intense solar activity has slightly expanded Earth’s upper atmosphere, increasing atmospheric drag. NASA scientists estimate that, if the current trend continues, Swift could re-enter Earth’s atmosphere during the second half of 2026.

NASA has begun a special orbit-boost mission costing about $30 million to protect the observatory and keep its research operations running. Catalyst Space Technologies’ Link spacecraft was launched from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean on July 3 and is moving step by step toward Swift. Equipped with three robotic arms, Link is expected to reach an orbit near the telescope in about a month.

After arriving, Link will first inspect its solar panels and internal systems before beginning the sensitive rendezvous-and-capture process. Over subsequent months, it will monitor Swift’s movement, position and rotation, then attempt a safe capture using its mechanical arms. Controlled thrust will then gradually raise Swift’s orbit. Launched in 2004, Swift has observed gamma-ray bursts for two decades.

The report says human trafficking is increasingly being enabled by technology rather than relying only on borders, brokers or irregular migration routes. Traffickers use social media, encrypted messaging apps, fake websites, online job advertisements and artificial intelligence to gain trust. They lure people abroad with promises of high-paying jobs, better lives, romance or marriage, then allegedly force some into cyber fraud, online scams, abuse and modern slavery. Bangladesh is identified as being exposed to this growing risk.

Fake overseas job offers are described as the most common technology-based trafficking method. A BRAC study found that 98 percent of people who travelled abroad after job promises did not receive the promised work, while 90 percent were forced into fraudulent activities. Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram and Messenger are cited as tools used with false identities and offers of employment, business or foreign settlement. Online romance and marriage proposals are also used, with women particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and forced labour.

According to BMET, 15,921 people travelled to Cambodia for employment over the past year and a half. In June, 583 Bangladeshis returned from Cambodia, with many reporting passport confiscation and forced involvement in online fraud. The report advises verifying recruiters and agencies, protecting personal information, avoiding suspicious links and using two-factor authentication.

Multimodal artificial synapses are being developed to process different kinds of sensory information in a way compared with the human brain. A report published on August 3, 2026 said the devices can respond not only to electrical signals but also to light, sound, temperature, gases and other external stimuli. The technology could play an important role in future intelligent robots capable of using multiple human-like senses.

A key feature is synaptic plasticity, in which a device’s electrical properties change after stimulation and retain that effect for some time after the stimulus stops. Connecting many artificial synapses could create neuromorphic networks that store and compute information within the same structure. This could reduce repeated data transfers between memory and processors and potentially save energy.

Memristors can change resistance through ion movement, electron trapping and phase changes. An h-BN-based artificial synapse was reported to use as little as about 600 picowatts during switching, with switching times below 10 nanoseconds. A MoTe₂-based device achieved about 90 millivolts of switching voltage and about 150 attojoules of switching energy. Potential applications include autonomous vehicles, smart cameras, industrial automation, medical-assistive robots, artificial vision, advanced sensors and human-machine communication.

Police recovered 17 sacks of Phensedyl during a special operation in Barura upazila of Cumilla, but no alleged drug traffickers were detained. The raid was conducted at about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday in the Daspara area of Muguji village, under South Khoshbas union, based on confidential information.

Barura police station Inspector (Investigation) Sanjay Sarkar confirmed the operation. He said a police team led by Sub-Inspector Tajul Islam recovered a large quantity of Phensedyl packed in sacks from one location. According to Sarkar, the alleged traffickers fled after becoming aware of the police presence.

Authorities have not yet counted the number of bottles recovered from the 17 sacks, Sarkar said. Necessary legal action will be taken after the bottles are counted. Police operations to identify and arrest those involved in the incident are continuing, he added.

A shotgun was recovered from a fishing net in Araihazar, Narayanganj, after fishermen found it in a pond in Singarpur area of Fatepur union. The incident occurred at about 8am on Monday at a pond owned by a man named Rezaul. Araihazar police went to the scene after being informed and took the weapon to the police station.

Local sources said the firearm became caught in the net while fishermen were casting it to catch fish. SI Shafiul Islam, who is responsible for weapons maintenance at Araihazar Police Station, checked the weapon against the station’s arms register and confirmed that it belonged to the police. The shotgun’s butt number is 651.

Araihazar Police Station officer-in-charge Sabujel Hossain said the shotgun was among weapons looted from the station during the student-public movement in 2024. Police are investigating how the weapon ended up in the pond and how long it had remained there.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has called on the international community to take “immediate and effective” action to hold Israel accountable for crimes committed against Palestinians, according to the state-run Fars News Agency. The appeal was reported on August 3, 2026, and was issued in connection with the anniversary of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh’s death.

Iran said Haniyeh was killed on July 31, 2024, when a bomb planted in his guesthouse in Tehran exploded. The report said he had been leading Hamas in an ongoing negotiation process with Israel less than a year after Israel’s military operation in Gaza began.

The report also said Israel’s attacks in Gaza have intensified despite a recent United States announcement of a disarmament plan involving Hamas, citing various international reports. Iran’s statement focused on seeking accountability for Israel over alleged crimes against Palestinians and called for an international response.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the Strait of Hormuz was not closed because of differences with Oman, according to remarks to journalists in Tehran on August 3, 2026. He asserted that US and Israeli military aggression had instead put the waterway in crisis.

Baghaei said an agreement on a designated route is needed to ensure safe navigation through the strait. He described defining such a route and guaranteeing secure vessel movement as necessary conditions for reopening the waterway.

However, the spokesperson said those measures alone would not be sufficient to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He again rejected the claim that disagreements between Iran and Oman were responsible for its closure, while attributing the current problems affecting the waterway to military aggression by the United States and the Israeli government.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the United States and Israel are engaged in war not only against one country but against the entire Middle East. Speaking at a news conference in Tehran on Monday, he blamed the United States and its allies for the current regional crisis.

Baghaei said US military presence in the Gulf and the use of bases in various countries have increased instability. He said it was natural for countries in the region to seek efforts to prevent the situation from worsening. He also described the Yemen crisis as Yemen’s internal matter and said it should be resolved through dialogue.

The spokesperson said linking the Yemen issue to the war against Iran was an attempt to evade responsibility. He said no new mediator had joined talks with the United States, although China and several other countries were trying to reduce tensions. Pakistan is mediating on Iran-US issues and Qatar is assisting as needed, he said. Discussions with Oman have continued for the past seven to eight days, with some progress, while contacts with several regional and non-regional countries continue.

Australia has announced A$25.25 million in funding, worth about Tk217.82 crore, to sustain life-saving humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and local host communities. The announcement was made Monday in the presence of Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser Khalilur Rahman and Australian assistant minister Julian Hill. UNHCR confirmed the pledge in a statement issued Monday afternoon.

The funding will be spent through UNHCR under a humanitarian assistance programme running from 2026 to 2028. UNHCR said the multi-year, flexible support would help maintain essential services amid global funding shortages and uncertainty, including protection activities, skills development, disaster-risk reduction and other necessary services in Rohingya camps. Hill said Australia remained committed to meeting Rohingya humanitarian needs in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

UNHCR said about 1.2 million Rohingya are currently in Bangladesh, most living in Cox’s Bazar camps and almost entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance. More than 150,000 additional Rohingya have sought refuge in Bangladesh since 2024. The agency said international support remains necessary until conditions allow voluntary, safe and dignified returns to Myanmar with guarantees of full citizenship.

Journalist leaders from Cox’s Bazar Press Club and the Cox’s Bazar Journalists’ Union visited the graves of five July uprising martyrs in Cox’s Bazar on Sunday, marking July Mass Uprising Day. The daylong programme also included meetings with relatives of the martyrs, including Wasim Akram, described in the report as the second martyr of the July movement.

The delegation first met the family of martyr Tanvir Siddiqui, including his father Badsha Mia, in Kalamarchhara of Maheshkhali before visiting his grave. It later visited Wasim Akram’s grave in Mehernama of Pekua and joined prayers there with local journalists present. The leaders also visited the grave of Ahsan Habib near Baitur Rahman Jame Mosque in Chakaria’s Fasiakhali Union and met his family.

Ahsan Habib’s father Mohammad Helal Uddin and younger brother Raihan Habib demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the killing. In Eidgaon, the delegation visited the graves of Nurul Amin and Nurul Mostafa and gave gifts to their families. Further activities in the seven-day programme include graffiti drawing, poetry recitation, Quran recitation, a discussion meeting, prayers and participation in a government programme.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General and the prime minister’s political adviser Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed warned that continued division and polarization could encourage Sheikh Hasina to seek a return to Bangladesh. Speaking on Monday at Bangladesh Medical University auditorium in the capital, he addressed the remarks to Jamaat-e-Islami during a discussion and documentary screening titled “Nurses’ Contribution in the Blood-Soaked July.”

Rizvi said the July revolution had a philosophical foundation tied to civil liberty, freedom of speech and the assurance of living without fear. He described the July mass uprising as the final expression of a 17-year blood-soaked movement, saying hundreds of leaders and activists from Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, BNP and affiliated organizations had died. He alleged that Sheikh Hasina had used the state apparatus to shut down politics and civil rights.

He called on those entering politics to improve political culture and stop spreading hatred and division, saying otherwise the fall of authoritarianism would be rendered meaningless. Rizvi said BNP had supported the quota reform movement, complete shutdown and Bangla Blockade programs from the outset. He praised nurses for assisting injured people during the uprising and said the current government was working on health-sector reform and nurses’ professional development.

A Mongla resident, Sanjit Majumdar, has alleged irregularities, harassment and a demand for Tk30,000 in bribes during the mutation process for his ancestral property at the Mongla উপজেলা land office in Bagerhat. Speaking at a press conference at Bagerhat Press Club at noon on Sunday, he said the mutation had remained pending for a long time because he did not pay the alleged bribe. He sought an impartial investigation and urgent intervention by the district commissioner.

In a written statement, Majumdar said his applications for mutation and registration had been rejected repeatedly on different grounds. He said he later submitted all required documents but received no positive response. He alleged that office assistant Naimul Islam demanded Tk30,000 for each mutation case and that he was told the assistant commissioner for land would not sign the application without payment.

Majumdar said he had informed the district commissioner but had not received effective relief, causing his family mental distress and financial loss. He demanded legal action against those responsible and prompt completion of the mutation. Mongla Assistant Commissioner for Land Nowsheena Arif said mutation was not processed because the heirs’ documentation was inaccurate, adding it would be completed once the documents were corrected.

Chattogram Superintendent of Police Masud Alam said Md Didarul Alam, known as Didar, and his associate Morshed, alias Akhil, allegedly became involved in killings for payments of Tk10,000 to Tk15,000. Speaking at a news conference at the district police superintendent’s office on Monday, he said Didar was arrested in Keraniganj, Dhaka, late Sunday night. Police brought him to Chattogram for questioning after identifying him as the main accused in the Nurul Azim murder case.

According to police, Didar faces 13 cases, including murder, and had arrest warrants in six of them. Nurul Azim was hacked to death on July 10 in Khalifapara of Mekhal union, Hathazari upazila. Didar was named the principal accused in a case filed by the victim’s family and had been absconding since the incident.

Police said operations are continuing to arrest Morshed and other members of the alleged criminal group. Investigators are also examining allegations that the group was involved in extortion, terrorist activities and contract attacks. In recent operations, police arrested three other identified criminals—Didar, Afsar and Borhan—and recovered two foreign firearms and ammunition, according to the police.

Fisheries and Livestock State Minister Sultan Salahuddin Tuku said nature-based solutions are an effective and sustainable way to protect coastal livelihoods, strengthen food security and increase climate resilience. He made the remarks on August 3 as chief guest at a national technical workshop titled “Prioritizing Nature-Based Interventions for Resilient Coastal Bangladesh” at Hotel Westin in the capital. Friendship and Conservation International organized the workshop.

Tuku said forests, wetlands, coastal vegetation belts and integrated agroforestry systems can support environmental conservation while increasing livestock feed availability and improving animal health. He said such measures also reinforce the integrated One Health concept linking human, animal and environmental health. Bangladesh has gained global recognition for addressing climate impacts, he said, but its coastal regions remain among the world’s most vulnerable areas.

Cyclones, storm surges, sea-level rise, salinity expansion and coastal erosion threaten the environment, economy, food systems and livelihoods, he said. Fisheries and livestock are major contributors to the national economy and a key livelihood base for rural people, but both sectors face climate-related risks. The government is committed to sustainable natural-resource management, ecosystem restoration and evidence-based development planning. Tuku said a national plan to plant 250 million trees over the next five years would help restore ecosystems and build resilience among vulnerable communities.