A commentary published on September 1 traces the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s four-decade history from its founding by then-president Ziaur Rahman in 1978 to its present leadership under Tarique Rahman. The article says BNP has returned to power for a fifth time and that Tarique Rahman has led the government for six months after the party formed a government following the February 13 election.

The piece describes BNP’s establishment after Ziaur Rahman announced a 19-point programme and founded the party at a September 1, 1978 press conference. It says the party embraced nationalism, democracy, faith in Allah, and economic and social justice, while seeking to build national unity. It portrays Khaleda Zia as leading BNP after Ziaur Rahman’s 1981 killing and says she remained its leader until her death on December 30 last year.

The commentary says Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh on December 25 last year after 17 years in London and led BNP into the parliamentary election. It urges him to follow Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia’s policies, prioritise public welfare, discipline, competent appointments, and zero tolerance for corruption and political violence.

State Minister for Textiles and Jute Md. Shariful Alam said Bangladesh’s existing electricity and gas problems were not created in a single day, accusing the previous “fascist government” of misleading people with signs claiming universal electricity coverage. He made the remarks on Monday morning at a coordination meeting in the Narsingdi deputy commissioner’s conference room on law and order, development and public welfare activities.

Alam alleged that the former government had not pursued a permanent solution to the power crisis and had instead used quick-rental power arrangements to move thousands of crores of taka abroad through selected individuals. He said the current prime minister’s government has undertaken plans for a lasting solution to ensure uninterrupted electricity and gas supplies, although implementation will require time.

Addressing law and order, the minister said narcotics are closely linked to the issue and cannot be eliminated by police alone. He called for social resistance, social boycotts of offenders and legal action regardless of an offender’s identity. He also urged public support for the government to prevent what he described as efforts by vested interests to create disorder.

Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit has formed a steering committee bringing together public and private sector stakeholders to prevent trade-based money laundering. The committee was established under a public-private partnership model following a BFIU-led meeting of relevant stakeholders held last Sunday, according to a BFIU notice issued Monday.

The meeting discussed existing challenges, risks and future actions for preventing trade-based money laundering. Participants included representatives of Bangladesh Bank’s Foreign Exchange Policy Department and Foreign Exchange Operation Department, National Board of Revenue intelligence and customs bodies, the Anti-Corruption Commission, Criminal Investigation Department, Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Dhaka Customs House. Representatives of 15 scheduled banks involved in commercial activity also attended.

The committee will review risks and challenges, assess progress of measures already taken, strengthen information-sharing arrangements and determine future actions. It will also hold regular meetings to review agencies’ activities and provide necessary guidance. BFIU described trade-based money laundering as a complex financial crime with inter-institutional and international dimensions, requiring coordinated action, stronger risk analysis and close cooperation among regulators, law enforcement agencies, banks, customs authorities and the private sector.

At least 73,456 Palestinians were killed and 174,496 injured in Israeli attacks in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and August 31, 2026, according to an Al Jazeera AJLabs calculation based on Gaza Health Ministry data. The reported toll includes 21,500 children among those killed.

The analysis said at least one in every 33 Gaza residents has been killed and at least one in every 14 injured. Thousands of people remain trapped beneath rubble, which could raise the death toll. Gaza's Health Ministry said bodies also remain under debris and on roads because rescue and ambulance teams cannot reach all areas.

Violence and casualties continued after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was declared on October 10, 2025. Since then, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,320 Palestinians and injured 4,385, while 815 bodies were recovered. AJLabs said incidents involving Israeli attacks, deaths or injuries occurred on 290 of the ceasefire's 326 days. The ministry's latest figure puts the total directly affected, including killed and injured people, at 247,952.

Former Awami League lawmakers living abroad have reportedly sent multiple letters to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), alleging they cannot return to Bangladesh and citing human rights violations and repression of party activists. The matter was discussed in preparatory meetings ahead of IPU Secretary-General Anda Philip’s visit to Bangladesh, which began on Sunday night.

Current lawmakers told the meetings that the Awami League had been driven from the country by the public and that many members of the current parliament had faced persecution, harassment or enforced disappearance under the party’s government. They said incidents of disappearance, repression and violence before and during the July mass uprising were being presented to the IPU delegation.

On Monday, Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed gave Philip a United Nations report concerning violence during the July uprising and the Awami League government’s tenure. Philip also met women and young lawmakers, visited the July Memorial Museum, and met opposition leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman. He is scheduled to hold discussions with government and opposition MPs, including lawmakers and relatives of alleged victims of past disappearances.

Iran has asked the UN Security Council to intervene following what it described as a US attack on Larak Island in the Persian Gulf. Tehran said military personnel and civilians were killed and injured, while public and private property was damaged. Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Gholamhossein Darzi, sent a letter on Monday to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to the state news agency IRNA.

Darzi said US forces carried out the attack on Sunday evening and called it a clear violation of Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He described the continuing war against Iran as constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity, and held the United States, as well as those ordering and carrying out the attacks, responsible.

The Iranian envoy said Tehran had shown restraint throughout the situation but that its forces would not hesitate to respond to any further attacks. He also referred to Iran’s attack on a US base in Jordan as an act of self-defense. Darzi urged the Security Council to demand that the United States stop its attacks and requested that his letter be circulated as an official Council document.

Former Israeli generals, intelligence officials and former prime ministers have warned that violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank poses a greater threat to Israel than Iran, Gaza or Lebanon. Retired Major General Eyal Ben-Reuven made the remarks after visiting West Bank communities with other former officials and speaking to Palestinians affected by attacks. They alleged settlers have attacked homes, mosques and villages, set fires, and seized land and livestock.

According to the United Nations, settlers have carried out thousands of attacks in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, injuring thousands of Palestinians. More than 3,200 Palestinians have been displaced by settler attacks this year, twice the previous year’s level, the report said. More than 200 prominent Israelis signed a June letter calling for an end to what it described as “Jewish terrorism” and “ethnic cleansing.”

The Israeli military denied allegations that it assists settler violence, saying its role is to protect all residents. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not comment on the accusations, though Netanyahu recently called some incidents criminal acts. Former officials said the violence risks harming Israel’s democracy, security, international standing and prospects for a Palestinian state.

The United States has approved the proposed sale of military helicopters and related equipment to Iraq worth $800 million, the US State Department said in a statement on Monday. Bell Textron, a Fort Worth, Texas-based company, will be the principal contractor for the proposed transaction.

The State Department said the sale would support US foreign policy and national security interests by helping strengthen the security of Iraq, described as a strategic partner. The department presented the proposed transfer as part of support for Iraq’s security capabilities.

According to the statement, the equipment would improve Iraq’s ability to address current and future threats. It would enhance helicopter-based transportation and surveillance capabilities, while also improving Iraq’s capacity to conduct air-to-ground strikes against targets.

The Trump administration has moved to limit employment authorization for certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B visa holders in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security has listed a proposal that would remove eligible H-4 spouses from classes of noncitizens able to apply for work authorization. The measure could particularly affect Indian families, whose members make up a large share of H-4 employment authorization holders.

The proposal is not yet a final rule and does not immediately cancel existing H-4 employment authorization documents, or EADs. DHS must first publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, allow public comments, and then issue a final rule. Until that process is completed, eligible H-4 visa holders with valid EADs may continue working under current rules.

The proposal seeks to reverse a 2015 policy that allowed qualifying H-4 spouses to seek EADs. By early 2017, 93 percent of approved H-4 EAD holders were Indian citizens and 94 percent were women. USCIS data also showed Indian citizens accounted for about 71 percent of approved H-1B applications in fiscal year 2024.

Actress Manisha Koirala has appealed to foreign tourists to visit Nepal despite a recent devastating flash flood that has left nearly 1,000 people dead and more than 4,000 missing. Speaking on August 30 in Kathmandu at Sadhguru’s “In Solidarity with Nepal” event, the Nepal-born Bollywood star said the country needs visitors as it confronts the disaster.

Koirala said tourism plays an important role in Nepal’s economy and is needed for the country’s recovery. Addressing the international community, she asked it to continue showing love and support for Nepal, saying the country does not want to be viewed only as a place constantly affected by disasters or crises.

Referring to the disaster near the Tibet-Nepal border, Koirala said tourism remains Nepal’s lifeblood and is needed across the rest of the country. She said Nepal should be remembered not only for disasters, but also for the Himalayas, natural beauty, culture, heritage and the hospitality of its people. Koirala was born in Kathmandu and began acting in Nepali cinema in 1989 before entering Bollywood in 1991.

Sonali Bank has asked the government to intervene over overdue loans extended to Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation and nine state-owned sugar mills. The bank fears that nearly Tk 7,000 crore in net outstanding debt could become classified in the September 2026 quarter after government guarantees covering the facilities expired. In a letter to the Finance Division secretary on August 19, Managing Director Shawkat Ali Khan sought repayment arrangements, government bonds against arrears, or renewed state guarantees.

Sonali Bank said it had lent Tk 3,105 crore to BSFIC and its nine mills, while dues on loans issued directly to BSFIC stood at Tk 2,762 crore. Interest and other charges added about Tk 4,086 crore, bringing total claims to Tk 7,192 crore. After Tk 253 crore was repaid, net arrears stood at Tk 6,938 crore. A Tk 1,000 crore government guarantee expired in December last year, along with other guarantees previously extended.

The bank says classification would require substantial provisions under Bangladesh Bank rules, potentially widening its provision shortfall and hurting profits. BSFIC officials said its government receivable for trade gaps and subsidies could reach Tk 8,041 crore by the end of fiscal year 2025-26.

A glacier collapse near the Nepal-China border triggered flash floods on Wednesday, leaving more than 900 people dead and thousands missing. Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said Monday that 903 people had died, while 4,247 remained missing, including 592 foreign nationals. Authorities have rescued 10,451 people alive from flood-hit areas.

Rescue operations entered their sixth day, with more than 20,000 military and law-enforcement personnel deployed in Nepal. More than 2,000 rescuers from the army, police and other agencies were working in China’s Tibet region. Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah described the disaster as unimaginable and heartbreaking, saying difficult weather, terrain and continuing risks were hampering assessment of total damage.

Twenty-six shelters in Rasuwa and Nuwakot had accommodated 3,454 people by Sunday. Authorities decided to bury some bodies after collecting DNA samples because morgues reached capacity. Rescuers were also trying to free more than 900 workers trapped in a hydropower tunnel on the Trishuli River; over 300 had been rescued. China and India sent specialist teams, while several international partners provided relief assistance.

A rehabilitation project for Bangladesh Railway’s flood-damaged Sylhet-Chhatak Bazar metre-gauge line has reached only 20 to 25 percent completion after its August 23, 2026 deadline, leaving renewed train services uncertain. The roughly 34-kilometre route has been closed for nearly four years following severe flooding in 2022. The project, approved in 2025, was intended to restore the section between Sylhet and Chhatak Bazar.

The project’s estimated cost was Tk217.34 crore, financed jointly by the government and the Asian Development Bank. Contractor Mir Akhter Hossain Limited signed a contract on February 3, 2025, valued at about Tk199 crore. Officials said work at 85 of 96 piling points has been completed, while earth filling and culvert construction continue. Old rails along the route have been removed, but installation of new tracks and other key work remains delayed.

Local residents and businesspeople said slow or halted work has caused frustration, while the route’s closure has increased the time and cost of transporting goods by road. The contractor cited adverse weather, heavy rainfall, political conditions and delays importing materials. It said Tk29 crore was recently allocated and requested a one-year extension to finish the remaining work.

Bangladesh’s High Court has ordered the government to give priority to 17,777 workers identified as affected after being unable to travel to Malaysia. The direction applies to 10,000 workers whom the government plans to send to Malaysia free of cost under its announced zero-cost scheme. The order followed a hearing on a writ petition after the relevant ministry submitted a report to the court on Monday.

The ministry’s report outlined government measures concerning the sending of workers to Malaysia. It said 17,777 people had been affected among 33,000 workers intending to travel to the country. During the hearing, the government-appointed lawyer told the court that a new initiative was being arranged to send 10,000 workers to Malaysia without any cost.

The court said the workers identified in the investigation committee’s report had suffered financially and mentally because they could not go to Malaysia. Authorities also informed the court about administrative and legal measures taken against manpower-exporting agencies that failed to send workers and were identified as involved in irregularities. The case has been adjourned for four months, and the government has been directed to submit a report on its next steps.

The Dewanganj upazila administration in Jamalpur seized 100 sacks, or five metric tonnes, of TSP fertilizer during an operation on Monday night. A trolley carrying the fertilizer was also seized in the Pollakandi area on the Dewanganj-Sanandabari road.

According to the upazila administration, officials acted on a tip-off that a group was transporting illegally stored TSP fertilizer elsewhere to sell it at higher prices. Dewanganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer and Executive Magistrate Shah Jahurul Hossain led the operation, with Upazila Agriculture Officer Ratan Mia present.

Ratan Mia said the fertilizer was likely being moved to create an artificial shortage through stockpiling and then sell it at inflated prices. Shah Jahurul Hossain said the seized fertilizer would be sold to farmers at government-set prices, with the proceeds deposited in the state treasury. He added that such operations would continue to prevent illegal stockpiling, artificial shortages and attempts to sell fertilizer at excessive prices.