Residents in Islampur, Jamalpur, have alleged widespread irregularities and corruption in government food-for-work rural infrastructure projects. The project period ended on June 30, nearly two months before the report, but work on several schemes remained incomplete. Locals also alleged that in some locations only nominal work was completed before allocated rice and wheat were withdrawn.

According to the district Relief and Rehabilitation Office, Islampur received 48 tonnes 320 kilograms of rice and 38 tonnes 680 kilograms of wheat in the second phase of the Department of Disaster Management’s Kabikha programme for fiscal year 2025-26. Residents questioned work and spending on several road and guide-wall projects, while project presidents and union parishad representatives generally said work had been properly completed or matched the allocation.

Current UNO শাহ্ মো. জুবায়ের said allocations were released before he joined and that those responsible for supervision should investigate. Former UNO নামজুল হুসাইন said he had instructed the PIO not to release bills if work was not properly implemented. Acting PIO মো. হাবীবুর রহমান সুমন said bills were issued after inspections, but added that work would be completed where needed; he also said final reports had not been sent and fieldwork was continuing.

A large barrier lake has formed in Nepal’s mountainous region after the natural flow of a river was obstructed. The lake’s dam could break at any time, potentially releasing a sudden, large volume of water downstream and placing nearby settlements and infrastructure at renewed severe risk.

On Thursday morning, the lake held about 2 million cubic metres of water. A further 3 million cubic metres could enter the lake over the next three days, bringing its total volume to an estimated 5 million cubic metres.

The expected increase in water is reported to have greatly raised concerns that the lake’s natural dam may fail. If a breach occurs, water could move rapidly along the river corridor, threatening communities and infrastructure around the river.

Global crude oil prices fell again early Friday in Bangladesh time as prospects emerged for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude declined by 25 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $89.45 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $83.31, according to Al Jazeera.

So far this week, Brent has dropped about 5.3 percent and WTI has declined 4.3 percent. Prices had recovered somewhat in international trading the previous day, but fell again Friday. Possible diplomatic progress over the Strait of Hormuz was cited as a key reason for the renewed decline.

Iran has begun talks with Qatar on reopening the waterway following requests from mediators. Tehran has set several conditions for the United States, including lifting sanctions and economic pressure. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Washington must take practical steps before Iran decides on reopening. He also cited ending the Middle East war, lifting a US naval blockade and providing compensation. No decision has yet been made on when the strait will reopen.

Residents of Longkar Char Nichupara in Ghoshpur ইউনিয়ন of Boalmari upazila, Faridpur, say continuing erosion by the Madhumati River has left them close to destitution. Nearly two acres of homesteads and cropland have already been swallowed by the river, while about one acre remains at risk. Fresh, though comparatively limited, erosion has begun in the area this year, leaving riverside families fearful of losing their remaining land and homes.

Affected resident Arati Goali said erosion has taken houses and farmland since her marriage around 30 years ago, forcing her family to buy a small roadside plot for a home. Residents allege that unplanned sand extraction from the river worsens erosion during the monsoon. Locals said homes and farmland belonging to an estimated 50 to 60 families have been lost, including plots used for chilli, grass, rice and jute cultivation.

Residents have called for an embankment or permanent river-protection measures to save their remaining assets. Ghoshpur Union Parishad chairman Imran Hossain Nawab said proper rules for sand extraction could prevent such damage. Boalmari Upazila Nirbahi Officer SM Rakibul Hasan said the Water Development Board has undertaken river-management work in parts of Madhukhali and Alfadanga, and relevant authorities would be informed if erosion appears in Boalmari.

Salt workers at several jetties in Kutubdia say they are being denied fair wages despite carrying heavy salt sacks for long hours. Workers at Satruddin Peyara Kata New Jetty Ghat said they carry sacks described as 40 kilograms but weighing about 50 kilograms, earning Tk7.50 per sack. Working from 6am to 5pm, they carry 80 to 90 sacks and receive Tk600 to Tk650 daily.

Worker Manik said the wage has remained unchanged for four years and no meal is provided during the workday. He said food, tea and snacks consume about half their earnings. Workers average 20 working days a month, while work stops during storms and rain. They demand Tk10 per sack. At Darbar Ghat, workers receive Tk7 per maund, up from Tk6 six months ago, though rainy-season work is irregular.

Salt trader Akhtar Company said mill owners are not buying salt at increased prices, prompting many traders to avoid transporting it. Another trader, Ibrahim, said workers receive Tk23 per maund for moving salt from fields to roads and trawlers. Union acting chairman Shafiul Alam said more workers join jetty work during the rainy season, reducing available work and contributing to wage disparities.

Nepalese authorities and experts have warned of renewed landslides and flash flooding in the coming days, citing unstable gorge walls and a partially collapsed glacier. The alert follows recent flooding and an earthquake, with the Lende Khola gorge, Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river lower reaches designated high-risk areas. Wednesday’s devastating flash flood death toll has risen to 475, police confirmed, while many people remain missing.

Glacier specialists and emergency service team members from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development identified two principal threats after the recent disasters. Floodwaters rose as high as 10 metres and severely eroded the base of steep rocky and moraine slopes in the Lende Khola gorge. Satellite imagery later showed signs of small landslides, raising concern that larger rockfalls could block river channels and create dangerous downstream conditions.

Experts also expressed concern over the remaining section of the Gangbu glacier, whose unstable remnant could collapse into the gorge following aftershocks or a strong earthquake tremor. Chinese and Nepalese specialists are monitoring nearby glacier-fed lakes by radar satellite amid concerns that moraine dams may have weakened. Residents and rescue teams have been strictly barred from approaching riverbanks.

Barcelona maintained their winning run in Spain’s La Liga with a 2-0 home victory over Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou. Brazilian forward Raphinha opened the scoring in the 37th minute from a defence-splitting Pedri pass, before Spanish midfielder Fermin Lopez sealed the result in the 82nd minute. The Catalan club moved to the top of the league table with six points from two matches.

Hansi Flick’s side dominated possession and attack from the opening stages, holding the ball for 70 percent of the match and taking 22 shots, including 10 on target. Bilbao goalkeeper Unai Simon made a series of notable saves, stopping at least eight clear Barcelona chances, while several home shots struck the post or crossbar. Pedri also had a goal ruled out for offside in the 29th minute.

Barcelona continued pressing after halftime, with Lamine Yamal hitting the crossbar from 20 yards in the 53rd minute. Rodrigo Hernandez made his Barcelona debut after replacing Raphinha in the 63rd minute. Bilbao managed five shots but did not register one on target, while Real Madrid remained second on goal difference despite having the same six-point total.

Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, sons of Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, alleged that efforts are underway to kill him in prison. They made the claims during an interview with former England captain Michael Atherton on Sky Sports during the lunch break of the second England-Pakistan Test at Lord’s.

Kasim Khan said his father was being kept alone and isolated in a small cell for more than 23 hours a day, describing the conditions as worse than before. He said the aim was to keep Imran Khan detained and silence his voice. Kasim also expressed concern about his father’s condition, saying he appeared under severe mental pressure while wearing an eye bandage.

The sons said their visa applications to visit Imran Khan had been refused by Pakistani authorities citing technical reasons. Sulaiman Khan said his father was taken for several hours to a government-run health centre rather than a private hospital, then returned to prison after government doctors declared him well following a one-hour examination. He said relatives and doctors were waiting at Shafa Hospital, but Imran Khan was not taken there.

US Central Command said internationally recognized shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz have reopened after its forces removed sea mines. In a video posted on X, US military commander Brad Cooper said the mines had been cleared from the strait’s international waterways, which he said had been laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps months earlier.

Cooper said the internationally recognized transit routes were now free of Iranian sea mines. He described the routes as open and said traffic through the strategic waterway was increasing.

The commander also claimed that US forces had helped about 1,500 commercial vessels transit the strait over recent months. The report cited Middle East Eye as its source and did not include a response from Iran or independent verification of the claims.

Bangladesh’s National Board of Revenue (NBR) plans to introduce a data-driven integrated profile for every taxpayer to identify inconsistencies between declared income, actual spending and accumulated assets. The plan was presented by income tax, VAT and customs officials at a recent parliamentary committee meeting on the Finance Ministry. The system would automatically compare tax returns with credit-card use, education and health spending, foreign travel, bank transactions, vehicle purchases, stock-market investments, and property dealings.

Taxpayers with major discrepancies between income, expenditure and assets would be placed in a high-risk category. NBR aims to complete the integrated profiles and establish a strong income-tax data warehouse within two to three years. It also plans separate profiles for high-net-worth individuals to assess whether their tax payments match their economic capacity. Bangladesh’s tax-to-GDP ratio is currently 6.8 percent, with targets of raising it by two percentage points in the short term, to 10 percent in the medium term and 15 percent by 2035.

Within three months, NBR plans to clean and classify its TIN database, list top income-tax arrears, and identify high-risk companies and wealthy individuals. It also outlined phased measures including centralized data links, pilot automated profiling, risk-based audits, faceless assessments, pre-filled returns and automated refunds.

Funeral prayers were held at Molla Azad Memorial Government College field in Atrai, Naogaon, for seven Bangladeshis killed in a fire at a sofa factory in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bodies arrived in Atrai late Friday night and were handed over to their families after the prayers, organised by the upazila administration. Eleven of the 16 Bangladeshis reported killed in the incident were residents of Atrai upazila.

Naogaon-6 lawmaker Sheikh Rezaul Islam Rezu, District Commissioner Mohammad Saiful Islam, Additional Superintendent of Police Moniruzzaman, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Moniruzzaman and local political leaders attended the funeral prayers. Large numbers of worshippers, officials, political representatives and media workers were also present.

Rezu said he was deeply saddened by the deaths of 11 people from his constituency and had worked to bring their bodies home through contacts with the foreign ministry and the Saudi embassy. He said efforts were continuing to return the remaining bodies. The UNO said administrative formalities had delayed the return of the others and that the administration was maintaining constant contact with the bereaved families and providing assistance.

Bogura, a key northern district of Bangladesh, is increasingly becoming a drug supply centre or “dumping point,” despite regular law-enforcement raids, arrests and awareness programmes. Authorities say established traffickers and newly involved young people are active in the trade, making identification difficult. The Department of Narcotics Control detained a couple in an anti-drug operation on August 20.

From January 1 to July 31 this year, the department conducted 1,255 operations in Bogura, arresting 560 people and filing 451 cases while seizing large quantities of narcotics. During the same period in 2025, authorities conducted 2,242 operations and arrested 972 people. Nearly 2,000 people received treatment at the district’s 19 drug rehabilitation centres over the past seven months.

Officials say drugs including phensedyl, buprenorphine injections, cannabis and tapentadol tablets enter northern areas through border routes, while large yaba consignments from Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar are allegedly stored in Bogura before wider distribution. Anti-drug billboards have been installed at five main entry and exit points, with expanded campaigns planned across 109 union councils and municipal areas.

Iran has threatened retaliatory measures against what it describes as escalating US economic pressure, including possible attacks on Gulf oil and energy infrastructure and disruption of oil routes beyond the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday in Washington, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a plan to target networks Iranian entities allegedly use to evade sanctions, including commercial partners in digital assets, technology and shipping.

Iranian officials said countries assisting US or Israeli military actions could be treated as participants in aggression. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei cited flights by US energy-supply aircraft from Bulgaria and said Iran considers itself entitled to strike the source of aggressive acts. Mohsen Rezaei, a leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said continued economic warfare would prevent oil exports through any Persian Gulf route.

Tehran has published a list of 45 oil tankers it says do not comply with its Hormuz rules and warned of fines, detention or seizure. Iranian lawmakers are discussing a bill on leaving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while Rezaei raised the possibility of pursuing nuclear weapons. Experts cited in the report said Tehran may combine economic adaptation with deterrence.

Marginal poultry farmers in Pabna are facing mounting losses as prolonged power cuts during intense heat kill chickens through heatstroke and sharply reduce egg production. Farmers say outages now last six to 10 hours a day and are particularly severe in areas served by rural electricity networks. The disruption has affected ventilation, temperature control, lighting, feed and water supply at layer and broiler farms, forcing some owners to sell birds early at low prices or close operations.

The sector expanded rapidly in Pabna after 2000, but farmers say rising prices of chicks, feed, medicine and vaccines have already eroded profitability. More than 7,000 marginal farmers have reportedly left the business, while the district now has 3,043 registered and unregistered farms, down from about 10,000 five years ago. Feed priced at Tk2,400 per sack now sells for Tk3,400, while some vaccine and medicine imports have stopped after the dollar’s value rose.

The Pabna Poultry Farm Association says generator use adds Tk800 to Tk1,000 daily. Officials say gas shortages have reduced power generation nationwide, while livestock authorities are advising saline and betaine use and pursuing proposed electricity, feed and medicine subsidies.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern about the risk of renewed conflict and escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, according to his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. The concern was conveyed amid fears that developments between the two countries could worsen.

Dujarric said the secretary-general was concerned about any action or statement that could increase tensions. He added that disruptions to energy supplies and food supplies were still being observed. His comments came in response to a question about whether Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had sent Guterres a letter concerning new sanctions against Iran.

Dujarric confirmed that the letter had reached the United Nations. He said it was circulated to members of the Security Council and the General Assembly at Iran's request. The source text did not provide further details about the letter, the sanctions, or any response from the United States.