A technical fault has shut down one liquefied natural gas terminal, worsening residential gas shortages across Dhaka and other areas, according to a report published on July 25. Following last week’s waterlogging, gas supply has stopped entirely in some neighbourhoods, while many others face very low pressure. Residents in Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Mirpur, Rampura and Old Dhaka reported unlit stoves, despite continuing to pay monthly bills. Some households are spending more on LPG cylinders or purchased food.

After Friday prayers on July 24, residents held a human chain outside Mohammadpur Allah Karim Mosque, demanding a permanent solution, an end to billing without uninterrupted service, action against alleged Titas negligence and illegal connections. Residents said the disruption has also affected Savar, Gazipur, Narsingdi, Mymensingh and factories in other areas. A knitwear industry representative said lower gas supply over the past three to four days was causing major production losses.

The energy division said daily supply is now 2,700 to 2,800 million cubic feet, against total capacity of about 3,800 million cubic feet. Supply to the national grid has fallen by about 450 million cubic feet since Tuesday. Titas said LNG could resume from Saturday afternoon, with pressure rising gradually and full relief taking another day or two.

Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir said the United States has not newly imposed tariffs on Bangladesh and other trading partners, describing the reported 10 percent measure as a replacement for an existing tariff. Speaking to reporters in Sylhet on Friday, he said there had been no actual change in the tariff situation.

Muktadir said the previously imposed tariff would expire within 150 days because of a legal requirement. Once that earlier measure expires, the new tariff will take effect, he said, adding that it should be called a replacement rather than a new tariff imposition. He also said the existing tariff would remain in force after midnight on Friday, although it would operate under a different name.

He made the remarks after opening a daylong free medical camp, family planning, maternal and child services, and an eye camp for tea workers at Sylhet Government High School. Separately, CNN reported that the United States planned tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent on Bangladesh and some other trading partners. The Office of the US Trade Representative said 60 affected trading partner countries account for 99.4 percent of total US imports.

BTS member Jimin’s outfit worn during a World Cup final halftime show has drawn the highest bid in a FIFA and Global Citizen charity auction organised by Christie’s. In the sale, titled “One Goal: An Auction to Benefit the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund,” the outfit had reached $14,000 before bidding closes on July 29. The auction is intended to support education and sports opportunities for disadvantaged children worldwide.

The bid for Jimin’s outfit is about 1.73 million Bangladeshi taka. Lionel Messi’s autographed jersey and gloves used by Madonna during the halftime show had each jointly reached $6,000, or about 741,000 taka. Other lots include the official match ball used in the Spain-Argentina final, Shakira’s halftime-show outfit, Madonna memorabilia, items used by other BTS members, and jerseys signed by players from different national teams.

More than 40 historic World Cup items are included in the auction. Organisers expect the sale to raise about $100 million for the FIFA and Global Citizen Education Fund. The full proceeds are to be used to provide quality education for children in underserved communities and expand access to sports.

Rangpur-1 (Gangachara) lawmaker Raihan Siraji visited areas affected by severe erosion along the Teesta River in Rangpur on Friday afternoon. He toured Char Kacharipara in Nohali Union and Brief Bazar and Minar Bazar in Ward No. 2 of Gangachara upazila. During the visit, he spoke with affected families, heard their accounts of hardship, and called for swift, effective measures to stop the erosion.

Siraji said the homesteads of seven families had already been swallowed by the river, while several villages were under threat because of the intensity of the erosion. Without urgent action, he said, a wider area could be lost to the river. He added that the river, once about one kilometre from homes, had reached their doorsteps, prompting many families to move their houses to safer locations.

The lawmaker said there was no alternative to placing geobags to curb erosion. He claimed that urgently placing about 20,000 geobags along the riverbank could protect several villages, hundreds of acres of farmland and important structures. He also discussed the progress, quality and effectiveness of erosion-control work with relevant officials and directed them to complete it quickly and properly.

Spain declared a wildfire emergency for the first time on July 24 as severe heatwaves across Europe fuelled major fires and large-scale evacuations. France also requested emergency assistance from the European Union to tackle fires along its Atlantic coast. Authorities in affected countries have moved residents from extensive areas to safer shelters as they work to contain the blazes and protect lives.

In France, officials ordered the evacuation of the entire tourist-frequented Cape Ferret peninsula after flames and thick smoke reached close to residential areas. About 63,000 residents have been evacuated, with a large share rescued by sea. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said a fire that began in the Saumos area near the peninsula's northern end had nearly blocked the only main road out.

The fire, described by Nunez as France's worst of the year, has burned about 10,000 hectares and damaged at least 80 homes, including 50 destroyed completely. In Spain, more than 10,000 residents were evacuated from towns in mountainous areas west of Madrid. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said the emergency declaration would make coordination among agencies and overall control of the situation easier.

Rubaiyat Hossain’s psychological horror film ‘The Difficult Bride’ has been selected for the Orizzonti competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. The selection marks the first time a Bangladeshi film has secured a place at the Venice festival, according to the report. The film will have its world premiere during the festival in Venice, Italy, scheduled from September 2 to 12.

The film will compete in the festival’s Horizons section, with the selected titles announced on Thursday. In 2010, Ishtiaq Zico’s short film ‘720 Degrees’ was selected for the Orizzonti section, becoming Bangladesh’s first short film to participate at the festival. Khona Talkies, which produced that short film, is the Bangladeshi co-producer of ‘The Difficult Bride.’

Set around Dhaka’s historic Mayfair beauty parlour, the story follows a young woman named Zaineen as she arrives to prepare for her wedding and becomes drawn into an unsettling world involving beauty, body, belief, memory and fear. Zaineen Chowdhury Karim plays the lead role, with Rikita Nandini Shimu and Sunerah Kamal in supporting roles. Hossain and several cast members will join the festival delegation.

Kazi Rawnakul Islam Tipu has been appointed managing director of the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCCT) on a one-year contractual basis, with Grade-2 status. The Ministry of Public Administration’s Contract and Foreign Employment Wing issued a notification on Thursday. The report was published on July 24, 2026.

The notification was signed by Md. Golam Rabbani, deputy secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration, by order of the President. It said the appointment was made under Section 19(2) of the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Act, 2010. Tipu will serve as managing director for one year from the date of joining.

Before assuming the role, he must sever existing work relationships with any profession, business, government, semi-government, autonomous or private institution, and organization. Other contractual terms will be set through an agreement between both sides. Tipu had long served as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s central committee assistant secretary for forest and environment affairs. Copies of the notification were sent to relevant offices, with instructions to publish it on the ministry’s website.

A Sylhet-based trader has submitted a written application seeking the return of 6,300 kilograms of cumin seized in Habiganj, saying the goods were legally imported from India through a letter of credit. Mohammad Afzalur Rahman filed the application with the Shaistaganj customs warehouse officer on Thursday afternoon. He said his firm, Afsana Store Crusher, imported 300 sacks through Tamabil land port on July 16 and paid the required duty, VAT and taxes on July 19. He said 210 sacks were loaded onto a covered van on July 22 for delivery to a buyer in Dhaka when Border Guard Bangladesh detained the vehicle and goods.

Rahman alleged that BGB did not accept photocopies of the documents shown by the driver and took the cumin into custody. The goods were later sent to the Shaistaganj customs warehouse under case GR-160/26. BGB said the cumin was seized at a checkpoint near Teliapara rail crossing, about three kilometres inside the border, and that customs officials had said the trader's documents were forged. The customs warehouse officer said the application has been forwarded to divisional customs officials for review and a decision.

Dubai has launched the “Dubai Invite” initiative to support its tourism sector after international visitor numbers fell amid the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel and Iran. Under the programme, run by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, UAE residents can nominate foreign friends or relatives to visit Dubai. When nominated guests travel, residents can receive a benefit package worth 3,000 UAE dirhams, including free hotel stays, restaurant meals and tickets to attractions.

Residents can receive up to three benefit packages. Visitors must arrive by October 31, while benefits can be used until December. Nominees must be non-UAE residents, travel on valid tourist visas and can be nominated only once. The report said airline traffic at Dubai airport has fallen by half, overall business revenue has dropped by more than 50%, and many hotels are vacant. More than 10,000 applications were submitted within the programme’s first 48 hours, according to local media reports.

Bollywood actors Nora Fatehi and Pankaj Tripathi have expressed solidarity with students protesting alleged question-paper leaks in India’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, or NEET. Students and their supporters have been holding continuous demonstrations at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi since June 20. Their demands include full transparency and accountability in the examination system, justice for affected students, the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and sweeping reforms to the examination process.

In an Instagram message, Fatehi said education is not only about examinations or marks and that students and their families deserve fairness, dignity and trust. She expressed condolences to families of students who died by suicide and praised protesters’ courage and patience. Tripathi supported the movement in an Instagram story, criticized the police’s strict approach, and urged the government to show compassion toward injured young people. The source also says Alia Bhatt and several other prominent actors had previously voiced support for the students’ demands.

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has been accused of spending several crore taka on corporate social responsibility activities without a legal framework or policy. Records obtained under the Right to Information Act show that from fiscal years 2021-22 to 2024-25, the regulator allocated funds to individuals and institutions for medical assistance, education, religious facilities, cemeteries, sports, picnics, insurance premiums and other purposes. Spending in those four fiscal years was Tk26.40 lakh, Tk7.1128 crore, Tk2.0242 crore and Tk87.75 lakh respectively.

BSEC spokesperson Abul Kalam said every expenditure was approved at commission meetings and that work on a CSR policy is under way. Former chairman Faruk Ahmed Siddiqui and former commissioner Helal Uddin Nizami said a non-profit government institution has no scope to conduct CSR spending. An official from the Revenue Audit Directorate said such spending would be unlawful without provisions in an institution's own law or a policy. Former commissioner Abdul Halim acknowledged that several institutions in his home area received allocations but denied influencing the approvals.

Continuous rainfall has reduced supplies of several vegetables in Khetlal upazila of Joypurhat, pushing market prices higher. The report, published on July 24, said prices for most vegetables rose by Tk15 to Tk20 per kilogram within a week. Visits to Itakhola Hat, Bottoli Hat and Thana Bazar Monjar Bazar found price increases at both wholesale and retail levels, with retail prices rising more sharply. At Itakhola market, eggplant sold for Tk100-120 per kg, bitter gourd for Tk80-100 and green chilli for Tk200-220.

Vegetable sellers said waterlogging in many fields has made harvesting difficult and reduced output, cutting supplies to markets. Buyers complained that prices for the same vegetables vary within the same market, alleging that some traders charge extra. Market-related sources expect prices to decline within the next few days if rainfall eases and vegetables can be harvested and supplied normally.

Flood conditions have worsened in India’s Assam state, affecting more than 721,000 people across 11 districts, according to the latest report released Friday by Assam’s Disaster Reporting and Information Management System. Nearly 900 villages remain fully inundated. Six additional deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the seasonal flood death toll to 47. Sivasagar is the worst-hit district, with about 392,000 people affected. Charaideo, Jorhat and Dibrugarh are also among the affected districts.

Local authorities have opened 106 relief camps and 381 relief distribution centres. A total of 24,418 people are sheltering in the camps, while nearly 290,826 people are receiving assistance through distribution centres. Rescue and relief operations include 111 medical teams, 56 boats and an Indian Air Force helicopter. Authorities have moved 8,409 people and 35 animals to safer locations. Floodwaters have submerged about 24,897 hectares of cropland and affected 138,965 animals. Water levels in four rivers are above danger marks, while the Disang River has crossed its highest flood level.

A rare soldierfish was caught in a fishing net in the deep Bay of Bengal off Kuakata in Patuakhali. Idris, skipper of the Mayar Doa trawler, found the fish while catching hilsa, poa and other fish three to four days earlier. It was brought to the Sifat Fish market at Alipur fishing port on Thursday, where people gathered to view its bright red-pink appearance. The fish has been kept on ice because it is unfamiliar locally and its suitability for consumption has not been confirmed.

Experts said soldierfish have bright red or pink bodies, comparatively large eyes and hard, rough scales that can make them resemble an armored soldier. They generally move in groups and live around deep-sea coral reefs or rocky areas. Research assistant Bakhtiar Rahman said the fish belongs to the Holocentridae family and occurs in the Indo-Pacific and deep Bay of Bengal. Senior fisheries officer Apu Saha said such catches provide important information about marine biodiversity in the Bay of Bengal.

Media report says manipulated statistics that inflated Bangladesh's economic performance during the Sheikh Hasina era have not ended and similar practices continue under subsequent governments. The article describes suppression of nonperforming loan data, overstated export earnings, concealed GDP realities and repeated upward budget changes as routine during that period. An interim government formed a taskforce to reform the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and submitted recommendations, but those were not implemented; the current elected government also has taken no effective steps to carry out the reforms according to the report.

The report details the taskforce composition and aims: an eight-member expert group chaired by Hossain Zillur Rahman sought institutional changes to make BBS data more transparent and reliable, and members such as Dhaka University professor Moinul Islam said they submitted all necessary reform proposals. BBS officials quoted in the piece said ministerial approval is no longer required to publish some BBS data, but one director said he lacked detailed knowledge of the earlier taskforce. The article highlights specific data inconsistencies — population counts, GDP and per capita income, inflation figures, and export statistics — and cites international assessments questioning data adequacy and experts warning of planning and resource-allocation complications caused by unreliable statistics.