Adam Ereli, a former US ambassador to Bahrain, said President Donald Trump has no “realistic plan” on Iran as the war continues. In an interview with Al Jazeera cited in a report published on August 3, 2026, Ereli said it was impossible to know whether Trump had cancelled planned strikes this week to keep the path open for diplomatic talks. But he said the lack of a viable plan had become clearer as the conflict lengthened.

Ereli said the Trump administration was seeking the quickest and least costly way out of what he described as a dead end or maze of its own making. He said Trump’s conduct throughout the war had followed a recurring pattern. According to Ereli, Trump convinces himself that sustained heavy US strikes on Iran will force the Islamic Republic into an agreement.

He said leaders of several Gulf countries then call Trump to urge against such strikes, fearing they would face Iran’s retaliation. Trump subsequently steps back and says the United States will give diplomacy another chance, while maintaining threats to be ready to strike if Iran rejects a deal. Ereli said the cycle leaves Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz, with claimed agreements later collapsing.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a memorandum of understanding signed with the United States will serve as a “main foundation” for Tehran’s foreign relations. In a post on X cited in a report published on August 3, 2026, he described the agreement as a basis for the country’s future external relations.

Pezeshkian said the memorandum was the product of the collective wisdom and foresight of members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. He also said all council members had agreed on the matter. The president said he believed the document would become a foundation for Iran’s foreign relations in the future.

He said efforts must continue to compel the opposing side to honor what it had signed. Pezeshkian added that the agreement would further strengthen the security of Iran, the region, and its allies. The report did not provide further terms of the memorandum or a timetable for its implementation.

The Cockroach Janata Party, or CJP, will meet to determine its future programme after a month-long protest against an exam paper leak at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, India. Organisational sources said the meeting will be held on August 5 at the residence of CJP founder Abhijit Deepak in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra. Core members are expected to discuss the group’s next activities and future plans.

According to the sources, after last month’s Jantar Mantar protest, CJP workers and volunteers were asked to spend some time with their families. Students and volunteers were also asked to consult with others, gather views and suggestions, and join the meeting with that input. The organisation claimed that its movement over the alleged paper-leak scandal received a strong response among the Gen Z generation across the country.

CJP also claimed that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned last week following the movement. The organisation said it will announce its next steps at a press conference after the August 5 meeting.

A new CNN poll of Democratic Party supporters and Democratic-leaning voters found New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be the party’s most popular leader. The report, published on August 2, 2026, said he surpassed both senior party leadership and the Democratic Party itself in popularity among the surveyed group.

Mamdani recorded a net favorability rating of 54 percent, according to the poll. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ranked second with a net popularity rating of 45 percent. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries had a net favorability of 22 percent, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s popularity stood at 1 percent.

The results were interpreted as indicating that Democratic voters place greater trust in a newer generation of leaders than in the party’s long-standing leadership. Mamdani, who took office as New York mayor only seven months ago, has built strong support within the party in a short period, the report said. Political analysts described the findings as an important message for Democratic leadership, which may need to reconsider whom grassroots supporters trust most.

Md Saidur Rahman Khan has joined the Anti-Corruption Commission, or ACC, as its secretary. The Ministry of Public Administration appointed him to the post through a notification issued on July 30. On Sunday afternoon, he met journalists at a press conference at the ACC headquarters in Segunbagicha in the capital and introduced himself to those present.

Khan is a member of the 17th batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service administration cadre. Before joining the ACC, he had served as secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief since January 5. During the press conference, he sought cooperation from media workers in the commission's work.

His ancestral home is in Rajshahi district. He earned honours and master's degrees in English literature, as well as an MA in education, from Rajshahi University. He later obtained higher degrees from the University of Dhaka and the University of Greenwich in London.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has expressed deep concern over higher liquefied petroleum gas prices amid rising commodity costs and demanded an immediate rollback. In a statement sent to the media on Sunday, Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar said the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission raised the consumer price of widely used 12-kilogram LPG cylinders by Tk70 on August 2. The new price was set at Tk1,598, up from Tk1,528.

Parwar said consumers were already struggling with rising prices of essential goods, and increases in household LPG and vehicle autogas would add to their expenses. He criticized the government’s decision, saying repeated increases in oil, gas and electricity prices had contributed to higher prices for various necessities. According to him, household spending has increased despite incomes not rising for lower-income, middle-income and other groups.

The new autogas price for vehicles is Tk73.67 per litre. Parwar said he feared the gas price increase would affect the production sector and other areas. He urged the government to take necessary steps to import LNG to meet domestic demand, alongside withdrawing the increased LPG price to provide relief to the public.

Prime Minister’s adviser Mahdi Amin faced protests from people injured in the July uprising and relatives of those killed during a July Revolutionary Alliance conference at Bhiram Foundation auditorium in the capital on Sunday afternoon. About three minutes after he began speaking, participants chanted demands for implementation of the July Charter, enforcement of the referendum verdict and justice for the July killings.

Organizers tried to calm the disruption, while presenter Dipti Chowdhury went on stage to appeal for calm. When Amin sought to leave after finishing his remarks, protesters blocked his way, according to the report. He returned to the stage and said he respected their emotions and demands, pledging that the government would implement the July Charter and ensure justice for the July killings.

Amin also pledged continued long-term support for injured people and families of those killed. National Citizen Party member secretary Akhtar Hossain said there was a gap between government party representatives’ words and actions on the charter. The report said calls for implementation continue from different quarters over the charter finalized on October 17, 2025, with signatures from the National Consensus Commission and 25 political parties.

Bangladesh’s Election Commission has formed a four-member committee to make the disposal of National Identity Card correction applications easier. An August 2 report said NID Wing Assistant Director Habiba Akhtar sent a letter on Sunday informing relevant officials about the move. The director of the NID Wing for registration and expatriates has been made the committee’s convener.

The committee will examine supporting documents attached or submitted with applications. Its mandate includes classifying the types of requested changes and preparing a list of documents required as evidence for resolving applications.

It will also recommend steps for Category ‘Gha’ applications that were rejected because of insufficient evidence and later resubmitted with adequate documents. The committee is to advise on faster disposal, needed modifications to the CMS portal to address complications arising during electronically taken action, and the justification for NID unlocking and rollback. Bangladesh currently has 128,323,240 voters, including 65,212,731 men, 63,109,266 women and 1,243 hijra voters.

Mahmudur Rahman, editor of Amar Desh and joint convener of the National Editors Council, alleged that the marginalisation of madrasa education and Islamic scholars in Bangladesh began under the government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He made the remarks as chief guest at a seminar in Kakrail, Dhaka, on August 2. The student union of Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrasa organised the event, titled “Madrasa in the Fiery July Mass Uprising: Contributions and Expectations of Students and Teachers.”

Rahman said the trend began after politics in the name of Islam was banned, arguing that scholars then faced persecution. Referring to 1972, he alleged that Islamic scholars had to remain in hiding, were labelled as collaborators or anti-state, and that many were killed without trial. He also said madrasa students’ and teachers’ roles in the July uprising were not sufficiently recognised in public accounts.

He urged madrasa students and teachers to advance in knowledge and ethics and to secure their deserved respect. Rahman cited the roles of Tamirul Millat and other madrasa students in Tongi, Uttara and Jatrabari. Acting principal Dr Muhammad Khalilur Rahman Madani chaired the seminar, while Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan was the chief discussant.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan said the government would be compelled to accept the referendum verdict and implement the July Charter if it does not do so voluntarily. He made the remarks as chief guest at a public meeting at Science Lab intersection in Dhaka on August 2, organized by Jamaat’s Dhaka Metropolitan South unit to mark the second anniversary of the July uprising.

Khan said people had given their lives in the July revolution for reform of the state system and had voted yes for reform in the referendum. He alleged that the BNP government had annulled the referendum result through its parliamentary majority. He said a government that cancels the referendum verdict of 70 percent of the country’s people cannot be called a people’s government.

DUCSU Vice President Abu Sadiq Kayem said the post-revolution government had become a BNP partisan government and was carrying out partisan appointments. Meeting chair Dr Helal Uddin said the struggle against discrimination, exploitation and oppression would continue. He said the movement would remain active until the referendum verdict is accepted and the July Charter is implemented.

Islamic Chhatra Shibir and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists clashed at the provost’s office of Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Hall at the University of Dhaka on the afternoon of August 2. The confrontation occurred during an administrative investigation into allegations that two guests in hall union assistant general secretary Ibrahim Khalil’s room were involved in “homosexual activities.” Both sides claimed that several of their activists were injured.

The hall administration began its inquiry after videos linked to the allegation spread on social media. Khalil and his roommate were summoned before the investigation committee, where hall union leaders and activists from both groups were present. Witnesses said some Chhatra Dal-aligned students began chanting outside and entered the office, escalating tensions into a scuffle. The two groups subsequently accused each other of launching attacks.

Shibir held a protest procession on campus around 6:30pm, ending at the Raju Sculpture. Vice-Chancellor A B M Obaidul Islam said the provost had not resigned. Proctor Israfil Ratan said a proctorial team helped calm the situation through mediation and that the scuffle was being investigated for further action.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General and the prime minister’s political adviser Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the July uprising was no less significant than the French Revolution. Speaking as chief guest at a discussion titled “Bloody July: Remembrance, Commitment” at Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium of Rajshahi University on August 2, he said young people had shed blood for democracy, civil liberties and freedom of expression.

Rizvi said every revolution involves bloodshed, but the scale of bloodshed during one month of the July uprising was rare compared with many revolutions worldwide. He alleged that young people’s bodies were seen across villages and cities, while school, college and university students faced state repression. He described efforts by friends to rescue those shot and bring water to the injured as a distinctive humanitarian aspect of the movement.

Criticising the government led by Sheikh Hasina, Rizvi alleged that law enforcement agencies fired indiscriminately but could not halt the movement. Referring to his arrest on July 19, he said he believed the government’s fall was inevitable. He called the uprising the culmination of a 17-year democratic struggle led by Begum Khaleda Zia and urged that democracy gained through bloodshed not be questioned again.

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury said Bangladesh is further digitizing and modernizing its migration process to give outgoing workers easier access to accurate information, improved services and needed legal assistance. He made the remarks on Sunday at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital while inaugurating the 2026-2030 national action plan for implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

The minister said the government has taken a strict stance against brokers and fraudulent groups so that no one can exploit migrants’ aspirations. He said Bangladesh would strengthen its position by developing skilled manpower in line with changing global labour-market demand. The government is giving maximum priority to ensuring safe, orderly and regular migration, he added.

Chowdhury described the new national action plan as an important milestone for Bangladesh’s migration sector and said it would help make the system safer, more modern and more effective. He thanked the Foreign Ministry, International Organization for Migration, European Union and other development partners for supporting implementation. Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam and ministry secretary Md Moktar Ahmed also outlined the plan and Bangladesh’s participation and experience at IMRF 2026.

Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal central general secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir accused Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir of harassing women students and engaging in cyberbullying across campuses in Bangladesh. He made the allegations on August 2 while speaking as the main discussant at a discussion titled “Roktakto July Smaran Prottay” at Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium of Rajshahi University.

Nasir said Shibir had allegedly been mistreating women in various ways for more than two years. He said Chhatra Dal and other pro-democracy student organisations were taking positions against such conduct when Shibir created a female corner at Dhaka University’s TSC. He condemned what he described as distorted and antisocial activities and urged students across Bangladesh to refrain from them.

He also claimed Chhatra Dal was the student organisation most affected during the July movement, saying 142 of its leaders and activists were martyred. Nasir referred to Wasim, Rabbi and others as having envisioned a democratic, egalitarian and humane Bangladesh. BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Rajshahi University vice-chancellor Md Faridul Islam and the university’s pro-vice-chancellors attended the event.

Bangladesh Prime Minister’s foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir said the United States gives Prime Minister Tarique Rahman “the highest respect,” describing it as a reflection of growing trust and stronger bilateral ties. Speaking to journalists at the Foreign Ministry on August 2, Kabir discussed the visit of US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Ambassador Sergio Gor and said relations were moving toward a broader strategic partnership.

Kabir said Gor’s visit was introductory and allowed both sides to exchange views on strategic issues in a cordial atmosphere. Discussions emphasized trade, investment, technology, Bangladesh’s growing economic potential and closer cooperation on international matters. He said Washington sees Bangladesh as a promising technology hub in Asia over the coming decade and is interested in strengthening cooperation to realize that potential.

The adviser said the government follows a “Bangladesh First” foreign policy and seeks balanced relations with all development partners. He said Bangladesh expects significant investment from China while also seeking more investment from the United States and Western countries. Kabir also said security cooperation with Saudi Arabia is not directed against any particular country.