A severe wildfire in the Spokane area of Washington state has destroyed at least 600 structures, including homes, businesses and other buildings, according to the report published on August 3, 2026. About 60,000 people have been evacuated for safety as fires continue to affect Spokane and nearby areas in the United States.

Over the weekend, roughly 21 square kilometres of Spokane and surrounding land burned. Across Washington state, wildfires have damaged about 1,000 square kilometres in total. Authorities said several fires, including the Spokane blaze, had not yet been brought under control. No deaths, injuries or missing people had been reported so far.

Officials warned that continuing dry weather could further complicate conditions, while the cause of the fires remains unknown. A separate major wildfire near the Idaho and Oregon border burned about 1,360 square kilometres of grassland, placing more than 600 homes and 800 other structures at risk. In Utah, another wildfire expanded to 145 square kilometres over the weekend, killing more than 100 livestock animals.

Rising water driven by upstream hill runoff and rainfall has intensified erosion along the Bangali and Karatoya rivers in Sherpur upazila of Bogura, according to a report published on August 3. Severe erosion has been reported at at least 14 points, threatening homes, farmland and long-established homesteads. Khanpur, Sughut and Khamarkandi unions are the most affected by erosion on the Bangali, while areas in Garidaha and Mirzapur unions are affected along the Karatoya.

Information from the Bangladesh Water Development Board, local representatives and field observations identified erosion at several locations. These include Baraithali Uttarpara, Chak Khanpur, Dah Khanpur, Sughut Bazaar, Madhyabhag, Binodpur, Chakpahari or Ghasuria, Bilnothar and Jhajhar Uttarpara. Erosion is also affecting Binodpur Mohona and Uttarpara, areas near Kalshimati School, Fulbari Ghatpar, and a road and madrasa near Kashiabala.

Riverside residents have demanded urgent action to protect homesteads, educational institutions and religious sites. Affected people called for permanent geo-bag protection or durable block embankments. Bogura Water Development Board sub-assistant engineer Sabuj Kumar Shil said officials had inspected the sites and that work to prevent erosion was under way.

Former interim government chief adviser’s special assistant Fayez Ahmad Tayyeb warned that lower interest rates, higher reserve money, increased cash holdings amid weak banking confidence and flood-driven price increases are creating multiple inflationary pressures. Inflation reached a 16-month high of 9.42 percent in May 2026 before easing to 9.16 percent in June, while the writer said flooding could push it higher in July. The government’s budget target is 7.5 percent.

The government cut the repo rate by 0.5 percentage points to 9.5 percent and reduced the Standard Lending Facility ceiling to 11 percent. Tayyeb argued that these measures could expand money supply and directly affect inflation. He said the average banking spread was 5.72 percent against a government-set 4 percent cap, with 56 of 61 banks above the limit. After inflation adjustment, the real deposit interest rate was negative 2.8 percent.

The article said Tk19,000-20,000 crore of a Tk60,000 crore package for reopening closed factories would come from central bank reserve money. Reserve money growth reached 12.1 percent in January-June of fiscal 2025-26, above the 8 percent projection. Bangladesh Bank’s model projects 8.6 percent inflation in June 2027, exceeding the announced target.

Ernst & Young has warned that the UK economy could enter recession in 2027 if the strategically important Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by the middle of next year. The forecast, reported by Al Jazeera and published on August 3, 2026, says a prolonged closure would raise inflation and increase pressure on the British economy.

Peter Arnold, EY’s UK chief economist, said the country could avoid a major economic downturn if the strait reopens within the next few months. However, he said an extended closure lasting into 2027 would drive inflation higher and could push the economy towards contraction or recession next year.

EY estimates that if the strait remains closed until the beginning or middle of 2027, UK growth this year could fall to 0.5 percent, followed by a 0.2 percent economic contraction in 2027. Under a more positive scenario in which the route reopens by September, EY forecasts 0.9 percent growth this year, up from its earlier 0.8 percent estimate, and 1.2 percent expansion in 2027.

Bangladesh’s dollar rate has risen again as higher fuel and gas import costs combine with reduced foreign-currency supply, according to a report published on August 3, 2026. Banks bought dollars at Tk122.45 in May, while some are now buying at Tk123.90-95, with the market rate near Tk124. The central bank has set a dollar rate for banks amid the pressure.

Bankers said increased government letters of credit for energy imports have raised demand for dollars. Remittance inflows fell by about $1 billion over the past two months, export earnings also declined, and import spending remained broadly unchanged. Remittances totalled $2.81 billion in June and $2.85 billion in July. International fuel oil prices rose from $60-70 per barrel to about $90, a Bangladesh Bank official said.

A state-owned bank official said monthly spending for BPC, BPDB and fertilizer imports increased by about $100 million. Petroleum-product imports reached $9 billion in July-May of fiscal 2025-26, up from $4.80 billion a year earlier. Former Bangladesh Bank governor Ahsan H Mansur opposed selling reserve dollars and suggested allowing a Tk2-3 market-aligned depreciation.

Seven OPEC Plus member countries have decided to increase crude oil production by about 188,000 barrels per day from September this year. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman formally announced the decision in a joint statement. They said the higher production quota forms part of a coordinated commitment to maintain stability in the global energy market.

The September increase will fully reverse a 2023 agreement to cut supply by 1.65 million barrels per day. The United Arab Emirates had also participated in that supply-cutting decision, but left the OPEC alliance in May this year.

Jorge Leon, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy, said OPEC Plus had ended its voluntary supply cuts and now faced the challenge of managing a potential oil surplus if export flows normalize. He cautioned that immediate market effects may be limited because shipping through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz still faces restrictions and disruptions. Leon said the decision's full impact on the market would be felt if overall export movement returns to normal.

A coordination dispute between the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board and Jiban Bima Corporation has left nearly Tk56 crore in insurance claims unpaid for about 1,000 migrant workers and their families through June this year. The claims involve deceased workers, workers who lost limbs, and those who returned home. Both institutions blame each other while families remain waiting. The family of Liton Mia, who died in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 9 last year, has not received insurance money, and the family of Jamal Mia, who died in Kuwait in January last year, has not received the Tk1 million benefit.

Mandatory insurance for migrant workers began under the 2018 Welfare Board Act. An agreement with Jiban Bima Corporation was signed in December 2019 and renewed in December 2023. Workers aged 18 to 55 pay a one-time Tk1,000 premium for a five-year policy. From 2019 through May this year, 5,773,062 workers joined the scheme, while the board paid Tk4.885 billion in premiums. Claim settlement stood at 56.11 percent through April.

Jiban Bima Corporation said the board’s new MIS software was not integrated with its system, creating a documentation backlog, and alleged more than Tk220 million in premiums remained due. A high-level review meeting on July 1 adopted several measures to address the crisis. Officials from both institutions said they were working on the software issue and expected insurance payments to be resolved quickly.

US President Donald Trump announced a pause in planned military strikes on Iran’s infrastructure, triggering a sharp decline in global crude oil prices. The report, published on August 3, said oil prices fell by more than $4 per barrel immediately after the announcement.

According to Reuters, Brent crude futures had fallen $4.08, or 4.64%, to $83.85 a barrel by early Monday Bangladesh time. US West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $4.01, or 4.74%, to $80.66 a barrel over the same period.

Oil markets had previously faced major volatility as tensions rose in the Middle East. Prices for both crude benchmarks had increased by more than 20% after the United States resumed attacks on Iran last month and Iranian forces attacked several oil tankers in waters near Oman. Analysts said indications that Washington and Tehran may avoid military conflict had eased concerns about potential supply disruptions, contributing to the market decline.

Europe has been disrupted by intense heat and heatwaves, driving a sharp increase in demand for air conditioners. Chinese home-appliance companies are using China-Europe freight trains rather than conventional sea routes to supply the market faster, according to a report published on August 3, 2026. Major firms are seeking to move larger volumes in less time as demand rises across Europe.

At a special briefing, China’s National Development and Reform Commission said companies including Midea Group and Gree Electric Appliances had altered their logistics arrangements for faster air-conditioner deliveries. Sea shipments take about 40 days, compared with roughly 15 days by China-Europe freight train, reducing transport time by more than 60 percent. The report said Europe’s relatively limited local air-conditioner manufacturing capacity leaves much of its market dependent on Chinese production.

More than 80 percent of global air-conditioner production capacity is located in China’s Pearl River Delta, the report said. In the second quarter, the value of air conditioners and related parts carried by Guangzhou Railway Group’s China-Europe trains reached $52 million, with more than 100,000 complete units shipped. The rail network currently operates on 96 routes linking 236 cities in 26 European countries.

Power generation at the first, or Unit 1, of the Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant in Parbatipur, Dinajpur, was temporarily suspended after a mechanical fault was detected on Saturday. Plant authorities said they expect to restart the unit quickly after completing necessary repairs. Before the shutdown, the unit had been supplying 50 to 55 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.

Barapukuria Thermal Power Plant Chief Engineer Abu Bakar Siddique confirmed the development. He said the fault was identified and the required repair work had been completed. If everything remains in order, electricity generation from Unit 1 will resume within the night and its output will be connected to the national grid.

The plant's Unit 3 remains operational. The unit, which has a capacity of 275 megawatts, is currently generating about 175 megawatts for supply to the national grid. Meanwhile, the plant's Unit 2 has remained shut since 2020. The source did not provide further details on the nature of the mechanical fault or the reason for Unit 2's prolonged closure.

Chile’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory has released its clearest image yet of the COSMOS Field, one of the most intensively studied regions of the sky. The cosmic image shows more than 500,000 galaxies and over 50,000 stars in a single composite frame. It was produced with the 3.2-gigapixel, or 3,200-megapixel, LSST camera, described as the world’s largest digital camera, attached to the observatory’s 8.4-metre Simonyi Survey Telescope.

The result is not a single exposure. Hundreds of separate images were stacked to create a long exposure that makes faint light in space visible. The frame includes spiral galaxies, smooth elliptical galaxies, galaxies undergoing collisions, and reddish, faint galaxies from the early universe. A handful of bright foreground stars from the Milky Way add to the image’s visual variety.

The COSMOS Field has been studied for more than two decades since Hubble Space Telescope observations began in 2003, with data gathered across wavelengths from radio to X-rays. Rubin’s contribution is deep, wide and repeated observation under its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Director Bob Blum said the image is only the beginning, with continued observations expected to enable discoveries of further cosmic events.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department forecast rain across several parts of the country on August 3, with moderate to heavy rainfall possible in isolated areas of Rangpur, Mymensingh and Sylhet divisions. Many places in those three divisions may receive rain or thundershowers, while day and night temperatures nationwide are expected to remain nearly unchanged.

In its forecast valid until 6 p.m., the department said some areas of Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna, Barishal and Chattogram divisions could also see light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by gusty winds. For Dhaka and surrounding areas, the forecast issued from 7 a.m. for the following six hours said skies could remain partly cloudy, with light rain or thundershowers possible until noon.

Dhaka recorded a minimum temperature of 28.4 degrees Celsius at 6 a.m., with relative humidity at 87 percent. The capital received 1 millimetre of rain in the previous 24 hours, while its highest temperature yesterday was 34 degrees Celsius. No warning was issued for inland river ports from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., meaning no warning signal was required.

Fast-moving wildfires in the Spokane area of Washington state have created a severe emergency, prompting local authorities to order thousands of residents to move to safety. Acting Governor Rob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency as fire intensity increased. On the afternoon of Saturday, August 1, the fire crossed the Spokane River and entered the city’s main area. Authorities placed broad parts of Spokane under the highest alert and told residents to leave their homes quickly for safe shelter.

According to Anadolu Agency, more than 80,900 hectares of land have been damaged across 12 major wildfire areas in the state. Four consecutive years of drought have made Washington’s forests and open areas highly vulnerable to fire, in what the report described as one of the state’s longest drought periods. Ferguson said persistent drought combined with strong gusty winds had made the fires more severe.

A strict ban on open burning and the use of fire in agricultural work will remain in force until the end of September. Suburban residents have faced the greatest losses, the report said, and authorities have opened temporary shelters for people whose homes are at risk or have been damaged. Officials fear that, despite August only beginning, 2026 may become one of the most severe wildfire seasons in recent years.

Bangladesh has proposed importing gas from Myanmar through a pipeline, prioritising expanded energy cooperation with its neighbouring country. The proposal was made during a meeting in Dhaka on August 2 between Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud and Myanmar Ambassador U Kyaw Soe Moe. State Minister Anindya Islam Amit and senior ministry officials also attended the meeting at the Secretariat.

Mahmud said Bangladesh has significant domestic demand for natural gas and is particularly interested in obtaining fuel from Myanmar through a pipeline. The ambassador responded positively to the proposal and said the feasibility of supplying gas as LNG could also be discussed in detail. The energy minister gave a positive response to that suggestion.

The sides also expressed interest in reviving an earlier proposal for a pipeline from Myanmar to Chattogram. Mahmud proposed a ministerial-level meeting between relevant officials of both countries to advance bilateral energy discussions. He said he would formally invite Myanmar’s energy minister to visit Bangladesh and expressed interest in visiting Myanmar if needed. The ambassador suggested reviewing the matter through a Bangladesh-Myanmar joint technical committee.

Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) fined Nabisco Biscuit and Bread Factory Limited Tk 200,000 for marketing biscuits that weighed less than stated on their packages and for displaying differing, misleading weights on the front and back of the same packaging. A BSTI mobile court conducted the operation on Sunday in Tejgaon Industrial Area of Dhaka metropolitan city.

The court, led by BSTI Executive Magistrate Lutfunnesa Khanam, imposed the penalty under Section 24(41) of the Weights and Measures Standards Act, 2018. According to BSTI sources, officials checked the labelled weights of several Nabisco biscuit brands against registration certificate information during the operation. The products’ actual weights were found to be lower than the declared package weights.

The mobile court instructed the company to ensure accurate weights matching the information declared on packages when producing, selling and marketing products. It also warned that stricter legal action would follow if similar irregularities recur. Dhaka Metropolitan Police provided support during the operation, which was attended by relevant BSTI officials. BSTI said its mobile court and market-monitoring activities would continue to protect consumer rights, ensure correct weights and maintain fair trade conditions.