National Citizen Party convener and parliament’s opposition chief whip Nahid Islam said Tarique Rahman would not be able to visit India until questions over Sheikh Hasina’s extradition and a redefinition of Bangladesh-India relations are resolved. He made the remarks on Thursday at an event in Shahbagh, Dhaka, marking the second founding anniversary of Inqilab Mancha, an organisation linked to slain Sharif Osman Hadi.

Nahid referred to Sheikh Hasina’s virtual appearance at an August 5 press conference in New Delhi. He alleged that the event had direct and indirect support from the Indian government. In his view, statements made by Hasina from Delhi should be treated not only as her own narrative but also as a message from Delhi to Bangladesh.

He said no statement had yet come from the Indian High Commission regarding the press conference, and argued that it should have expressed regret and apologised. Nahid described the event as being against Bangladesh’s sovereignty. He called on India to return Sheikh Hasina and Osman Hadi accused persons, ensure Bangladesh’s fair share of river water, and resolve border killings before speaking of friendship.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has sharply criticised the government’s management of the power and gas sectors, citing widespread shortages and public hardship. In a statement sent to the media on August 13, party Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar said the country had faced extensive load-shedding since August 9. He cited daily load-shedding of between 3,382 and 3,757 megawatts from August 9 to 12, describing the average shortfall as about 3,500 megawatts.

Parwar said gas supply on August 12 was 203 crore cubic feet against demand of 380 crore cubic feet. He blamed mismanagement, inefficiency, lack of foresight, corruption and politicisation at various institutions for the crisis. The statement said industrial production, household cooking and other daily activities, as well as students’ studies, were being disrupted.

He also said the Bangladesh Palli Bidyut Association had written to police headquarters on Wednesday seeking stronger security at 80 rural electricity associations. Parwar called for increased gas supply, action against industrial gas theft, reduced leakage and system loss, measures to prevent oil smuggling, and improved energy-sector skills. He also urged domestic gas exploration and bringing in capable foreign partners for exploration and development well drilling.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami protested and criticised a Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Secretariat. Hamidur Rahman Azad, coordinator of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance and the party’s assistant secretary general, raised the issue on Thursday after submitting presidential candidate Oli Ahmed’s nomination papers to the Election Commission.

Azad said the Secretariat was an executive venue and that the alliance knew of no previous record of a political party holding a top-level or top forum meeting there. He questioned how those involved viewed democracy, arguing that they treated it as democracy only when it suited their own party and as authoritarianism otherwise.

The alliance coordinator said Jamaat ameer Shafiqul Rahman signed Oli Ahmed’s nomination form as proposer, while NCP’s Abdullah Al-Amin signed as supporter. Describing Oli Ahmed as a qualified candidate, Azad claimed the Jamaat alliance candidate would win if members of parliament were able to vote independently.

Government Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni said the constitution will not be drafted anew but will instead be amended. He made the remarks on Thursday, August 13, at the Election Building after submitting a nomination paper to the chief election commissioner on behalf of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for the presidency.

Moni said changing even one letter of the constitution would be considered an amendment. He said the party and alliance had submitted the nomination and expressed hope of winning the vote. He added that everything, including punctuation, would be implemented, but nothing would be written anew.

According to the chief whip, all parties must sit together, and necessary amendments and implementation of the July Charter would proceed after taking everyone’s views. He said no meeting had been held at the Secretariat, though a decision to hold discussions had been made earlier and an informal meeting took place at the prime minister’s invitation. BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said this was not a routine election and that political parties had scope to discuss and exchange views around it.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party has named its secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, as its candidate for president. He resigned from both the party’s secretary general post and its standing committee immediately after becoming a candidate, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said at a Thursday press conference at the Secretariat. The decision to nominate him was made at a party committee meeting led by BNP chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

Rizvi is expected to become BNP’s secretary general following Fakhrul’s resignation. Fakhrul had served as secretary general since March 30, 2016, after five years as acting secretary general. He was elected a member of parliament from Thakurgaon-1 in 2001 and served as state minister for agriculture and for civil aviation and tourism between 2001 and 2006.

Under the Election Commission schedule, presidential nomination papers can be submitted on Thursday from 10am to 4pm. The commission will scrutinize nominations on August 16, while August 18 is the deadline for withdrawal. If more than one candidate remains, voting will take place on August 20. BNP and an 11-party alliance led by Jamaat have fielded candidates, creating the prospect of multiple contenders.

Students in India’s Jharkhand state have continued protests for 20 days over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. The protesters said they would maintain the movement until their demands are met. They are seeking transparency in recruitment tests, cancellation of several examinations, and an independent inquiry by the CBI or a panel of retired judges from outside Jharkhand.

A march toward the state assembly on Monday led to clashes between protesters and police. Police used baton charges, water cannons and tear gas to control the situation. The BJP called a statewide shutdown in protest and accused the state government of suppressing the movement. The ruling Congress countered that the BJP was using the protests for political gain.

Former chief minister Raghubar Das warned that he would begin a hunger strike if the demand for a CBI inquiry was not accepted within a week. JLKM leader Devendranath Mahato is receiving hospital treatment after falling ill during a hunger strike, while four student hunger strikers are also hospitalized. Six rounds of talks between the government and student representatives have not ended the deadlock. Chief Minister Hemant Soren promised recruitment-exam reforms and assured cancellation of the 14th JPSC examination.

Bangladesh’s National Identity Registration Wing has instructed officials to process applications to correct birth dates on national identity cards under Category A when supported by online-verifiable JSC, secondary, or equivalent educational certificates. The directive was issued on Thursday. Relevant upazila or police-station election officers, senior district and district election officers, and NID Wing officials from assistant director to director level may settle these applications.

The instruction says existing standard operating procedures must be followed when accepting other supporting evidence alongside educational certificates. Processing must follow a notification issued on December 24, 2025. Director (Operations) Md Saiful Islam said officials may decide such applications under the prescribed category, but must properly follow procedures and verify evidence before approval or rejection. Officials must also enter a mandatory note in CMS when electronically approving or rejecting an application.

Regional and additional regional election officers were told to regularly monitor subordinate staff. Each month, at least three applications handled by every deciding officer must be randomly checked and reported to the Director (Operations). Applications based on Open University certificates, and applications seeking complete changes to birth date, personal name, and parents’ names, must be settled at director general level.

BNP has nominated its secretary general and local government minister, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, for the post of Bangladesh’s 23rd president. BNP chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman finalized his candidacy in a meeting with senior leaders at the Secretariat. Senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi disclosed the decision to reporters on Thursday afternoon, August 13.

Rizvi said Mirza Fakhrul resigned from the posts of BNP secretary general and standing committee member immediately after becoming a candidate. He had served as secretary general since March 30, 2016, following five years as acting secretary general. He was elected an MP from Thakurgaon-1 in 2001 and served as state minister for agriculture and for civil aviation and tourism between 2001 and 2006.

Thursday is the final day for filing presidential nomination papers, with submissions accepted from 10am to 4pm at the Election Building. Nomination papers have also been filed for retired Colonel Oli Ahmed, the candidate of an 11-party alliance. The Election Commission will scrutinize papers on August 16, withdrawals close on August 18, and voting will be held on August 20 if more than one candidate remains.

India has invited Bangladesh Prime Minister and BIMSTEC chair Tarique Rahman to the outreach session of the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi, scheduled for September 12 and 13. As of August 13, Bangladesh had not made a decision on whether Rahman would attend or travel to India, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shahidul Karim.

Bangladesh is not a BRICS member, but the invitation was extended because it has held the BIMSTEC chair since 2025. India sent a diplomatic note through its High Commission in Dhaka in July. Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman said no policy decision had been taken, while India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi would provide an update if available.

Former diplomats described the visit as important for improving Bangladesh-India relations and for Bangladesh’s interest in joining BRICS. They said a bilateral meeting between the two prime ministers could make the trip more meaningful. Analysts also cited strains linked to Sheikh Hasina’s stay and recent remarks in India, as well as anti-India political sentiment in Bangladesh, as factors behind the government’s caution.

The White House wants to continue advancing a US peace plan for Gaza despite public objections from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a report published on August 13, 2026. The Trump administration is seeking to avoid an open confrontation with Israel for now and instead pursue its diplomatic goals gradually. White House officials are said to be placing greater importance on Israel’s actions than on Netanyahu’s statements.

The proposed 15-point plan calls for Hamas to disarm, step away from governing Gaza, and for Israeli forces to withdraw in stages. A central dispute concerns the sequence of those commitments. Hamas says disarmament must be linked to an Israeli troop withdrawal, while Netanyahu says Israel will not withdraw forces from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed.

A White House source said Netanyahu faces difficult political conditions before an upcoming election and needs to maintain support from right-wing allies. The Board of Peace said separate discussions with Israel are continuing and that the plan remains in effect. Israel remains deeply doubtful that Hamas will fulfill any disarmament pledge, leaving the process uncertain.

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of Article 70 of the Constitution and seeking suspension of the presidential election schedule. Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Yunus Ali Akand filed the petition on Thursday morning. A hearing on the petition may take place next Sunday.

Article 70 states that a member of parliament elected as a nominee of a political party will lose their seat if they resign from that party or vote against it in parliament. The provision also says that such a member will not be disqualified from becoming an MP in any subsequent election for that reason. The petition challenges the legality of this constitutional article.

The deadline for submitting nomination papers for the country’s 23rd presidential election is 4pm on Thursday. Under the Election Commission schedule, papers may be filed from 10am to 4pm. Scrutiny is set for August 16, withdrawal of candidacy is due by August 18, and voting is scheduled from 2pm to 5pm on August 20 in the Parliament Building’s session chamber.

Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman said Bangladesh has formally introduced the digital e-bail bond, or electronic bail bond, system in 12 additional districts to modernize and energize the judiciary and reduce hardship for justice seekers. He made the announcement on Thursday morning at the inauguration of the e-bail bond system.

With the latest expansion, the digital e-bail bond system now covers 28 districts nationwide, the minister said. The newly covered districts are Tangail, Kishoreganj, Munshiganj, Cox's Bazar, Chandpur, Rangamati, Sirajganj, Bagerhat, Patuakhali, Habiganj, Thakurgaon and Jamalpur.

Asaduzzaman said the government is also placing the highest importance on ensuring speedy justice through mediation, or alternative dispute resolution, outside the courts. He said there is a plan to give special awards to encourage districts that perform well in the judiciary and show strong results in quickly disposing of pending court cases.

Lebanon’s parliament passed a long-awaited general amnesty law on Wednesday, according to a report published on August 13, 2026. The measure is expected to benefit thousands of prisoners and fugitives. It was approved during a parliamentary session, though authorities did not immediately say how many people would qualify.

Political parties had been calling for passage of the law. Its stated aim is to reduce overcrowding in prisons, where many detainees have spent years awaiting trial. The office of the parliament speaker announced approval of draft legislation to grant amnesty and, exceptionally, reduce the duration of certain specified sentences.

The issue of amnesty returned to discussion after the fall of former Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The report said many prisoners in Lebanon had been jailed in connection with events related to the Syrian civil war. No immediate official estimate was provided on the total number of people expected to benefit from the newly passed law.

Students staged a sit-in outside the main gate of Dhaka College on Thursday at noon, demanding that students from all academic sessions of the seven colleges be included in Dhaka Central University. Demonstrators called for the inclusion of running sessions, academic migration and an end to delays over the central university. Their slogans also demanded freedom from affiliation arrangements.

Abdullah Al A Fahad, a 2022-23 session student of Dhaka College, said students had called for a protest march over running sessions and academic migration. He alleged that a group emerging from the college’s administrative building forced students who were gathered on campus to leave, locked the Dhaka College gate and said no protest march would be allowed from there.

Fahad said the government had passed the university law in support of students, with the aim of resolving academic complications for running sessions and addressing their lack of institutional identity. He said students were told a decision would follow a consultation meeting, but that the Education Ministry later sent a letter calling for mass signatures. He described this as unnecessary delay and said the sit-in at the main gate followed the alleged intimidation and removal of students from campus.

Turkey has raised doubts over intelligence alleging an Iranian plot to kill US President Donald Trump during a NATO summit in Turkey last month. A report published on August 13, 2026 said some Turkish officials suspect Israeli intelligence may have shaped the information to derail possible US-Iranian diplomatic contacts or an eventual agreement. Israeli intelligence had reportedly warned Washington that Iranian operatives could target Trump’s Air Force One with shoulder-fired missiles.

Reports said special security measures were taken when Trump departed Turkey because of the alleged threat. Some Turkish officials, however, questioned how reliable the intelligence was. They believe the timing of the allegation could portray Iran as an immediate threat to the United States and create obstacles to renewed talks between Washington and Tehran.

Turkey is concerned that a possible US-Iran diplomatic settlement may not be comfortable for Israel, particularly if it creates new political conditions in the Middle East. No conclusive public evidence has been presented to support the Turkish suspicions, and Israel has made no public statement confirming them. US security officials reportedly treated the Iranian threat seriously, while media reports said changes were made to Trump’s travel route and aircraft arrangements.