Native freshwater fish species are steadily disappearing from the haors, canals and wetlands of Mohanganj, Madan and Khaliajuri upazilas in Netrokona. Fishers and traders say juvenile fish killing has already eliminated several species, while others face extinction. Species cited as declining include chital, baghair, banehar, baush, shilong, ritha, rani, kajoli, gilachaki, bacha and shrimp.

These fish were caught in local rivers and wetlands eight to 10 years ago and sold through the Mohanganj fish market to buyers from Dhaka and other parts of the country. Over roughly the past decade, catches have progressively declined and many species are no longer found in the haors, increasing dependence on farmed fish. Scarce specimens that appear at markets are bought at high prices by enthusiasts.

Sources identified river siltation, shrinking water depth, sand deposits from monsoon flows, unplanned pesticide use, gas tablets, and China duari and current nets as major threats. Upazila Fisheries Officer Anik Rahman said such practices are prohibited and officials conducted several drives this year, seizing and destroying China duari and current nets valued at Tk 5 million.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman handed appointment letters to 74 family members of people killed or disappeared during the anti-fascist movement against the Awami League government and the July mass uprising. The event was held on Saturday afternoon at Karobi Hall in the Prime Minister’s Office in Tejgaon. He said the country’s people had been freed from fascists because of the contribution of July martyrs.

Addressing relatives of victims of enforced disappearance, killings and those killed in the July uprising, Rahman said the families, rather than the government, were a source of strength, encouragement and inspiration. He said the government could not always implement everything as expected because of various realities, but would not retreat from its commitments.

The prime minister said the government was firmly committed to fulfilling the aspirations of those who gave their lives from the independence struggle through the July mass uprising to establish democracy. He also pledged support for affected families. Many recipients became emotional after receiving their appointment letters, and Rahman assured them that he would remain by their side.

Jamaat has blamed government inefficiency and mismanagement for severe suffering caused by a 50-kilometre traffic jam on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway. Its media wing said Saturday afternoon that the congestion began on Friday afternoon and was continuing, stretching from the Sonargaon section of the highway to Madhaiya in Chandina, Cumilla.

The party said bridge repair work in the Sonargaon area was the main cause of the disruption. It argued that beginning the repairs without arranging an alternative route for vehicles was an extremely irresponsible decision by the government. Jamaat said thousands of ordinary passengers, including women, children, elderly people and sick patients, were facing difficulties because of alleged negligence and short-sighted decisions by the government and relevant authorities.

It also said freight trucks, passenger buses and other vehicles had remained stuck for hours, resulting in the loss of large numbers of work hours. According to the party, the prolonged standstill could cause financial losses for businesspeople. Jamaat maintained that the public was paying the price for what it described as government incompetence and disorderly management.

Essential goods in Bangladesh can become Tk40 to Tk50 more expensive per kilogram between international sourcing and retail sale, according to market information cited in the report. Products move from importers through large and small wholesalers and local trading before reaching shops, with added prices at each stage. For Indian lentils, the stated international-market price is Tk123 per kilogram, while the product sells for Tk155 in Chattogram’s Khatunganj wholesale market and Tk160 to Tk170 at retail.

Importers and traders cite shipping, port, customs, insurance, transport, storage, processing, fuel, labour, tolls and shop expenses as contributors to higher prices. One importer said moving goods from the port to wholesalers costs about Tk4 per kilogram. Wholesalers also cited processing imported raw pulses in domestic mills, while retailers pointed to transport, rent, wages and weight loss from moisture.

Consumer-rights representatives describe the gap between international and consumer prices as abnormal, saying products change hands two or three times in Khatunganj and profits are added repeatedly. The National Directorate of Consumer Rights Protection said it would conduct drives based on specific information. Market experts called for stronger supply-chain monitoring and market oversight.

Qaumi Chhatra Oikya Parishad has announced an Islamic cultural programme at the Brahmanbaria District Shilpakala Academy auditorium, where the NCP district committee had planned an organisational coordination meeting and political workshop on Saturday at 4pm. The new programme was announced for 3pm Saturday at the same venue amid a dispute over remarks attributed to NCP leader and member of parliament Hasnat Abdullah.

Abdul Khaleq, a member of the Qaumi students’ convening committee, said the group had demanded that Hasnat Abdullah apologise for what it described as false statements about Brahmanbaria. He said the programme was announced after no apology was made. On Friday night, madrasa students under the organisation’s banner protested and said they would resist the NCP event if Hasnat did not apologise.

NCP central organiser Abdullah Al Mahmud Jihan said the party had informed the deputy commissioner about holding a political event at the auditorium and was discussing the matter with authorities. Deputy Commissioner Md Abu Sayeed said NCP had notified officials of a private event, not a political rally. He said neither side could use the auditorium without district administration permission.

More than 500 vegetable and agricultural producers in Nilগঞ্জ Union of Kalapara, Patuakhali, are facing severe transport difficulties because there is no permanent bridge over the Pakhimara canal. For nearly 30 years, farmers from Kumirmara, Neyamatpur and Elempur have carried produce through mud, by boat and across a risky floating bridge to reach the wholesale market in Pakhimara.

Residents say the three villages produce vegetables and other farm goods worth about Tk20 crore to Tk25 crore annually and meet roughly 70 percent of Kalapara upazila's vegetable demand. Surplus produce is sent daily by bus, truck and pickup to wholesale markets in other parts of the country. During monsoon, earthen internal roads become muddy and unusable, forcing distant farmers to use boats.

Farmers currently depend on a wooden floating deck built on drums with their own funds to cross the roughly 300-foot-wide canal. Officials say a 490-metre girder bridge is planned under the Local Government Engineering Department. Upazila Engineer Moniruzzaman said implementation is expected as quickly as possible if ECNEC approval is obtained.

Hasnat Abdullah, a Cumilla-4 lawmaker and National Citizen Party leader, has expressed regret over misunderstandings with people of Brahmanbaria arising from his parliamentary remarks seeking accountability from the home minister for deteriorating law and order. In a Facebook post on Saturday, he said he had made a factual error by referring to Brahmanbaria instead of Sylhet while discussing a boat race.

He said the home minister's assertion that music and cinema were nearly prohibited in Brahmanbaria shifted responsibility for ministry failures onto local people and religious scholars. Hasnat said reports about a police concert being stopped differed from events on the ground, claiming madrasa students had asked for lower sound late at night because it disrupted exam preparation and that some students were injured in police baton charges.

Hasnat said the students had not sought to stop the concert and argued that cultural activities were not banned in Brahmanbaria. He said limited time during a supplementary parliamentary question prevented him from explaining the matter fully. Reaffirming his commitment to July's ideals, he called for equal rights and government protection so no group can impose its views on others.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman handed over job appointment letters to 74 family members of people subjected to enforced disappearance and killings during the movement that led to the Awami League government’s fall, as well as those killed in the July uprising. The event took place on Saturday afternoon at the Karobi Hall of the Prime Minister’s Tejgaon office.

Family members of the victims attended the programme alongside officials from different responsible levels of government. Many recipients became emotional after receiving their appointment letters. The source did not specify the positions, institutions, or terms of the jobs offered.

During the event, the prime minister assured the affected families that he would remain beside them. Additional Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Atikur Rahman Rumon conducted the programme. The report did not provide further information about the recruitment process or subsequent arrangements for the recipients.

Salt workers at several jetties in Kutubdia say they receive inadequate wages despite carrying heavy salt sacks throughout the day. Workers at Satruddin Peyarakata New Jetty Ghat said they earn Tk7.50 per sack loaded from the road onto trawlers, although sacks labelled 40 kilograms often weigh about 50 kilograms. Working from 6am to 5pm, they carry 80 to 90 sacks and receive Tk600 to Tk650 daily.

Worker Manik said the company has kept the same wage for four years. Workers said no meal is provided, forcing them to spend about half their earnings on food and snacks. They work about 20 days a month, with work halted by storms and rain, and demand Tk10 per sack. At Darbar Ghat, workers receive Tk7 per maund, up from Tk6 six months earlier.

Traders cited market constraints and uneven rates. Akhtar Company said mill owners are not purchasing salt at higher prices despite increases in field prices. Ibrahim said workers receive Tk23 per maund for moving salt from fields to roads and trawlers. Union official Shafiul Alam said monsoon brings more job seekers to jetties while salt transport declines, reducing available work.

Bangladesh’s Meteorological Department has forecast temporary rain or thunderstorms and gusty to squally winds in 11 regions, with speeds reaching up to 60 kilometres per hour. The warning applies from 5 a.m. until noon on Saturday, 29 August, and was issued for inland river ports.

The affected regions are Mymensingh, Dhaka, Faridpur, Khulna, Barishal, Patuakhali, Cumilla, Noakhali, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet. Winds from the south or southeast may blow at 45 to 60 kilometres per hour over these areas, according to the department’s advisory.

River ports in the relevant areas have been instructed to display local cautionary signal number 1 because of the potential for squally weather and rain. The advisory specifically cites the possibility of temporary rainfall or thunderstorms alongside the stronger winds during the stated period.

A woman named Amirunnesa died inside an ambulance after it was trapped in severe congestion on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway. A resident of Pranbhagabatipur village in Chandraganj, Lakshmipur, she suffered a heart attack on Friday night and was taken toward Dhaka at about 8pm, according to relative Tarek Al Hasan. The ambulance became stuck near Daudkandi around 11pm and remained largely stationary for four hours. She died around 3:30am.

Her relatives said she might have survived if she had reached hospital. The reported traffic jam stretched about 40 kilometres. Another affected traveller, Monir Hossain, said he was travelling from Cumilla to Dhaka with an overseas-bound passenger and had to use an auto-rickshaw from Chandina to Gauripur.

Monir said traffic restrictions linked to AI cameras prevented vehicles from travelling in the opposite direction. He said the trip from Cumilla to Gauripur took four hours and cost Tk1,250 in broken stages. Highway police said congestion briefly eased around noon before worsening again, while multiple police teams were working to restore traffic flow.

Internationally recognised human rights figure Irene Zubaida Khan has formally assumed duties as Bangladesh’s new permanent representative to the United Nations. She presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres at UN headquarters in New York on Friday, according to a press release received in Dhaka on Saturday.

Khan brings decades of international experience in human rights, international law, refugee protection, rule of law and sustainable development. Since 2020, she has served as the UN special rapporteur on the protection and promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Previously, Khan was secretary-general of Amnesty International from 2001 to 2009, becoming the organisation’s first woman secretary-general. She later led the International Development Law Organization from 2012 to 2019 and held several positions during a 21-year career with UNHCR. Khan received the Sydney Peace Prize in 2006 and authored The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights. She studied law at the University of Manchester and Harvard Law School.

Uncertainty is growing over whether follow-up elections will be held on time for five student unions elected at Bangladesh’s public universities after the 2024 revolution. The terms of four unions at Dhaka, Jahangirnagar, Chittagong and Rajshahi universities end in September and October, while Jagannath University’s union term ends next January. Student leaders say university administrations have shown limited progress toward announcing new election schedules.

The student unions were revived after demands from general students and student organisations, and candidates backed by ইসলামী ছাত্রশিবির won most positions in the five elections. Leaders of the unions say they have pursued student services and campus improvements, but allege that administrative obstacles and lack of cooperation have hampered implementation. Student Dal says it supports regular union elections and expects to win future contests.

At Dhaka University, union representatives demanded an election schedule by September 12, while the vice-chancellor said a preliminary cell had been formed and a schedule would be announced soon. Elections at Shahjalal University remain stalled in court, while polls at BUET, Bangladesh Agricultural University and Begum Rokeya University face separate obstacles including political restrictions, constitutional disputes and administrative delays.

At least 10 alleged victims have submitted written complaints to the superintendent of police against Jobairul Haque Zian, a leader of the banned Chhatra League in Satkania, Chattogram, after an investigative report was published on August 22. Despite the complaints, police have not arrested him. The report alleged that Zian used fake female identities on Facebook to establish contacts and personal relationships with police officers and people from other professions.

According to the complaints, Zian allegedly collected sensitive information, photographs and videos through deceptive online contact, then used the material for blackmail and severe harassment. Several complainants said they feel unsafe and fear he could use connections with influential people to cause them serious harm. Some victims are reportedly afraid to reveal their identities and have demanded a proper investigation and punishment if allegations are proven.

Police said Zian could not be arrested because no specific case had been filed against him. However, Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation secretary general Advocate Zia Habib Ahsan said police may detain and question a person over allegations such as blackmail and can file a case themselves if necessary. Additional DIG Nazmul Hasan said there was no instruction preventing Zian's arrest, while the Chattogram Range DIG could not be reached.

The Bangladesh-India white-ball cricket series scheduled for September is now highly unlikely to take place as planned, although neither board has formally announced a postponement. The tour was due to begin with India’s arrival in Bangladesh on 28 August and included three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 matches in Dhaka and Chattogram. Bangladesh Cricket Board officials and a BCCI source cited by ANI said discussions are continuing on a possible move to January next year.

An unnamed BCB director said it was certain that the series would not be held in September, while stressing that a January arrangement was not final. The director said the matter largely depended on relations and goodwill between the two governments. A BCCI source said discussions with the Indian government were under way, while the BCB was also seeking a suitable window early next year.

The source says political tensions have contributed to uncertainty around the series. Communication between the boards continues, and BCB president Tamim Iqbal recently visited the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. India last toured Bangladesh in December 2022, playing two Tests and three ODIs.