Bangladesh’s government aims to cut road accidents and deaths by half by 2030, Road Transport, Rail and Shipping Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam said at an inauguration event in Tejgaon, Dhaka, on Monday. About 5,000 people die in road crashes in the country each year, he said. The event, held under the Bangladesh Road Safety Project, inaugurated 60 basic life support ambulances, 40 motorcycle ambulances and 80 patrol motorcycles for highway police.

The minister said the road-safety drive prioritises driver training, vehicle fitness, speed control, pedestrian awareness and rapid medical care after crashes. He identified unfit vehicles, unskilled and unqualified drivers, uncontrolled speed, failure to use helmets and pedestrian unawareness as major causes of accidents.

The government plans to enact an integrated safe-road law by December 2027, Sheikh Rabiul Alam said. Other planned practical steps include relocating markets beside highways, creating necessary diversions at regional road intersections, and installing road signs and markings. He said enforcement and public-awareness efforts must proceed together, while the project includes driver training and physical fitness assessments.

Bangladesh’s High Court upheld death sentences for two of 16 defendants in the murder case of Feni madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi, while sentencing four others to life imprisonment and acquitting 10. The verdict was announced at about 1pm on Thursday by a bench of Justice Bhishmadev Chakraborty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja. The two condemned defendants are former Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasa principal Siraj-ud-Doula and Shahadat Hossain Shamim.

Those given life terms are Umme Sultana Poppy alias Tuhin, madrasa student Nur Uddin, Javed Hossain alias Sakhawat Hossain Javed, and Saifur Rahman Mohammad Zubayer. Police strengthened security at Nusrat’s family home in North Charchandia, Sonagazi municipality, following the verdict. Her mother, Shirin Akhtar, said the family remained concerned about security and sought government help in ensuring justice and protecting the family.

A Feni tribunal sentenced all 16 accused to death on October 24, 2019, also imposing fines of Tk100,000 on each. Nusrat died on April 10, 2019, after being set on fire on a cyclone shelter roof at her madrasa on April 6, according to the case account. The High Court received the death reference records on October 29, 2019, alongside jail and criminal appeals filed by the defendants.

Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) has demanded that missing fisherman Miraj Sheikh of Joymoni in Mongla, Bagerhat, be located alive and in good health and produced before the court under a High Court order. HRSS made the demand at a Monday press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka, jointly organised with the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and Miraj’s family.

Miraj, 30, fishes in the Sundarbans and also drives a rented motorcycle. He has been missing since April 10, when several people identifying themselves as Coast Guard members allegedly forcibly took him away. His wife, Mukta Khatun, said plainclothes personnel put him on a boat before a speedboat bearing Bangladesh Coast Guard markings arrived with uniformed members.

HRSS said the High Court on July 12 ordered Miraj’s production within 15 working days, but he remains untraced while Coast Guard authorities have denied detaining him. The group called for an independent investigation, accountability for those responsible, security for the family and witnesses, and action under existing law if allegations exist against Miraj. HRSS said it is trying to preserve digital evidence and will seek to speak with the Coast Guard.

Singapore’s government is launching a new SG Child Support Package to ease the financial burden of raising children and provide long-term assistance to families. Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that support for each child from birth to age 17 will total nearly S$70,000, according to the report published on August 24, 2026.

The government values the new package at S$62,000. When combined with an existing S$5,000 medical grant for newborns and annual education contributions at primary and secondary levels, total state support for a child is expected to reach about S$70,000 by age 17.

Under the current system, children receive between S$27,500 and S$56,500 in government assistance depending on birth order. The new arrangement will remove differences based on birth order, placing all children under the same type of support. The report cited The Japan Times, The Straits Times and Reuters as sources.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T. Christensen assured cooperation in Bangladesh’s infrastructure and renewable energy sectors during a courtesy meeting at the Secretariat on Monday with newly appointed Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moin Khan. The discussion also covered prospects for US investment in these areas, according to State Minister Mir Shahe Alam.

Shahe Alam said Bangladesh proposed investment in several specific sectors under a public-private partnership model. Water supply and improved water management were among the priorities for which US cooperation was sought. The two sides also discussed opportunities for investment and cooperation in urban waste collection and management.

Renewable energy discussions placed particular emphasis on waste-to-energy projects, including the potential for investment in generating electricity from waste. Shahe Alam said the ambassador expressed satisfaction with several public welfare policies of the current government. Both sides agreed to deepen existing Bangladesh-US relations and advance them further, while the US representative welcomed the new cabinet and pledged that the two countries would work together.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Monday a worldwide economic pressure campaign against Iran, dubbed Operation Economic Outcast. He said the United States would seek to target Tehran’s revenue sources, including oil, and deter countries and companies from conducting business with Iran through the threat of secondary penalties.

Bessent described the initiative as “economic D-day” and said its objective was to sever economic support for Iran until Tehran is isolated. He warned countries and entities involved in transactions that turn Iranian oil into money that they could be targeted, saying no one was beyond the reach of US sanctions. He also said President Donald Trump had called world leaders with requests to end interaction with Iran.

The sanctions push comes nearly six months into a war involving Iran, the United States and Israel, according to the source. It said attacks and diplomacy have not resolved the crisis, while Tehran has responded with regional missile and drone attacks and asserted control over the Strait of Hormuz. US officials said the new measures would target digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping.

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary asked West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to open all gates of the Farakka Barrage as Ganges water levels rise and flooding affects Bihar. Choudhary said he made the request during a telephone conversation with Adhikari on Sunday, according to a post on X.

Choudhary said opening the barrage gates would help normalize the Ganges flow and assist efforts to control Bihar’s flood situation. He said Adhikari assured him that prompt action would be taken, adding that Bihar’s safety was the state government’s highest priority.

Separately, JDU MP Sanjay Jha called for Bihar’s interests to be considered before renewal of the 1996 India-Bangladesh Ganges water-sharing treaty, which he said completes 30 years in December. The treaty governs dry-season water distribution at Farakka. India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers, while negotiations over Teesta water sharing have yet to produce an agreement.

Two brothers and members of their families fought over inherited land while their father’s body remained at their home in Sannyasgacha village of Keshabpur, Jashore, on Monday afternoon. The dispute left the two brothers and their wives injured, and all four were admitted to Keshabpur উপজেলা Health Complex.

Family sources said Abdul Khaleq, 75, died of old age on Monday morning. Before his burial, his sons Mahbubur Rahman, 52, and Achhabur, 45, became involved in an argument over the division of land left by their father. The confrontation escalated into a clash involving machetes and bamboo sticks.

Local residents and relatives intervened to settle the dispute, after which the situation calmed down. With assistance from people in the neighborhood, Khaleq was buried in the family graveyard. Keshabpur police station officer-in-charge Reksona Khatun said police went to the scene after receiving reports of the fight and later found the situation under control. A video of the incident circulated on social media.

BNP chairperson’s adviser Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal urged the government to give greater attention and care to gas, electricity and law-and-order conditions, describing them as acute national problems linked to unfinished work from the past. He made the remarks on Monday at the founding anniversary programme of the Janatar Odhikar Party at the Kazi Nazrul Islam Auditorium of the National Press Club.

Alal said he did not see a lack of sincerity in the government, but argued that coordination and internal coordination should be strengthened. He described Bangladesh as the motherland and said citizens have significant responsibilities toward it. He said the government was already paying attention to the three issues, while calling for more focus on them.

The BNP leader praised the prime minister’s simple lifestyle and said it had opened a new chapter in Bangladesh’s politics. He cited reduced official protocol, fewer vehicles, work on Fridays and Saturdays, and a donation of 10 percent of the prime ministerial allowance to the government’s zakat institution. Alal also called for scrutiny of people he described as remnants of past fascists in law enforcement, the secretariat, educational institutions and other public offices.

Police arrested Pallabi police station Assistant Sub-Inspector Md Shafiqul Islam, 43, and Wasim, 24, on allegations of drug dealing after recovering 5,310 yaba pills in raids in Uttara’s Azampur Kacha Bazar and Bismillah Palli areas. Southkhankhan police said the arrests were made on Sunday night, while the information was disclosed on Monday, August 24.

Acting on a tip-off about yaba sales, police searched Wasim as he tried to flee from Azampur Kacha Bazar and found 50 pills. Based on his information, officers raided a rented residence and arrested Shafiqul with 200 pills. A subsequent raid at a flat in Noor Building, house number 67, Bismillah Palli, recovered another 5,110 pills.

A case under the Narcotics Control Act was filed at Southkhankhan police station on Monday, naming the two detainees and two or three unidentified people. The court ordered the two men sent to jail. The case statement says they initially admitted bringing yaba from different parts of the country for sale in Southkhankhan and nearby areas. Pallabi police said Shafiqul had been serving there irregularly.

The football used by Diego Maradona to score two historic goals against England in the 1986 Mexico World Cup quarter-final has sold at auction for $3.355 million, or about Tk 410 million. Texas-based auction house Heritage Auctions recently sold the ball, an Adidas Azteca model associated with both the “Hand of God” goal and the goal later voted FIFA’s Goal of the Century.

The ball had been kept for 36 years by Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian referee of the match. Maradona’s first goal in the game became known as the “Hand of God,” while his second was recognized in a FIFA vote as the Goal of the Century. The two goals made the ball one of football history’s most discussed and controversial objects.

The ball was first sold in 2022 through Graham Budd Auctions for $2.37 million. It was offered again in 2023 but did not sell because its reserve price was not reached. Maradona’s shirt from the same match was sold for a record $9.3 million in 2022.

Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) has given the university administration 48 hours to meet five demands, including removal of the accused provost over alleged student abuse at Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall. DUCSU said it would begin a sit-in in front of the vice-chancellor’s office from Thursday if the demands are not met.

On Monday, August 24, DUCSU leaders met the university’s vice-chancellor, pro-vice-chancellor for administration and the proctorial body. The five-point demand letter was signed by DUCSU leaders and vice-presidents, general secretaries and assistant general secretaries of most hall unions. DUCSU Vice-President Sadik Kayem said action had been taken against the victim and students who protested, while no action had been taken against the accused provost.

The demands include legal action against the provost, withdrawal of show-cause notices issued to the victim and protesting students, publication of CCTV footage from the provost’s room, and investigation of attacks on protesters. They also seek publication of a committee report on an alleged attack on DUCSU, hall union and journalists’ association leaders at Shahbagh police station. Victim Ibrahim questioned the investigation committee’s fairness and said he was under mental trauma while taking examinations.

The Trump administration is moving to sharply raise fees for US H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers, with a proposed charge of $103,265. The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to publish the proposed rules, which appeared in the Federal Register on Monday. The plans also include a new fee for Optional Practical Training, or OPT, for F-1 students.

Immigration consulting firm Fragomen said the proposals would significantly increase the cost of employing foreign workers in the United States. Indian nationals could face the largest impact because they account for more than 70 percent of H-1B beneficiaries. USCIS data show that 399,402 H-1B applications were approved in 2024, with people of Indian origin comprising about 71 percent of beneficiaries.

Fragomen said an approximately $100,000 fee could also be proposed for OPT applicants. The OPT proposal was sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review on August 20, while a proposal covering certain H-1B applications reached the office on August 19. DHS has also proposed ending the existing 60-day grace period for H-1B workers who lose their jobs.

Dollar prices are declining in Bangladesh as supply exceeds demand, with the interbank rate falling by Tk1.24 over the past two weeks. On Monday, dollars traded at Tk122.56 in the interbank market, while banks sold cash dollars at Tk124. Money changers, however, said they want to buy each dollar at Tk125.50 and sell it at Tk126.50.

The Money Changers Association of Bangladesh made the request for this rate at a press conference on Monday. Association president MS Zaman said money changers mainly obtain dollars from returning expatriates and people bringing foreign currency from abroad. He said neither the central bank nor commercial banks supply foreign currency to money changers.

Zaman said money changers are blamed for market instability whenever the dollar rate rises, although they do not have the authority to control the foreign-exchange market. He also alleged that Bangladesh Bank treats them unfairly. According to him, Bangladeshis abroad can easily learn international dollar rates, making it unrealistic to expect them to sell their hard-earned foreign currency at lower prices.

Bangladesh’s women’s cricket team has completed preparations for two major international events, the Asia Cup and the Asian Games in Japan. The team will leave the country on Wednesday, captain Nigar Sultana Jyoti said at a press conference and official photoshoot at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Jyoti said the side’s main objective in the Asia Cup is to reach the final.

Bangladesh won its first continental title by defeating India in the 2018 Asia Cup final in Malaysia, but recent campaigns have been marked by exits at the semifinal stage. Jyoti said the team wants to break that pattern, adding that reaching the final would create an opportunity to win the title. For the Asian Games, she said the team’s first goal is to win a medal, with an effort to return home with gold.

The players held intensive training and several internal practice matches to adapt to tournament conditions. The Asia Cup will run from August 28 to September 13 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates. Bangladesh open against Indonesia on August 31, followed by Sri Lanka on September 6 and the UAE on September 8. The Asian Games run from September 19 to October 4 in Aichi and Nagoya, with some events beginning September 17.