Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman said international cooperation is needed for a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis, alongside building national consensus. He made the remarks as chief guest at a discussion titled “Rohingya Crisis: Current Reality and Future Actions,” organised by the Policy Research Centre at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Sunday afternoon.

The minister said the crisis should not be viewed only through a security lens, as it also involves humanitarian, social, diplomatic and international legal issues. He said Bangladesh must protect its security and stability while ensuring the Rohingya people’s humanitarian and fundamental rights. He noted that Rohingyas sought refuge in Bangladesh after facing persecution and human rights violations in their own country.

Asaduzzaman said conditions must be created for their safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation to their homeland. He called for effective international cooperation, diplomatic engagement and public support within Bangladesh, and urged researchers, experts, civil society and media to contribute constructively. Participants also discussed Myanmar’s situation, repatriation prospects and actions needed at national, regional and international levels.

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said Israel’s bombing of Syria’s Abu al-Duhur air base amounted to an “unnecessary escalation” that could complicate rising tensions between Israel and Turkey. Israeli warplanes struck the base on Monday night; it lies about 45 miles from the Turkish border and roughly 180 miles north of Israel. Israel initially did not claim responsibility but later acknowledged the attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Turkey was seeking to establish a military presence at the air base south of its current position, despite prior warnings. He said the strike was intended to clarify Israel’s position. The dispute prompted sharp exchanges, with Netanyahu calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an antisemitic dictator, while Erdogan’s office described the remarks as a cheap political tactic ahead of Netanyahu’s upcoming election.

Barrack said the United States had no evidence that Syria or Turkey was taking hostile or offensive action against Israel before the strike. He said Syria had told Mossad there were no Turkish troops, military convoys or weapons at the site, while talks and a US coordination framework were under way. Barrack said he hoped all parties would return to dialogue.

A Sirajganj court on Sunday sentenced six people, including a woman, to life imprisonment for the killing of farmer Chanowar Hossain in Ullapara over a dispute involving unpaid money. District and Sessions Judge Md Iqbal Hossain also fined each convict Tk20,000, with six months’ simple imprisonment in default. The verdict was delivered on August 23, 2026.

The convicts are Manik Hossain, also known as Hira Manik, Mahmudul Hasan Nayon, Rubel Mia, Shariful Islam, Rabeya Khatun and Shahadat Hossain. According to the case charge sheet, Hira Manik had borrowed Tk220,000 from Chanowar, and conflict developed after the farmer pressed for repayment.

On the evening of July 8, 2020, Hira Manik allegedly called Chanowar out by mobile phone, after which he went missing. Locals found a body floating in the Surya River in Ullapara on July 12, and the family identified it as Chanowar’s. His wife Selina Khatun filed the case. Police submitted a charge sheet against six accused on April 30, 2022, and the court sent all six to jail after the verdict.

Israeli forces were accused of using phosphorus shells, airstrikes and heavy artillery fire across several areas of southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency. The reported attacks struck Mansouri, Beit al-Sayyad and Majdal Zoun before dawn, while explosions were reported overnight. Beit al-Sayyad sustained extensive damage, with the agency saying nearly no home in the village escaped damage.

Explosions were also reported in Hadatha, Beit Yahoun and Aita al-Jabal, while Israeli drones were seen over towns and villages in southern Lebanon’s western and central areas. Israeli warplanes carried out two strikes near the Ali al-Taher hill north of Nabatieh al-Fawqa. Artillery fire was also reported around Dawhat Kfar Remman, Dabsha hill and the forests of Ali al-Taher, where phosphorus-shell use was alleged.

International human rights groups had previously voiced concern over allegations of phosphorus use in southern Lebanon. Amnesty International said white phosphorus in populated areas poses serious risks to civilians and faces strict restrictions under international humanitarian law. The reported attacks occurred despite a US-mediated security framework that was supposed to be in force between Lebanon and Israel, while attacks and tensions in southern Lebanon continued.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is facing a “full-scale war” across economic, military and security spheres, according to a televised address broadcast by state news agency IRNA on Sunday. He said the government was trying to overcome multiple crises and expressed shame over the country’s economic problems.

Pezeshkian said Trump had spoken of imposing the most oppressive or severe sanctions on Iran. He said Tehran was standing firmly and seeking to serve the Iranian people despite what he described as an unequal war. He also said Iran’s adversaries had expected the country to collapse and become like Venezuela, but that Iran had instead surprised the world through resistance, cohesion and unity.

The president said Tehran was working with all its strength to avoid division, conflict and personal ego. The source said Iran and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding in June, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, to end a conflict that began in February and continue talks toward a final agreement. Negotiations later stalled over implementation issues and a dispute over navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said holding elections while the war against Russia continues would be highly risky and could divide the country. Speaking to journalists at a briefing on Saturday, he described an election during the conflict as a “tsunami” for Ukraine and said pursuing one now would put the country on a path toward destruction.

Ukraine has kept elections suspended under martial law imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion. Zelensky cited obstacles including voting rights for military personnel, voting by millions of Ukrainian refugees abroad, participation by people in Russian-occupied areas, and concerns over Russian disinformation. A survey found that only 15 percent of Ukrainians want elections before the war ends.

Former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov recently called for finding a way to hold elections, without giving a detailed plan. Zelensky criticized that position, saying Fedorov was taking, or being pushed toward, the wrong path. Russian missile and drone attacks continue across Ukrainian cities, particularly Kyiv. International leaders are expected to visit for Ukraine’s Independence Day on Monday, while allies are also due to discuss strengthening air defences.

On August 23, 2026, onion growers in Salta upazila of Faridpur said they were facing mounting losses after a bumper harvest pushed market prices below production costs. Farmers reported production expenses of Tk1,500 to Tk2,000 per maund, while onions were selling for roughly Tk800 to Tk1,250. Many growers who stored onions for later sales said 40 to 50 percent of their stock was rotting on storage platforms.

The upazila agriculture office said more than 30,000 farmers cultivate onions on 90 to 95 percent of land during the season across eight unions. The onion cultivation target was 11,250 hectares, but cultivation reached about 11,500 hectares, alongside 200 hectares of murikata and 50 hectares for onion seed. Market visits found prices ranging from Tk800 to Tk1,300 per maund, with some farmers reportedly discarding onions in water after failing to secure fair prices.

Trader Md Masum Sardar attributed the weak market to high supply and low demand at wholesale hubs, although small onions sold for Tk1,600 to Tk1,800 per maund. Agriculture officer Ahsanul Habib Al Azad Jony said 800 farmers received free onion seed and fertiliser under an incentive programme. He said higher incentives and onion storage facilities would be raised with higher authorities.

Thailand’s military said 51 coordinated arson attacks and other incidents struck several areas of the country’s insurgency-hit south on Saturday night, August 23, 2026. Two civilians were injured and government facilities and other property were damaged. The attacks occurred between 8 p.m. and midnight in southern border areas, according to the Internal Security Operations Command, or ISOC.

Narathiwat province recorded the largest number of incidents, prompting a curfew from Saturday night until 6 a.m. Sunday. Attacks were also reported in neighboring Yala and Pattani provinces. A local government office building, a Seven-Eleven store and a stolen vehicle were set on fire. Authorities also examined affected telecommunications towers and electricity poles.

No group had claimed responsibility for the attacks. Narathiwat Governor Boonchai Homyamien said investigators began examining the sites on Sunday and that no further attacks had been reported that morning. ISOC said a vehicle was stolen from a subdistrict administrative office during one attack, which also set the building ablaze; the burned pickup was later found abandoned beside a road.

Tensions have risen between Tel Aviv and Ankara over Israeli airstrikes in Syria, but Israel does not want to turn Turkey into an enemy, according to the report. An Israeli defence official said the two countries are exchanging messages through secret contacts in an effort to avoid conflict. The report was published by Amar Desh Online on August 23, 2026.

The official told Kan News that Israel has to act when messages do not produce results. Israel has warned that it would counter Turkey’s military presence in Syria if it becomes a threat to Israeli security. It is particularly prioritising efforts to prevent the deployment of Turkish air-defence systems, advanced missiles and drones in Syria.

As part of that approach, Israel struck infrastructure and the runway at the Abu al-Duhur military base in northern Syria. Tel Aviv said the strike was carried out before Turkish military equipment arrived and was intended to send Damascus a clear message. Israel said it does not object to strengthening Syria’s military capabilities, but will not allow a new security threat near its border. Turkey denied that Turkish military representatives or troops were at the base during the attack.

Emily Thornberry, chair of the British Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and a Labour Party MP, has urged the UK government to ban imports produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The call was reported on August 23, 2026. Thornberry said individual sanctions alone were insufficient to halt settlement expansion and violence, arguing that trade with the settlements should also stop.

She said Israeli settlement construction and expansion in the West Bank were threatening the prospects for a two-state solution. Thornberry argued that Britain should stop importing settlement goods so that British money is not used to support the expansion of those settlements. She also described violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank as having reached a severe level.

Nearly 140 Labour MPs called in June for a ban on trade with what they described as illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but the British government has not introduced a full prohibition. The government has described Israeli settlements as a violation of international law. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband recently strongly criticised Israel’s new West Bank settlement projects, and the government said further measures to curb settlement expansion would be announced in coming weeks.

Bangladesh Coast Guard detained two alleged gold smugglers with 31 bhori of gold near the New Fishery Ghat area beside Cox’s Bazar airport on Saturday evening. The detainees were identified as Md Azim, 33, and Md Faruk, 28, both from Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila. Coast Guard media officer Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujon confirmed the operation on Sunday.

The Coast Guard said it had information that a group would bring a consignment of gold into the country without paying customs duty. During a special operation at about 7pm, a suspicious motorcycle was signalled to stop, but its riders allegedly tried to flee by speeding up. Coast Guard personnel then pursued and detained the two men along with the motorcycle.

A search of a bag recovered about Tk75 lakh worth of gold, four mobile phones, Tk5,742 in cash, 10 Saudi riyals and three Saudi ATM cards, officials said. During preliminary questioning, the detainees allegedly said the gold had been brought from Dubai through various channels for sale in Bangladesh. Legal action is underway, while intelligence surveillance and operations continue to identify other traders and associates.

State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Bagerhat-3 lawmaker Lion Dr Sheikh Faridul Islam said water tanks would gradually be delivered to every household along the coast to address shortages of safe drinking water. He made the announcement on Sunday morning while distributing rainwater-storage tanks to residents of Burirdanga ইউনিয়ন in Digraj, Mongla, Bagerhat.

The Department of Public Health Engineering in Mongla distributed tanks to more than 300 families in six unions on Sunday. The programme also covered residents of Chila, Chandpai, Sonailtala, Mithakhali and Sundarban unions. The tanks are intended to help households in highly saline coastal areas store rainwater to meet drinking-water needs.

Faridul Islam said initiatives had also been taken to re-excavate government ponds to create safe-water sources. Local residents said salinity has caused a long-standing drinking-water crisis in Mongla and other coastal areas, particularly during the dry season. They said recipient families were relieved to receive the tanks and hoped wider distribution would substantially reduce the shortage.

Many Bangladeshi tourists are hurriedly leaving hotels in Kolkata and returning home after a devastating fire at Hotel Shikha Inn on Mirza Ghalib Street near New Market killed nine people, including seven Bangladeshis. The August 23 report said the deaths have created fear and anger among residents, businesses and visitors in Kolkata’s well-known hotel district.

The area, spanning Sudder Street, Marquis Street, Lindsay Street, Mirza Ghalib Street and Free School Street, is popular with Bangladeshi medical travellers because of relatively low-cost lodging and nearby money-exchange services, bus counters and food stalls. Visitors and local accounts alleged widespread illegal hotels, inadequate licensing, narrow access routes, absent fire exits, unsafe electrical wiring and a lack of fire-safety audits.

Tourists also cited visa complications, brokers and long waits at the Benapole border, with some considering Chennai, Vellore, China or Nepal for treatment instead. Authorities have formed an investigation committee to examine the legality of hotels and guesthouses in the area. Municipal, fire-service and electricity officials have begun stricter action, while owners of illegal establishments are reported to be worried.

Former Indian Air Marshal and Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force Nakesh Kapoor has questioned whether the Tejas Mk-2 will remain effective as a frontline fighter when large numbers are expected to enter service around the middle of 2030. In an NDTV interview less than two months after retirement, he said its battlefield relevance could be greatly diminished by then.

Kapoor cited China’s move toward sixth-generation aircraft and Pakistan’s plans to acquire fifth-generation fighters. He questioned the logic of confronting China’s sixth-generation aircraft in 2035 with a fourth-generation platform. The report says fifth-generation fighters such as the US F-22 and China’s J-20 feature stealth, sensor fusion and internal weapons carriage, while India currently has no fifth- or sixth-generation platform.

Kapoor nevertheless said Tejas Mk-2 aircraft would be needed to fill deployment gaps because limited numbers of advanced fighters could not be stationed everywhere across India. He also criticized Hindustan Aeronautics Limited over delays in Tejas Mk-1A deliveries. The Mk-2’s first flight is now expected between March and July 2027, while Kapoor urged consideration of participation in sixth-generation projects such as FCAS or GCAP.

A worker injured in an accident at Baraka Green Ship Recycling Yard in Sitakunda, Chattogram, has died after seven days of hospital treatment. Md Alauddin, 51, was seriously injured while working at the yard on August 16 and died at about 7am on Saturday at Treatment Hospital in the city’s Probortok Mor area.

Faujdarhat Police Outpost in-charge Inspector Rubel Afrad confirmed the death, saying Alauddin had been receiving treatment after the shipyard accident. Police and local sources said colleagues rescued him after the incident and admitted him to the hospital.

Alauddin was a resident of Uttar Masjidda area in Sitakunda উপজেলার and was the son of Nurul Islam and Hajera Khatun. News of his death brought grief among relatives and coworkers. The report said his family has fallen into severe financial uncertainty after losing its only earning member.