The foundation stone for a newly constructed academic building at Purana Paltan College in Dhaka was laid on Monday. The ceremony was led by Advocate Dr. Helal Uddin, president of the college’s governing body. The event was attended by governing body member Shaheen Ahmed Khan, Principal Lutfun Nahar, local figure Mostafizur Rahman Shaheen, Maulana Mostafa Kamal, and numerous teachers, students, parents, and community members.

In his address, Dr. Helal Uddin emphasized the vital role of education in national development, noting that Purana Paltan College, established in 1964, had long been deprived of infrastructural progress despite its central location near the Secretariat. He stated that the interim government had allocated funds for the new building following his personal initiative to improve the college’s facilities.

Dr. Helal Uddin expressed hope that the new building would enhance the quality and dynamism of teaching activities. He warned the construction firm against any irregularities or substandard work and urged all sections of society to contribute to educational development.

A video featuring Jamaat-e-Islami MP Gazi Nazrul Islam from Satkhira-4 constituency has gone viral on social media since Monday night, showing him with a young woman in a room. Local Jamaat leaders later claimed the woman is his second wife. District Jamaat secretary Maulana Azizur Rahman stated that the MP confirmed the marriage took place with his first wife’s consent.

In a press release on Tuesday, Gazi Nazrul Islam said he visited the office of his second wife’s father in Dhaka on July 13 with both wives. He alleged that during the visit, his driver and the woman’s uncle brought in several unknown men who held them hostage and extorted money. He claimed the same group later released private footage online due to personal and family disputes.

The MP denied allegations of extramarital relations, calling the video’s circulation politically motivated. Both his first and second wives also released video statements supporting his claim that the marriage was legitimate and that false propaganda was being spread.

A farmer named Md. Sofi Ullah, aged 60, died after being struck by a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in front of Kabirhat Police Station in Noakhali on Monday night. The accident occurred around 8:30 p.m. when Sofi Ullah was crossing the road. He was initially taken to Kabirhat Upazila Health Complex and later transferred to a private hospital in Maijdee, where he died around 3 a.m. while receiving treatment.

Police confirmed that the auto-rickshaw driver, Md. Yusuf, aged 27, from Ashrafpur village in Batiya Union, was detained shortly after the incident. The deceased was a resident of Jagdananda village in Dhanshiri Union under Kabirhat Upazila. According to police and locals, Sofi Ullah had come to the area with a local union parishad member for personal work when the accident occurred.

Authorities stated that further legal action will be taken after discussions with the victim’s family.

Police have launched an investigation after the body of an 11-year-old madrasa student was found hanging inside a residential madrasa room in Gournadi, Barishal. The incident occurred on the night of July 19 in the Kasemabad area near Gerakul village. The deceased, Jannatul Ferdous, was the daughter of a Saudi expatriate and had been living with her maternal family in Kasemabad since childhood. Madrasa authorities claimed the student had taken her own life.

According to local sources, the madrasa named Miftahul Jannah Hifzul Quran Model Mohila Madrasa was established last November and operated with two female teachers and fifteen students. Fellow students said they discovered the locked room and saw the girl hanging through a window before teachers and locals broke in and found her dead. Police from Gournadi Model Station recovered the body and sent it for autopsy while continuing a detailed investigation.

Family members and locals expressed grief and urged senior administrative officials to ensure a thorough probe into the cause of the death.

The prosecution has filed a petition to begin the trial of 26 accused in connection with the killing of Mir Mahfuzur Rahman Mugdha and ten others during the July Revolution in Uttara, Dhaka. The petition was submitted before the three-member panel of International Crimes Tribunal-1, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumdar, with Justices Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud and Md Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury as members. Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim read out two charges against the accused and sought the start of the trial, while state defense lawyer Amir Hossain argued that his clients were falsely implicated for political reasons. The tribunal set July 23 for the next hearing.

According to the first charge, on July 18, 2024, Mugdha, a student of Bangladesh University of Professionals, was shot dead while assisting injured protesters and distributing water and biscuits in Uttara. Several others were also killed that day, including Jahiduzzaman Tanvin and Sheikh Fahmin Zafar. The second charge states that four more people were shot dead in Uttara on July 19, 2024.

Eight of the accused, including former DMP Uttara Zone DC Mirza Salahuddin and Uttara East Police OC Mojibur Rahman, are in custody, while 18 remain absconding.

Bangladesh Navy Chief Admiral M Nazmul Hassan paid a farewell courtesy call on President Md Shahabuddin at Bangabhaban on Tuesday afternoon. During the meeting, Admiral Hassan expressed gratitude to the President for his support during his tenure and briefed him on the overall development activities of the Navy.

President Shahabuddin, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, thanked the outgoing Navy Chief for his successful and efficient service. He praised Admiral Hassan’s contributions to the advancement of the naval force and expressed hope that the ongoing development of the Bangladesh Navy would continue in the future.

Officials from the President’s Office were present during the meeting. Admiral Nazmul Hassan is scheduled to hand over his responsibilities to the new Navy Chief on July 23.

Delhi Police detained Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, and several other senior party figures during a sit-in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence on Tuesday. The demonstration took place at Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi, where Congress leaders gathered to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

According to the report, police arrived at the protest site and detained the Congress leaders, later removing them from the area. The protest was part of the party’s ongoing campaign against the central government’s handling of issues related to the education ministry.

The detentions mark another confrontation between the Congress leadership and the Modi administration, highlighting continued political tensions in the national capital.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained three members of Myanmar’s security forces at the Teknaf border in Cox’s Bazar on Monday afternoon. The detainees were identified as Second Lieutenant Hein De Htet and police member Hein Zaw from Maungdaw Police Station in Rakhine, and Kyaw Naing from the No. 3 Border Guard Police unit in Buthidaung. They were apprehended after swimming across the Naf River and reaching the Naittyangpara area of Teknaf municipality.

According to the 2nd BGB Battalion, the three individuals were taken into custody around noon and later handed over to Teknaf Model Police Station at night. Officer-in-Charge Saiful Islam confirmed that the detainees were sent to court on Tuesday morning.

A case has been filed against them under relevant laws for illegal entry into Bangladesh. The report did not mention any official statement from Myanmar or further diplomatic actions following the arrests.

A Dhaka court has scheduled August 3 for delivering the charge framing order against former National Board of Revenue member Matiur Rahman in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The case accuses him of acquiring wealth worth about Tk 5.28 crore beyond known income sources. The order date was deferred as the presiding judge, B. M. Tarikul Kabir, was on leave. Matiur was brought from jail to the court’s custody cell but was not produced before the judge.

The ACC filed two cases on December 15, 2024, against Matiur Rahman and his second wife for allegedly amassing illegal wealth and concealing asset information. The investigation report, approved on February 3, alleged that Matiur misused his official position to accumulate Tk 5.40 crore in undeclared assets and provided false information in his wealth statement. He faces charges under sections 26(2) and 27(1) of the ACC Act, 2004, and section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.

Matiur Rahman was arrested by the Detective Branch on January 14, 2025, and has remained in custody since then.

The Bangladesh Coast Guard seized around 30 kilograms of illegal deer meat and detained a meat trader during a special operation in the Nalian area of the Sundarbans. The operation was conducted on Monday, July 20, near Nalian Closure Para in Dacope upazila, Khulna, based on secret information. The seized meat is estimated to be worth about 66,000 taka. The information was confirmed in a press release issued on Tuesday, July 21, by Coast Guard media officer Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujon.

According to the Coast Guard, the confiscated deer meat and the detained individual were handed over to the Nalian Forest Patrol Station for further legal action. The press release also stated that the Coast Guard will continue its operations to protect the biodiversity and wildlife of the Sundarbans. Regular drives will be carried out to prevent wildlife killing, hunting, and trafficking.

The operation underscores the Coast Guard’s ongoing commitment to curbing illegal wildlife trade and preserving the ecological balance of the Sundarbans region.

Congress has intensified its protest against the central government over allegations of question paper leaks in various Indian examinations. Party leader and Lok Sabha opposition leader Rahul Gandhi announced he would hold an overnight sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence, urging citizens to join in support of students’ demand for justice.

On Tuesday, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi led a march from Kharge’s residence in New Delhi toward the Prime Minister’s residence to protest the government’s handling of the issue. Rahul Gandhi said on social media that attacks on students are attacks on every Indian family and called on patriotic citizens to join the protest. Congress sources confirmed that Gandhi would continue the overnight demonstration.

During the protest, Union Minister Jitendra Singh spoke with Rahul Gandhi, but Congress leaders said the discussion yielded no resolution. Congress MP Syed Nasir Hussain stated that the government requested withdrawal of the protest, which the party refused without meeting their demands, including the resignation of the education minister and a parliamentary debate on the leaks.

The US Department of Defense has confirmed that around 100 American soldiers were injured over the past two weeks in attacks linked to escalating tensions with Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for strikes on US military installations, air defense systems, and a radar site in Bahrain and Kuwait. On the same day, an oil tanker was damaged by an unidentified missile in the Strait of Hormuz, forcing its crew to evacuate. Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan reported activating their defense systems to repel attacks.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said most of the injured soldiers suffered mild concussions, with 96 percent already back on duty. He denied allegations that the Pentagon concealed casualty information. Meanwhile, three US soldiers were killed in Jordan and Iraq during the past week. Despite ten consecutive nights of US airstrikes, Iran’s influence over the Strait of Hormuz remains strong, affecting global oil transport routes.

The ongoing conflict has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed up global oil prices, with Brent crude trading above $88 per barrel and US gasoline averaging $4 per gallon.

Three people, including two women, were killed and two others injured in a collision between a truck and a battery-powered autorickshaw in Mymensingh on Tuesday morning. The accident occurred around 11:30 a.m. on the Mymensingh-Kishoreganj road near the Shambhuganj Palli Bidyut office. According to police and local sources, the autorickshaw was heading from Shambhuganj toward Kishoreganj when it collided with a truck emerging from a nearby depot.

One male passenger of the autorickshaw died on the spot, while the driver and three women were injured. Locals took the injured to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared two women dead. Another woman remains hospitalized in critical condition, and the autorickshaw driver left after receiving primary treatment. Police confirmed that the bodies have been sent for autopsy and that legal procedures are underway.

The identities of the deceased have not yet been confirmed, and authorities reported that the situation at the scene is now normal.

Qatar has strongly condemned a statement by a Houthi military spokesperson who accused Saudi Arabia of imposing a naval blockade, restricting the Yemeni population, and obstructing maritime navigation. The condemnation came after the Houthis, known as Ansar Allah, announced a blockade against Saudi Arabia following an attack on Sanaa International Airport.

In a statement, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged the international community to uphold relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2216 concerning Yemen and Resolution 2722 on freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. The ministry emphasized that freedom of navigation in international waters is a fundamental principle of international law and expressed Doha’s full solidarity with Saudi Arabia’s right to protect its security and sovereignty.

The incident marks an escalation in regional tensions following the Houthis’ earlier threats and actions against Saudi Arabia, drawing renewed attention to maritime security and international legal obligations in the Red Sea region.

Sitakunda in Chattogram is rapidly developing into one of Bangladesh’s most promising nature-based tourism destinations, combining hills, sea, waterfalls, and cultural heritage. Key attractions include Chandranath Hill with its temple at 1,200 feet, Guliakhali Beach surrounded by mangroves, and several waterfalls such as Khoiyachhara and Napittachhara. Tourist arrivals have increased year-round, boosting local businesses and employment.

The tourism boom has brought visible economic benefits through new hotels, restaurants, transport services, and small enterprises. Authorities have installed digital information boards with QR codes and strengthened monitoring by tourist police and the forest department. However, inadequate transport links, limited quality accommodation, and poor waste management remain major challenges. Most intercity trains do not stop at Sitakunda, forcing visitors to rely on road travel.

Local officials and tourism stakeholders emphasize the need for a coordinated master plan, improved connectivity, and eco-friendly infrastructure. They believe that with planned investment and sustainable management, Sitakunda could become a leading nature-based tourism destination in South Asia.