Doping test results for Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das, accused in the killing of Ganapati Chakraborty and his family in Rangpur, have returned negative, Rangpur Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Sanatan Chakraborty confirmed on Monday afternoon. A court has also allowed investigators to question each accused for two days and three hours at the gate of Rangpur Central Jail.

Chakraborty said the tests found no presence of drugs. The accused had said in statements recorded under Section 164 that they used yaba. Police sought the tests following those claims and the recovery of certain evidence from the scene.

Samples were collected through Rangpur Medical College Hospital and sent for testing, but testing could not be conducted on the day of their arrest. Samples were taken 10 days after the incident, and Chakraborty said detecting drugs in samples after that period is generally very difficult, with experts better placed to explain. The investigation remains ongoing. Police and a medical team collected the samples from the central jail on Sunday afternoon.

Senior US military commanders have warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against prolonging a large-scale operation against Iran, according to US media reports cited by Al Jazeera. The warning was reported by The Washington Post and involved the heads of the US Army, Navy and Air Force, along with commanders responsible for US forces in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The concerns appeared in a regularly issued confidential report outlining the United States' global military deployments. Senior officers submitted a formal notice saying they disagreed with the deployment order but would carry it out. They said ships, military aircraft and equipment had been moved from different regions for the war against Iran.

Commanders said those transfers had reduced the capacity to conduct other military operations and train troops in affected regions. More than 50,000 US personnel have reportedly been kept on alert for months amid concerns that new attacks on Iran could be ordered. President Donald Trump has continued pressuring Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and accept US conditions to end the war.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks has risen to 73,449 since October 2023, while 174,472 people have been wounded. In the past 48 hours, nine Palestinians were reported killed and 18 injured, with several bodies also recovered from rubble. The source says deaths and casualties have continued despite a ceasefire being in effect.

According to the ministry’s figures, Israeli attacks and other alleged violations since the ceasefire began have killed 1,313 Palestinians and injured 4,361. A study by the Palestinian Center for Missing and Forcibly Disappeared estimated that roughly 2,500 to 3,000 people may have been forcibly disappeared during the war, based on an analysis of 317 cases.

Many people are still believed to be trapped beneath debris from destroyed buildings, raising concerns that the actual death toll could exceed official figures. The war, which began in October 2023, has extensively damaged residential areas, hospitals, infrastructure and other civilian facilities in Gaza, while fatalities have continued in recent days.

National University has released the results of its 2024 Honours fourth-year examinations, reporting an average pass rate of 65.10 percent. The results were announced Monday by the university’s Controller of Examinations office. A total of 232,624 candidates from 881 affiliated colleges took part in the examinations.

The university said the results were published within 47 working days of the examinations ending, describing it as a new record in its examination administration. Last year, publication of Honours final-year results took 89 days. Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr A S M Amanullah said faster procedures from conducting examinations through publishing results were intended to consider students’ time and future.

The 2024 Honours final-year, or fourth-year, examinations began on April 30 and ended on June 15. Candidates can view their results from 5pm on the National University results website, https://results.nu.ac.bd. The university said it retains the authority to correct any detected inconsistencies or errors in the published results, or to cancel results entirely if necessary.

National University has announced a new date for the suspended 2025 first-year honours examination. The examination, held under the university, will take place on September 22, according to a press release issued by the institution on Monday.

The rescheduled examination is listed under examination code 2201. It is scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm. The university did not provide further details in the announcement about the reason the examination had been suspended.

The duration of the examination will be determined by the time stated on the question paper. Students sitting the examination are expected to follow the revised schedule and the instructions indicated in their question papers.

Education Minister Ehsanul Haque Milon said the planned timing of next year’s Secondary School Certificate examinations was changed because of Ramadan. Speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon at the Technical and Madrasa Education Division meeting room of the Education Ministry, he said authorities considered the overall calendar before setting the schedule.

Milon said a January start would have kept examinations running for about a month, extending into the first week of February. Ramadan is set to begin on 10 February and continue until 10 March, making examinations impossible during that period, he said. He added that the government aims to hold public examinations at fixed times and considers February the most suitable month for SSC examinations in Bangladesh.

The minister had said on 14 May that the examinations would begin on 7 January, a plan criticised by candidates and guardians because Ramadan and Eid would fall during that period. On 2 June, he said the timetable could be revised if stakeholders wanted it. The schedule released on 24 August sets written examinations from 14 March to 15 April.

Leaders of Islami Oikya Jote paid a courtesy call on BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at the party’s central office in Naya Paltan, Dhaka, on Monday afternoon. The visiting delegation greeted Rizvi with flowers during the meeting.

The delegation was led by Islami Oikya Jote Joint Secretary General Maulana Md Ilias Athari. Others present included Dhaka metropolitan General Secretary Nazmul Haque, Joint General Secretary Mufti Humayun Kabir, Islami Chhatra Samaj central President Hafez Belal Hossain, Secretary General HM Barkatullah and Dhaka metropolitan Publicity Secretary Mufti Al Amin.

During the courtesy meeting, Rizvi said unity between Islamic and nationalist forces had no alternative for moving the country forward. He alleged that associates of fascism were trying in various ways to destabilize the country. He called for united efforts to advance the country, strengthen Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s hand and institutionalize democracy. Rizvi later extended greetings to the Islami Oikya Jote leaders.

Israel is holding nearly 1,700 Palestinian bodies, most of them from Gaza, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis linked to the Gaza war. The bodies are reportedly being retained for possible use in future prisoner or hostage exchange negotiations. The Palestinian group National Campaign for the Retrieval of Martyrs Bodies and Disclosure of the Fate of the Missing says it has documented the names of 799 Palestinians whose bodies are held by Israel, including 81 children and 10 women.

The group says 256 of the documented bodies were buried in military cemeteries known to Palestinians as “numbered graves.” In these sites, graves are marked with numbers rather than names, while identifying records are kept separately. Because the cemeteries are generally in military-controlled areas, relatives cannot visit them and many families remain unaware of burial locations or the circumstances of death.

The policy expanded after 2015, with Israel’s security cabinet approving retention of some bodies in 2017 and its Supreme Court allowing it in specified circumstances in 2019. The group says Israel had returned 930 bodies and 66 boxes of human remains to Gaza by February 4, 2026, but identification is difficult because of limited DNA-testing equipment. Gaza’s Health Ministry says about 7,400 bodies remain beneath rubble.

Severe load shedding in Lalmonirhat has triggered widespread public frustration, disrupting daily life, businesses, education and agricultural work across the district. Residents said electricity outages have become particularly severe after evening and continue until dawn, while power department officials could not specify when the situation may improve.

Children, elderly people and patients are suffering most in the intense heat as fans and refrigerators remain off. Students are unable to complete online assignments because devices cannot be charged, while refrigerated food and fish are spoiling. Residents also complained that they must pay electricity bills and make advance payments through prepaid meters despite not receiving the expected service.

Small and medium industrial owners reported production losses because they must pay workers despite insufficient electricity for operations. Irrigation work has been affected, and factories and small businesses in the Lalmonirhat BSCIC industrial area have slowed or stopped. An unnamed electricity office official said supply is lower than demand, making load shedding necessary. Auto-rickshaw drivers also said inadequate battery charging is threatening their income.

Inter-Parliamentary Union Secretary General Anda Filip held a courtesy meeting with opposition leader and Jamaat ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman on Monday at the opposition leader’s office in the National Parliament Building. IPU Programme Officer Roberto Rodriguez Valencia and Senior Expert Herieno A Angoro were also present at the meeting.

The discussion focused on making the national parliament more effective and developing it into a centre for discussion and dialogue on important national issues. Dr Shafiqur highlighted the opposition’s role in strengthening parliamentary democracy and stressed the importance of equal participation by the government and opposition.

Participants also discussed regular dialogue between the government and opposition on national and international matters, improving the effectiveness of parliamentary committees, and expanding participation by young members of parliament. The IPU secretary general assured continued support from the organization for the advancement of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh. MP Barrister Najibur Rahman Momen, foreign affairs adviser Barrister Mir Ahmad Bin Qasem Arman, and advisory committee member Ali Ahmad Mabroor attended.

Pakistan’s recent military activity has raised questions in India over whether Islamabad could be preparing for renewed action before the festival season, though no reliable evidence confirms an imminent attack on India. On August 29, Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited the Pakistan Ordnance Factories complex at Wah Cantonment near Islamabad, described as the country’s largest arms factory.

Pakistan’s military media wing, ISPR, said Munir reviewed plans to strengthen domestic defence industry capacity and increase weapons production. He was briefed on weapons designs, production capacity and ammunition testing, while factory officials outlined expansion plans. Two additional weapons-production centres are expected to begin production later this year. Pakistan has also expanded defence cooperation with China and Turkey and signed a joint defence and military cooperation agreement with Kuwait on August 27.

Reports of heavy artillery deployment near the border, including Chinese-made SH-15 155mm self-propelled howitzers, have added to scrutiny. However, Pakistan also faces security pressures along the Afghan border and insurgency-related concerns in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The source says Islamabad’s preparations cannot conclusively be interpreted as preparations for an attack on India.

A woman from Chennai gave a cheque for 40 million rupees to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust in Ayodhya, India, for the welfare of Ram Temple workers. After the trust deposited it, the bank found that her account held only three rupees, causing the cheque to bounce. The bank is preparing to issue her a notice seeking an explanation.

The woman separately donated 10,000 rupees to the temple. She had sought a written assurance from the trust that the 40 million rupees would be spent only on staff welfare, but the trust did not provide that assurance. The matter is now being handled through discussions, according to the report.

During the 2020 Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan for temple construction, nearly 35 billion rupees was collected in 45 days. Cheques worth about one billion rupees initially bounced, though most of that money was later recovered; about 220 million rupees remains unrecovered. The temple currently receives about 30 million to 40 million rupees in monthly donations through cash, online payments and cheques. The trust has not issued an official statement on this case.

The United Arab Emirates has rejected reports that Iran launched a missile attack on the Al Minhad Air Base, described in the source as a US military base in the country. The UAE Defence Ministry issued the denial in a statement posted on X, calling media reports about a missile strike on the base unfounded.

Earlier, Iran said on Monday that it had carried out an attack using several dozen drones against US military bases in the UAE. Tehran described the reported action as a response to a US attack, according to the source.

The UAE had previously said that an Iranian drone was shot down in its waters. The source does not provide further details on the reported drone incident, the alleged Iranian operation, or any damage or casualties.

Hundreds of people protested outside Madison Square Garden in New York over an event involving Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat. Demonstrators called for Bhagwat’s visa to be cancelled and for the RSS to face a ban. The protest was organized by the Indian American Muslim Council and other religious and civil rights groups.

Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and City Council member Julie Won joined the demonstration. They criticized the staging of the event, citing the RSS’s Hindutva ideology and allegations of violence against religious minorities. The organizers said 65 US civic and interfaith organizations opposed the event.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom had earlier recommended cancelling Bhagwat’s visa and imposing targeted sanctions on the RSS. It cited allegations of violence against Muslims, Christians, Dalits and Sikhs. More than 1,000 people also urged US Secretary of State Marco Rubio not to permit Bhagwat to enter the United States, according to the IAMC. Founded in 1925, the RSS is described as a Hindu nationalist organization and an ideological foundation of India’s Hindutva movement.

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has urged Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to take more effective measures to stop smuggling, drug trafficking, push-ins and border killings. He made the call on Monday during a courtesy meeting at Bangabhaban with BGB Director General Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, according to the president’s press secretary Md Sarwar Alam.

The president also praised the BGB for its work in carrying out the important responsibility of protecting the border. He said the force’s role as a vigilant guard was highly important in preventing smuggling, narcotics and human trafficking along the frontier.

During the meeting, the BGB director general congratulated the president on assuming office. He briefed him on the force’s overall activities and initiatives to incorporate advanced drones and modern technology to increase border surveillance. The president praised those technology-related initiatives and assured overall cooperation. The president’s secretaries and senior officials were present at the meeting.