India’s government has said it is prepared for a full and detailed parliamentary discussion on student protests and police action against demonstrators. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said Home Minister Amit Shah was ready to speak in Parliament after opposition demands. Rijiju, speaking to reporters on Monday, urged opposition parties not to create disruption while Shah and the government present their response.

The protests in Delhi began over allegations of examination paper leaks and irregularities. On July 20, tensions rose when a large group of protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar and attempted to march toward Parliament. Police used tear-gas shells and baton charges to disperse them, followed by clashes in which several people were detained. Opposition parties had sought a statement from the home minister on the operation.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi criticised Shah’s handling of the police action, alleging no investigation or statement had been ordered. He alleged tear gas, baton charges and pellet guns were used against students in Delhi, and also raised allegations involving firearms in Siwan, Bihar. Rijiju said the government had no objection to debate but insisted opposition members should hear the government’s response.

A criminal complaint has been filed in Vietnam against Israeli reservist Matan Zrafi over allegations of war crimes, genocide and incitement to genocide in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon. The Brussels-based Hind Rajab Foundation submitted the complaint to Vietnamese authorities, according to an Anadolu report. Zrafi is identified as chief executive of the Israeli organization Im Tirtzu and as having served in the Israeli military’s 920th Infantry Battalion of the 769th Brigade.

The foundation said Zrafi documented his own direct involvement in the destruction of civilian property in Gaza and southern Lebanon. It alleged that between December 2023 and January 2024, he directly participated in destroying civilian infrastructure in Shujaiya and Rimal in Gaza City, as well as the Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza. It said he was later transferred to southern Lebanon in mid-October and November 2024, where similar destruction occurred.

The foundation also accused Zrafi of direct and public incitement to genocide, alleging that he supported removing Palestinians from Gaza, justified attacks on civilians and opposed the entry of humanitarian aid. Its director general, Dyab Abou Jahjah, and litigation head Natasha Brack called on Vietnamese authorities to immediately arrest Zrafi and open an investigation under international law and treaties.

Bangladesh Bank has allowed the use of international cards to pay tuition fees and other education-related expenses for higher education abroad. In a circular issued on Monday, the central bank said authorised dealer banks may issue debit, credit or prepaid cards in the name of a student or the person bearing the student’s education costs. The report was published on August 10, 2026.

The decision follows growing demand for card-based payments to foreign universities and international admission platforms. Bangladesh Bank said transactions made through such cards for overseas education will be considered separately. These expenses will not be counted under existing travel quotas or other foreign-exchange facilities.

Under the circular, authorised dealer banks must complete all required regulatory formalities before issuing the cards. They must also ensure within the specified period that cards are used only for approved education-related payments. Banks have been instructed to maintain proper records of these transactions and regularly report them to Bangladesh Bank using the designated purpose code.

Prominent scholar, writer, essayist and journalist Maulana Sharif Muhammad said martyred President Ziaur Rahman placed great importance on religious figures and Islamic scholars. In a Facebook post on Sunday, cited in a report published on August 10, 2026, he described accounts he had received about Ziaur Rahman’s meetings with scholars in different parts of the country.

Sharif Muhammad said he encountered the description more than once while working on commemorative books about the lives of several legendary scholars and intellectuals. According to his account, when Ziaur Rahman travelled outside Dhaka to districts, thanas or villages, he would meet leading religious personalities and scholars there with importance and ask for their prayers.

He added that Ziaur Rahman would sometimes, as a courtesy, ask scholars to offer him advice or tell him something. Sharif Muhammad described this as a quality worthy of emulation. He also said it would be an occasion for welfare if Prime Minister Tarique Rahman could maintain this continuity of meetings.

The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate seized gold worth nearly Tk4 crore from a suspected car at the outer roundabout of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The report, published on August 10, 2026, said the driver abandoned the vehicle and fled during the operation. The driver is named Md Shamim Mia in one part of the report and Mizan in another.

Acting on a tip-off, customs officers stopped the vehicle for a search and conducted the operation with assistance from several intelligence agencies. Officers from the Airfreight Circle recovered 14 gold bars and 12 gold sheets. The total weight was 1,812 grams, or about 155.35 bhori.

Tests using equipment at Customs House Dhaka confirmed that the recovered gold was 24 carat, with an estimated market value of Tk372,72,892. The car also contained three mobile phones, Tk107,585 in cash, a used laptop, eight debit and credit cards from different banks, two driving licences and a national identity card. Authorities are examining the source and intended destination of the gold and possible involvement of others. Procedures to file a case at Airport Police Station are under way.

Former US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Iran is in an advantageous position in the war, citing its negotiating stance and control of the Strait of Hormuz. In an interview with ABC News reported on August 10, 2026, Esper, who served during the first Trump administration, said Iranian leaders appear confident about the leverage they have gained.

Esper said Iran’s new conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and restoring shipping to its pre-war status demonstrate that confidence. He said the conditions show Iranian leaders believe they are in a favorable position and are winning, adding that, in his assessment, they are in fact winning.

He also said the new conditions indicate Iran has become bolder and more confident about its position in the world. According to Esper, Tehran is demonstrating power in the region through proxy forces. He additionally discussed reduced US stockpiles of some munitions during the Iran war. The Trump administration is trying to reduce the impact of those shortages by increasing production, he said, while noting that some weapons take a long time to manufacture.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran is not concerned about a new security agreement involving Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Speaking at a news conference in Tehran on Monday, August 10, 2026, he said the Mecca pact reflected a change in approaches to Middle East security.

Baghaei said the agreement signaled a shift in attitudes toward the United States and in how regional countries view security. He said states in the region were seeking to rely more on their own capabilities rather than on outside powers.

He added that any plan based on the region’s geopolitical and historical realities, that is broad and inclusive and correctly identifies enemies and threats, could help strengthen security. According to Baghaei, such a plan could also help counter instability and oppression caused by the Zionist enemy and its allies.

The United States said it redirected 55 commercial ships traveling toward Iran as part of an operation to enforce sanctions imposed on Iranian ports. The US military announced the claim on Monday, according to a report published and updated on August 10, 2026.

US Central Command, the body coordinating US military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement on X that the ships’ routes were changed to ensure compliance with the sanctions. CENTCOM described the action as part of ongoing US efforts to enforce restrictions involving Iranian ports and trade connected to the country.

CENTCOM also said two additional vessels were disabled during the operation, while two ships were searched. The statement did not provide further details on the identities of the vessels, their cargoes, their locations, or the circumstances in which the ships were redirected, disabled, or searched.

The Wall Street Journal has raised concerns about vulnerabilities and risks facing the US military during its war with Iran, according to a report published on August 10, 2026. It said Iranian attacks on US military bases in West Asia, including a recent attack in Jordan, highlighted the growing threat from enemy missiles and drones.

The newspaper said the attacks showed that the United States was not adequately prepared to protect overseas military bases, critical infrastructure, and military and civilian personnel. It claimed Iran had launched more than 2,000 aircraft, missile, and drone attacks across West Asia since the war began, damaging at least 20 facilities used by US forces in eight countries.

The Wall Street Journal estimated military equipment and infrastructure losses at about $13 billion and said more than 42 US military aircraft had been destroyed or damaged. The New York Times said five months of fighting had reduced stocks of key weapons, including more than 1,500 Patriot missiles, and that replenishment could take at least two years. It said the shortfall could weaken US capacity to respond to potential threats in Europe and Asia.

Bangladesh has launched an initiative to strengthen bilateral trade and investment ties with New Zealand, focusing on agriculture technology, dairy, green energy, pharmaceuticals, leather, jute, sustainable textiles and information technology. At a meeting with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Bangladesh highlighted opportunities for joint investment, business connections and export expansion. The Commerce Ministry disclosed the information in a Monday statement. Commerce Ministry Secretary Md Ataur Rahman led Bangladesh’s delegation, while Rachel McGakian, NZTE’s market manager for Southeast and East Asia, took part in the discussion.

Annual trade between the two countries currently stands at about $450 million. Bangladesh imports significant dairy and metal products from New Zealand, while its exports to New Zealand total about $147 million and are largely ready-made garments. Bangladesh sought NZTE support to diversify trade by expanding non-garment exports, particularly pharmaceuticals, environmentally friendly jute products, leather goods, sustainable textiles and IT services.

Bangladesh invited New Zealand companies to invest in its special economic zones in dairy processing, cold-chain logistics, agriculture technology, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy and environmentally friendly technology. It proposed direct contact between BIDA and NZTE, virtual business-to-business meetings involving Bangladeshi pharmaceutical, IT and leather exporters and New Zealand buyers, and coordination with New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministry. Both sides also agreed to establish a bilateral business council and arrange or participate in trade fairs.

Bangladesh lawmaker Sachinpru Jery called for increased tree planting to protect environmental balance and reduce landslide risks in Bandarban. Speaking as chief guest at a tree-planting and sapling-distribution event organised by the Bandarban Timber Traders Association in Ruma upazila on Monday morning, he linked heavier rainfall and landslides to climate change.

Jery said the declining number of trees is increasing soil erosion and the risk of landslides. He stressed that planting trees alone would not be sufficient and that regular care of planted trees must also be ensured. He described the traders association’s initiative as commendable in implementing the government’s election manifesto on environmental protection.

The event was attended by Ruma Upazila Nirbahi Officer Tajmin Alam Tuli, Bandarban Forest Department Divisional Forest Officer Md Toufiqul Islam, Pulpwood Plantation Division Forest Officer Abu Yusuf, and leaders of the district timber traders association. Local residents and students from different educational institutions also participated. After the discussion, guests distributed fruit and forest saplings of different species among local communities and students.

Bangladesh is bringing 82,656 mosques under a state monthly honorarium programme in the 2026-27 fiscal year, the Ministry of Religious Affairs said in a press release on Monday. Imams at selected mosques will receive Tk5,000 a month, muezzins Tk3,000 and caretakers Tk2,000. The government has set mosque-selection quotas based on whether areas are unions, municipalities or city corporations.

Fifteen mosques will be selected from each union. In municipalities, four mosques per ward will be selected in category A areas, three in category B and two in category C. Six mosques per ward will be selected in city corporations. Payments will be sent directly to beneficiaries' bank accounts through electronic fund transfer, rather than through intermediaries.

A total of 86,709 religious institutions and 256,074 religious leaders will receive the monthly support this fiscal year. The institutions include 3,000 temples, 752 Buddhist monasteries and 301 churches, alongside the mosques. The budget allocates Tk110 billion for honoraria to religious leaders, and the government plans to extend coverage to all religious institutions over the next three fiscal years.

Kuwait congratulated Pakistan on the recently signed Mecca Joint Defense Agreement involving Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. According to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah spoke by telephone late at night with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and extended congratulations on the agreement.

The two foreign ministers exchanged views on the regional situation, including conditions in occupied East Jerusalem. They also discussed Pakistan-Kuwait bilateral relations and matters of mutual interest. Their call covered follow-up steps after the Kuwaiti foreign minister’s recent visit to Pakistan, as well as ways to strengthen cooperation and investment in important sectors.

The agreement was signed on Friday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Under its terms, an armed attack against any one of the three countries will be treated as an attack against all three. The stated aims are to reinforce collective deterrence capabilities and expand defense cooperation among the three countries.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday afternoon inaugurated the SDG Village pilot project, which will operate in Mitingachhari in Kaptai, Rangamati; Pankhali in Dakop upazila, Khulna; and Nafanagar in Bochaganj upazila, Dinajpur. The current government adopted the initiative under a project aimed at redefining economic strategy for Bangladesh’s sustainable development.

At the inauguration, Rahman said the past 17 years of what he called fascist rule had damaged education, health, the economy and other sectors, and that rebuilding was now necessary. He said the current government was working toward that goal and described all BNP plans as people-friendly. Government support networks, he added, were gradually expanding.

The project covers poverty reduction, drainage and waterlogging relief, quality education, improved health services, lower child and maternal mortality, and access to safe water and sanitation, in line with the 17 SDG goals. Rahman said no single ministry or department could achieve the SDG targets alone and that cooperation from all relevant parties was needed. Residents of Mitingachhari expressed enthusiasm and gratitude for receiving the opportunity.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei said Tehran is not concerned about a new security agreement involving Pakistan, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia. He made the remarks at a news conference in Tehran on Monday, according to the report.

Baghaei said the agreement signals a shift in attitudes toward the United States and in regional countries’ approaches to security. He described the shift as one in which countries in the region rely more on their own capabilities rather than on outside powers.

He said any plan based on the region’s geopolitical and historical realities, and one that is broad and inclusive, could help strengthen security if it correctly identifies enemies and threats. Baghaei added that such an approach could potentially counter instability and oppression caused by the Zionist enemy and its allies.