A nature photograph taken in Lancashire, England, by columnist, education administrator and researcher Shah Mansur Ali Noman has been published in the August 8, 2026 print edition of The Republic. The image was included as a selected photograph in the US English-language daily’s “Take Your Best Shot” section.

The Republic, published from Indiana in the United States, has been in circulation since 1872 and carries local, national and international news alongside selected photographs. Noman has pursued writing and photography since his student years. His columns, reports and photographs have appeared in leading Bangladeshi media outlets, as well as in Burnley Express, Lancashire Telegraph and BBC Bangla’s “Probaho” programme.

Noman has received awards and honours from Dainik Bhorer Kagoj and Ei Somoy for his writing. UK Bangla Reporters Unity named him the best feature writer of 2025. While based in England, his columns, articles, reports and photographs continue to be published regularly in media outlets at home and abroad. He previously served as an assistant registrar at North East University Bangladesh.

Auto-rickshaws in Gazaria, Munshiganj, are illegally using cooking LPG cylinders as fuel amid a severe shortage at CNG filling stations, according to a report published on August 15. At least 24 vehicles were seen on the Bhoberchar bus stand-Hoglakandi-Kalipura trawler ghat road with cylinders tied by rope behind passenger seats, raising fears of fire or explosions.

Drivers said some wait more than 24 hours in queues and still cannot obtain CNG, leaving them to use LPG so they can continue earning. Passengers described the practice as frightening and dangerous, saying even a minor crash or ignition source could cause serious harm. One passenger also said the fare on the route had risen from Tk40 to Tk50.

Gazaria Fire Service station officer Firoz Mia said LPG is highly flammable and faults, negligence or contact with fire during transport could lead to major accidents. Bhoberchar Highway Police Station officer-in-charge Shah Kamal Akhand said using cooking gas cylinders in vehicles is prohibited and illegal. He said police would investigate the matter, conduct raids soon and take legal action against those involved.

Separate cocktail explosions in Keshabpur, Jashore, and Kalkini, Madaripur, injured eight people, including seven students, on Saturday morning around August 15. In Jashore, motor worker Jewel, 35, suffered splinter injuries to his leg in an explosion in the Madhyakul area of Keshabpur municipality and was admitted to a local government hospital. Police cordoned off the area and took him into custody while treatment continued.

Police said two more unexploded cocktails wrapped in polythene were found at the Jashore site, where additional officers were deployed. Local residents alleged they had informed the police about a meeting at a fish farm the previous night, while Officer-in-Charge Mosha Roksana Khatun said residents had reported a meeting involving Awami League leaders.

In Kalkini's Ward 9, seven students of Gopalpur Darus Sunnah Mohila Madrasa were injured after handling a cocktail found on the stairs of a residence during their tiffin break. Two were in critical condition, and one was sent to Dhaka for advanced treatment. Additional Superintendent of Police Faria Rafiq Bhabna said evidence was being collected and an investigation was continuing into how the device arrived there and who was involved.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested 559 people and filed 44 cases during regular operations across the capital over the previous 24 hours. Additional Deputy Commissioner Niaz Mehdi of DMP’s Media and Public Relations Division disclosed the information in a press release on Saturday, August 15, 2026.

Mirpur Division recorded the highest number of arrests, with 118, followed by Gulshan with 105 and Wari with 87. Police also arrested 79 people in Tejgaon, 65 in Motijheel, 37 in Uttara, 33 in Lalbagh, 32 in Ramna and three through the Detective Branch.

Police said the operations recovered three foreign pistols, two magazines, nine rounds of ammunition, a toy pistol, two switch gears, a knife and a sharp blade. Other seized items included 17 mobile phones, 510 grams of cannabis, 3,710 yaba tablets, 100 packets of heroin, 15 bottles of local liquor, one litre of foreign liquor and 2,700 taka in cash. Police said legal action is being taken against those arrested.

Former civil servants, researchers, teachers and civil society representatives called for a professional and politically neutral bureaucracy, saying it is essential for fair elections, democracy, good governance and sustainable development. The call came at a roundtable titled “State Building and Bureaucracy: Southeast Asian Experiences and Bangladesh’s Reality,” organized by the Center for Policy Analysis and Advocacy at the National Press Club on August 15.

The session was chaired by the organization’s president and former secretary Dr Mohammad Shariful Alam. Rajshahi University public administration professor Dr Shafiul Islam presented a paper written by governance researcher and civil service specialist Dr Yusuf Zarif. Drawing on examples from Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore, the paper said merit is vital to building an effective bureaucracy.

The paper proposed establishing a Civil Service Ombudsman, requiring parliamentary committee approval for appointments of secretaries and agency heads, and publishing clear posting and promotion rules. It also proposed ending reliance on police verification and intelligence reports in recruitment, posting and promotion decisions, informing officers denied promotion of the reasons, and adopting mandatory ethics and accountability rules. Speakers also expressed concern over appointments of political leaders to government corporations.

Relatives of a Bangladeshi expatriate allegedly held hostage in Libya are accused of taking away eight-year-old Husain Ali from his home in Kalinathpur village, Chhatian union, Mirpur upazila of Kushtia. The child is the son of alleged manpower broker Jafar Ali. The incident reportedly occurred at about 8am on Saturday, according to the report published on August 15, 2026.

Local sources alleged that Jafar Ali sent people to Libya in the name of sending them to Italy. Members of the Jafar group in Libya were then accused of holding people hostage and collecting large sums of money from their relatives in Bangladesh. Sources said a person from Pultadanga village in Alamdanga upazila, Chuadanga, was recently held hostage in Libya and relatives paid several lakh taka.

Chhatian union chairman Kabir Hossain confirmed at about 12:30pm that the child had been taken away. He said families of many prospective overseas migrants come looking for Jafar Ali and that allegations exist of extorting money after sending people to Libya. Mirpur police station officer-in-charge Mohammad Shahidul Islam said he was not aware of the alleged child abduction.

France’s Constitutional Council on Friday blocked a bill that would have restricted social media use by children under 15. The court said the proposal interfered excessively with freedom of expression and communication and did not provide sufficient legal safeguards for personal privacy. The decision was seen as a political setback for President Emmanuel Macron, who had previously instructed the government to redraft the measure.

Under the parliamentary-approved bill, children under 15 would have been barred from opening new social media accounts from September 1. Platforms would also have been required to close existing accounts within four months. The proposal required age verification through methods approved by France’s data protection regulator.

The court said the bill did not clearly define the conditions or limits for collecting and storing information used to prove users’ ages. The Elysee Palace said the Macron government remains determined to introduce revised legislation on social media regulation ahead of the 2027 presidential election. Google, Meta, Snap and TikTok gave no immediate comment after the ruling.

Three workers of Chhatra Dal have been expelled in Lalpur, Natore, over allegations of involvement in the harassment of journalists. Lalpur উপজেলা Chhatra Dal convener Raihan Kabir Sweet and joint convener Abu Raihan confirmed the decision in a press release issued on Saturday afternoon. The expelled workers are Jahid Hossain, Shafiqul Islam Shafik and Mamun Ali.

According to local sources, the allegations stem from an incident on August 12 during a Chhatra Dal protest procession at the Lalpur উপজেলা Parishad premises. NTV online representative Sajibul Hridoy and Lalpur representative of the daily Manab Zamin, Rashidul Islam, were allegedly harassed during the procession. The press release said organizational action was taken after the allegations against the three workers were proven.

The release said Chhatra Dal would not tolerate any activity contrary to party discipline, image and organizational interests. It also directed all leaders and activists to refrain from such conduct in the future. Raihan Kabir Sweet and Abu Raihan said the three were expelled for violating party discipline.

Hackers breached computer systems used by France’s tax administration and land registry in two separate cyberattacks in June and July, authorities said Friday. The Directorate General of Public Finances, or DGFiP, said the first attack compromised data from at least 678,000 individual and professional accounts. A second attack in July stole information from 200,000 land registry accounts.

The stolen tax-related data included names, income-related information and tax rates paid. A hacking group called Zerobytes had previously claimed responsibility in a dark-web forum. The group said it gained access through a virtual private network used by tax officials. Zerobytes claimed it took data from 250,000 land registry accounts linked to about 2 million people who own land and property.

The authority’s figure for affected land registry accounts is lower than the group’s claim. Zerobytes has also been linked to several previous cyberattacks on French government computer systems. In April, a major attack on ANTS, the agency responsible for identity-document applications and management, affected data of about 12 million individuals and professionals. France’s Finance Ministry also reported in February that information from 1.2 million bank accounts had been stolen in a major security breach.

Indian psychiatrist, essayist, fiction writer and poet Dr Kamal Hossain has died after a prolonged illness. He died at 7 a.m. on Saturday, India’s Independence Day, after suffering a severe stroke on August 1 and receiving intensive care at a private hospital, where he was placed on a ventilator. His age was not stated.

Hailing from Berhampore in Murshidabad, Hossain built a prominent literary career alongside his medical work. His first short-story collection, “Onno Prokash,” was published in 1979 by Buddhadeb Bose and Pratibha Bose’s Kabita Bhaban. His writings addressed challenges within post-independence Muslim society and families as well as wider Bengali society. His novel “Param Bishwaser Gondho” won first prize in the Narayan Gangopadhyay Memorial Novel Competition, while “Dwipbhumi” received the Proma Award.

Hossain also treated patients at a Mother Teresa institution and regularly served rural residents at a clinic in North 24 Parganas. He had first suffered a stroke on November 26, 2022. Ahmad Hasan Imran, former parliamentarian and editor of “Puber Kolom,” expressed grief and prayed for the deceased and his family.

Seven people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Ansar in southern Lebanon, the country’s civil defence department said. The attack was carried out early Saturday, according to the report published and updated on August 15, 2026.

Quds News Network had earlier reported that Israel struck the outskirts of Ansar in Nabatieh district and areas near Nabatieh al-Fawqa. According to Al Jazeera, Israeli forces also blew up several houses in Bint Jbeil during the early morning.

The report said Israeli forces carried out heavy gunfire in residential areas beside the Kounine-Saf al-Hawa road. An attack was also reported in the Al-Masha neighbourhood of Al-Mansouri town in Tyre district. Israeli forces were additionally reported to be attempting to advance to take control of areas around Ali al-Taher hill.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said private teachers and employees will no longer need to visit multiple offices to obtain retirement funds. He made the remarks on Saturday at a programme distributing retirement and welfare benefits to private teachers and employees at Osmani Memorial Hall in the capital. He said there would be no harassment in obtaining the money and no need to approach intermediaries.

Rahman said a video showed the real conditions faced by teachers, including that they previously had to pay bribes to receive allowance money. He said funds are now being transferred to teachers' accounts more easily than before. He also described teachers' role as widely accepted and said that, despite retirement under existing rules, they remain teachers.

The prime minister alleged that the previous fascist Awami League government had looted resources and left two retirement boards crippled. He said the teachers' retirement allowance fund does not have sufficient money, but payments are being made through special arrangements. The event concerned the payment of retirement and welfare benefits for private teachers and employees.

Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union general secretary Salahuddin Ammar led a July feast involving the slaughter of a cow named “Bakshal.” The meal was held at 2pm on Saturday at the university’s central mosque premises, according to the report. About more than 600 students attended the feast.

In a video posted on his personal Facebook page on Friday night, Ammar said the cow had been named Bakshal and would be sacrificed as part of the celebration, which he described as a July feast or July hospitality. He also invited students to attend. In a separate midnight post, he wrote that Bakshal had been laid down on the night of August 15.

Applications were collected through a Google Form, with a registration fee of Tk15. Organizers said about 750 students were taking part, with beef meals for roughly 650 and alternative food for the remaining 100. The event was initially promoted as a RAKSU initiative, prompting criticism online. Ammar later said RAKSU was not involved because all its members had not agreed, and said the cow’s name referred to the historical day of Bakshal’s fall and two years since the July mass uprising.

Former US ambassador and White House adviser Mark Ginsberg said Iran is “playing” President Donald Trump by exploiting mounting electoral pressure in the United States. In an Al Jazeera interview published on August 15, 2026, Ginsberg said Trump’s decisions are being influenced more by the upcoming midterm elections and growing domestic political pressure than by a long-term strategy.

Ginsberg said Tehran is well aware of Washington’s internal political conditions and is prepared to pursue a long-term strategy. He said Iranian leaders are closely watching US opinion polls and remain determined to retain power despite any punishment or pressure imposed on the public. He also said Americans are becoming increasingly frustrated with the country’s current situation.

According to Ginsberg, Trump faces a problem because he is not in a position to acknowledge defeat. He said Tehran is betting on a familiar outcome: that Washington will eventually retreat from its demands. In his view, Iran expects such a shift to result in relief from sanctions.

Bangladesh ended the third day of the Darwin Test with a 67-run lead despite Australia mounting resistance in their second innings. After trailing by 228 runs, the hosts reached 161 for four at stumps. Cameron Green was unbeaten on 43 and Alex Carey on 19, leaving Australia’s deficit at 67 runs.

Bangladesh had dismissed Australia for 198 in the first innings before making 426. Tanzid Hasan scored a century, while Najmul Hossain Shanto made a half-century and Mehedi Hasan Miraz added an effective fifty to build the substantial lead. Australia’s Josh Hazlewood took four wickets in Bangladesh’s innings and finished with six first-innings wickets.

Australia lost both openers for 37, with Hasan Mahmud bowling Jake Weatherald for nought and also dismissing Travis Head. Taijul Islam removed Marnus Labuschagne for 31, ending a 36-run partnership with Steve Smith. Miraz then dismissed Smith for 44 off 88 balls. Green and Carey added an unbeaten 39 runs from 94 balls, and Australia’s effort to reduce the deficit will be a central issue on day four.