Iran is considering attacks on US military installations in Europe if its ongoing war with the United States expands further, the Financial Times reported, citing two Iranian government sources. Potential targets mentioned include US military facilities in Bulgaria and Cyprus. The report was published on August 19, 2026, as efforts to halt the war appeared to have broken down.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Washington was not currently holding talks with Tehran and had no plan to begin new negotiations. The United Arab Emirates said Wednesday it would suspend all trade, commercial exchanges and financial transactions with Iran until further notice. Trump has also used harsh language toward long-standing US allies accused of not supporting Middle East military operations.

Tensions are centered on the Strait of Hormuz, where Trump says shipping is operating normally under US control, while the source says vessel traffic remains very limited. One person was killed this week in an attack on a cargo vessel transiting the strait. Analysts cited in the report warned that a prolonged disruption could raise global oil prices.

Israel struck the Abu al-Duhur air base in Syria’s Idlib province on Tuesday, placing the attack about 70 kilometres from the Turkish border, according to the report published on August 19, 2026. US Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack warned that the incident could further raise tensions with Turkey. The strike came after a Turkish military delegation visited the base to inspect runway renovation work.

Barrack said Turkey had not been warned before the attack and could have mistakenly viewed it as an attack on itself, potentially sending aircraft in response. He expressed relief that there were no reported casualties and that the situation did not escalate into a larger conflict. Israel indicated the strike was linked to concerns over the possibility of Turkish troop deployment at Syrian air bases.

Barrack called for a coordination, or deconfliction, mechanism among Israel, Syria and Turkey to prevent future misunderstandings. He said the United States is working toward such an arrangement, including a permanent 24-hour communications centre staffed by officials fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, English and Turkish. He also said discussions could address Israeli concerns over Turkish military deployments and radar systems in Syria.

Chinese private space startup LandSpace achieved a major reusable-rocket milestone on Wednesday when the first stage of its Zhuque-3 commercial rocket returned and landed successfully on land after launch. The rocket lifted off at 7:35 a.m. local time from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Pilot Zone in northwest China. State news agency Xinhua described the mission as a complete success.

CCTV footage showed the first stage descending slowly toward a designated desert landing site. Its landing legs deployed shortly before touchdown, allowing it to land in a controlled manner. Zhuque-3’s second stage also successfully delivered the Honghu-03 satellite into its intended orbit, according to Xinhua.

Space experts said LandSpace was the first organization outside the United States to return an orbital-class rocket booster to land using its own landing legs. Astrophysicist Richard de Grijs said China had demonstrated two separate rocket-recovery technologies through state and private sectors within a month, following the July recovery of a Long March-10B first stage from a sea-based platform. He said such competition and experimentation could support lower-cost, more frequent launches.

Kolkata police have identified five Bangladeshi nationals among those killed in a hotel fire on Mirza Ghalib Street in Kolkata. The report was published on August 19, 2026. Police said the identified victims include Shornoshish Dutta, Afsana Shimmin, Debashish Dutta and Md Akram Ali, all residents of Kushtia district in Bangladesh.

A fifth identified victim, Ahmed Babu, was listed as being from Aminbazar in Savar. According to police information, three-year-old Shornoshish Dutta and his father Debashish Dutta were residents of the Aruapara, Mohini Mill area of Kushtia.

Kolkata police said efforts were continuing to establish the identities of the remaining victims. Bangladesh Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata Muhammad Khaled said on Wednesday afternoon that police and the FRRO had informed the deputy high commission after identifying at least five Bangladeshi citizens among the dead. The FRRO is a Home Ministry division that keeps records of data and movements of foreign nationals entering India.

Prime Minister’s political adviser and BNP standing committee member Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said Bangladesh seeks friendly relations with all countries based on equality, mutual respect and sovereignty. He made the remarks on Wednesday, August 19, in the capital’s Zia Udyan after paying tribute at the graves of former president Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia on the 46th founding anniversary of the Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal.

Rizvi said Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign state and that friendship cannot be built on conditions. He said international relations must be developed by respecting every country’s independence and sovereignty, while the government would pursue ties founded on mutual dignity and equality. Bangladesh would invite other countries and accept their invitations, he said, but would not accept secret or unilateral conditions.

Addressing relations with India, Rizvi said Bangladesh would welcome friendly engagement without conditions tied to particular interests. He said any relationship with India must rest on equal status and mutual respect, and that a BNP government would not accept proposals outside those principles. He also expressed hope that Swechchhasebak Dal activists would publicize government welfare initiatives linked to the BNP election manifesto.

Bangladesh’s Department of Environment has fined Ferdous Steel Ship Recycling Industries Tk 500,000 for cutting the ship MT Rasi without renewing its environmental clearance. The order was issued after a hearing at the Department of Environment’s Chattogram regional office on Wednesday. The yard, located on H Akbar Ali Road in Bhatiari, Sitakunda, was also instructed to halt all cutting work on MT Rasi until the clearance is renewed.

Department officials said an on-site inspection and review of documents by the Chattogram district office found that cutting was underway despite the expired clearance. At the hearing, the violation was established, and compensation was set under Section 7 of the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995, as amended in 2010, using the approved environmental damage assessment method.

The company must deposit the amount in the government treasury through the designated challan within seven working days. The order said failure to pay or implement it could lead to legal action, including a criminal case. A yard official said the vessel’s clearance had expired only two days earlier and could not be renewed in time.

Russia has directly rejected allegations that it is trying to interfere in France’s 2027 presidential election, saying Moscow does not intervene in the internal affairs of sovereign states. In comments to Anadolu, the Russian Embassy in Paris said Western policies against Russia, justified by what it called a “Russian threat,” would ultimately fail. France’s presidential election is scheduled for April 18, 2027, with a second round set for May 2 if no candidate wins a majority in the first round.

The embassy said Western countries repeatedly make unfounded accusations against Russia and use the idea of a Russian threat to pursue anti-Russian policies and raise military spending. It also argued that increased military expenditure would harm socially important sectors, expand budget deficits and public debt, and leave future generations with the burden.

French officials and political leaders have accused Russia of intervening in domestic politics in recent months. France’s foreign digital interference monitoring agency, Viginum, alleged that two pro-Russian networks, Matryoshka and Storm-1516, spread misleading information during the summer. French authorities said the campaigns targeted Gabriel Attal, Edouard Philippe and European Parliament member Raphael Glucksmann.

Claims that Brazilian football legend Roberto Carlos has converted to Islam spread widely on social media, according to a report published by Amar Desh Online on August 19, 2026. Turkish outlet Daily Sabah said various sources were making the claim, which was amplified by Ali Sahin, an AK Party member of parliament from Gaziantep, after a visit to Brazil.

Sahin said he learned of the alleged conversion directly from Sheikh Jihad Hammadeh, described as a prominent senior Islamic figure in Brazil. He said Carlos and Hammadeh had maintained positive contact for some time and met privately in Sao Paulo about four weeks earlier. According to Sahin, Carlos recited the shahada in Hammadeh’s presence during that meeting.

The report said Carlos has not issued any public video, social-media statement or formal announcement confirming the claim. As a result, the information cannot be presented as confirmed, and doubts about its reliability remain. Carlos, a 2002 World Cup winner with Brazil and former Real Madrid player, has prompted extensive online discussion, with many Muslim fans offering congratulations.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has expressed deep sorrow over the deaths of 10 Bangladeshi citizens in two separate incidents in Kolkata, India, and East London, United Kingdom. In a statement sent to the media on Wednesday, party Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar said at least nine Bangladeshis, including a child, died in a fire at a residential hotel on Free School Street in Kolkata’s New Market area around 2am the previous night.

Parwar said several others were burned and injured in the hotel fire. He described the deaths of Bangladeshis who had travelled to India for medical treatment and other needs as heartbreaking and painful. Separately, he said a Bangladeshi man, Mashum Mia, 40, was shot dead by miscreants in East London on August 17.

The Jamaat leader prayed for the forgiveness of those killed and conveyed condolences to the families of the dead and injured. He also wished a speedy recovery for those burned or seriously injured. Parwar urged the Bangladesh mission in India and relevant authorities to arrange the swift and dignified return of the bodies to Bangladesh and ensure proper treatment for the injured.

A senior Russian military official said Israel’s main objective is to intensify the Middle East conflict and draw the United States and NATO into war. Apti Alaudinov, commander of Russia’s Akhmat Special Forces and deputy head of the army’s main military-political directorate, made the remarks in an interview with Russia’s state news agency TASS, published August 19, 2026.

Alaudinov said the situation in the Middle East would become more heated in the coming days. He said the war in the region would expand and argued that Israel sought to increase the conflict as much as possible in order to involve the United States and the entire NATO alliance.

The Russian official also said Israel would ultimately overestimate its own strength. He stated that this could result in the country’s existence as a state being eliminated. The source article attributes the report to Al Jazeera and does not include a response from Israel, the United States, NATO, or other parties.

The newly elected president is scheduled to take the oath of office at 7pm on Friday, August 21, at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban. National Parliament Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni disclosed the information on Wednesday afternoon, according to the report published on August 19, 2026.

The ceremony may be attended by the acting president, head of government, cabinet members, politicians, members of parliament, Supreme Court judges, senior civilian and military officials, diplomats and other invited guests. The report described the planned event as a colourful ceremony.

Mohammad Shahabuddin resigned from the presidency on July 24. Following his resignation, National Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed assumed the responsibilities of acting president. Voting to elect the new president is due to take place in the National Parliament on Thursday.

Shehzad Poonawalla has resigned as a national spokesperson of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and relinquished his primary membership of the party. He submitted his resignation letter to BJP president Nitin Nabin on Monday, according to the report published on August 19, 2026. Poonawalla said he was leaving politics because of urgent financial and personal circumstances and planned to return to private-sector employment.

He said he had been considering a return to professional life since 2024. The BJP spokesperson role was unpaid and voluntary, he said, making it necessary for him to resume work to meet financial needs. Poonawalla added that he had devoted nearly every day of the year to politics for a long period, but ultimately had to choose between a job and political activity.

Poonawalla had previously expressed an intention to resign on July 30, but the party asked him to reconsider. His departure has drawn discussion amid a major reshuffle among BJP national office-bearers, although he did not cite any political disagreement. He began politics through Congress’s student wing NSUI, left Congress in 2017 alleging irregularities and nepotism, and later joined the BJP.

Former Pakistani prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan met his wife Bushra Bibi and sister Noreen Niazi at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, marking their first meetings with him this year. The meetings followed a Supreme Court order allowing the jailed politician to meet family members weekly. Khan has been held at Adiala Jail since 2023 and is serving a 14-year sentence in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.

According to Dawn, Niazi met Khan in the prison conference room and spoke with him for about 15 minutes. They discussed his health and other matters. She also informed him about an earlier Supreme Court order calling for his transfer to Shifa International Hospital for medical examinations.

Prison sources cited by Express Tribune said Khan’s meeting with Bushra Bibi on Tuesday lasted about 30 to 35 minutes. Bushra Bibi also met her children Musa and Mubashshara Maneka and Khan’s sister Mehrunnisa for about 40 minutes. Other sisters Alima Khan and Uzma Khan, cousin Qasim Zaman, and PTI political leaders were not permitted to meet Khan.

Meta has changed how Facebook calculates content reach, prioritizing original, high-quality posts while reducing distribution for low-quality or mass-produced AI-driven material. The policy, reported on August 19, 2026, does not ban AI-generated content outright, but posts lacking meaningful human creative input or editing will appear less often in News Feed and Reels.

Meta assesses originality by looking for a creator’s contribution, including an original idea, editing, commentary or distinctive presentation. Downloading and reposting others’ videos, adding logos or subtitles, or changing playback speed will not qualify as original content. A Meta newsroom announcement in March said original creators would receive greater reach and earning opportunities, while unoriginal material would be deprioritized.

AI-generated images, audio and realistic videos must carry a “Made with AI” label. The label has appeared on regular posts since May and has been automatically added to advertisements since July. Meta said AI use alone will not remove monetization eligibility, but monetization will be stopped for unoriginal, mass-produced or reposted content. Analysts say Facebook increasingly recommends content from pages users do not follow, while artificial engagement is receiving less reach.

Jannatul Ferdous Jemi, a college student from Shayestaganj upazila in Habiganj, has received a scholarship worth about Tk73 lakh, or $60,000, to study at the Asian University for Women in Chattogram. The four-year scholarship will provide her with $15,000 annually. The university’s admissions committee director, Mouri Rahman, confirmed the award in a letter on Tuesday.

Jemi passed her Higher Secondary Certificate examination in 2025 from Johur Chan Bibi Mohila College in Shayestaganj. From July 20, she joined a one-month summer school programme supported by Chevron Bangladesh. After successfully completing the programme, she secured the opportunity for higher education at the university with Chevron’s support.

Jemi said she initially found the scholarship news difficult to believe and reread the letter repeatedly. She said she has begun preparing herself and hopes more students will earn such scholarships. Her college principal, Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun, said her achievement showed that determination, effort and talent can overcome obstacles. The news has also been widely shared on social media in the area.