Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be “sent to hell” and claimed Netanyahu’s “major mistakes” had accelerated Israel’s decline. In an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Manar television, Rezaei also described Beirut and its southern areas as Iranian “red lines,” saying aggression there would not be accepted.

Rezaei said Iran does not seek war, but warned that any new conflict would differ from previous wars and draw an unprecedented Iranian response. He said countries from which US aircraft take off or from which US missiles are launched against Iran would also be regarded as enemies.

He identified an end to war in Gaza and Lebanon, an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, and an end to Israeli attacks in Damascus as important conditions. Rezaei said West Asia’s situation is interconnected and its crises must be resolved together. Iran’s contacts with the United States are currently suspended, with Tehran saying no new talks will occur until US military attacks and hostile statements stop.

Bangladesh’s Agriculture Ministry has dismissed reports of a nationwide fertilizer shortage as “completely rumour” and said authorities are conducting field-level operations against traders accused of creating artificial scarcity. From Monday through Thursday, dealers and businesses in Manikganj, Chapainawabganj, Rangpur and Jashore faced fines and fertilizer seizures over allegations including adulteration, overcharging and illegal stockpiling.

Additional Agriculture Secretary Ahmed Faisal Imam said 64 ministry officials, one for each district, are monitoring the situation. He said mobile courts are regularly deployed following allegations of overpricing or black-market sales, while dealerships can be suspended or cancelled according to the severity of offences. Rangpur agricultural official Sirajul Islam said some dealers were fined for failing to store fertilizer in warehouses according to government rules and for procedural violations.

Authorities fined a dealer in Saturia Tk200,000 and seized five sacks of allegedly adulterated DAP fertilizer. In Chapainawabganj, a trader was fined Tk100,000 over overpricing and illegal stocks, while Jashore authorities fined another trader over unlicensed storage. The source also reported shortfalls in stated safety-stock targets for urea, TSP, DAP and MOP, citing gas shortages as a factor.

Allegations of discrepancies in holding or household tax collection have emerged at Nilগঞ্জ Union Parishad in Kalapara, Patuakhali. Union members, village police and residents claim more than Tk 900,000 was collected from nine wards this year, while only Tk 550,000 was deposited in the parishad’s accounts. They have questioned the whereabouts of about Tk 350,000 or more and demanded an investigation and public disclosure of the full accounts.

Tax collection was assigned to a third party for an agreed commission, while Secretary Hasnat Titu was responsible for receiving the money and accounts, according to the report. Critics allege that union members and village police were not shown a complete account and were not informed when money was received or deposited. Village police said tax revenue helps cover their salaries, allowances and other expenses.

Secretary Titu said he deposited the amount he received, and knew nothing beyond that. Administrator Nahidul Islam said the third party’s account given to the secretary may have been around Tk 550,000, and said explanations had been sought from those contracted to collect taxes. Kalapara Upazila Nirbahi Officer Arifuzzaman said he would visit the union parishad to verify the matter.

Rangpur Metropolitan Police said two arrested suspects confessed in court to killing retired Rangpur Zilla School teacher Ganapati Chakraborty and three family members at their home in Machhuapara, Rangpur. Police Commissioner Abdul Mabud said the suspects, Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das, stated that Ganapati saw them consuming yaba on the roof after dawn on 20 August, after which they allegedly strangled him, his wife, daughter and 12-year-old son Ayush.

According to the police briefing, Ganapati, his wife and daughter were killed on the roof, while Ayush was killed after waking up downstairs and recognizing Siddhartha. The suspects allegedly moved bodies to conceal them, cut an electric wire because they feared CCTV surveillance, and ransacked rooms to make the killings appear to be a robbery. Police said they took gold ornaments and Tk15,000 in cash.

Police said Mugdha was arrested at a cremation ground about three kilometres away after allegedly admitting the killings to caretaker Bidyut Das, who later gave a statement under Section 164. Post-mortem reports confirmed all four deaths were caused by strangulation, police said. Drug tests and DNA sampling of the two accused are under way. Police also said tests found no evidence of rape involving two victims.

North Korea condemned US plans to supply South Korea with AIM-9X Sidewinder Block-2 missiles and fund human rights and information-flow programmes related to the North. Pyongyang said it would deliver a “serious, immediate and strong response” to what it described as continuing hostile actions by Washington.

The US State Department said Friday that a possible sale of the missiles and related equipment to South Korea had been approved, with an estimated value of $125 million. A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the adverse effects of US arms sales on the regional security environment could not be ignored.

Pyongyang also criticised Washington’s planned funding for organisations documenting human rights violations in North Korea. The State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor announced an open competition last week, saying the initiatives aimed to challenge North Korea’s monopoly over information. The North said the measures were intended to create instability in its social system.

At least 389 people have died and nearly 1,500, including foreign nationals, remain missing after sudden flooding and landslides in Nepal near the Tibetan border. The disaster struck around 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, with water, mud and rocks surging through the Lende Khola valley and inundating villages. Authorities fear the casualty and missing-person totals could rise; across the border in Tibet, at least 558 people were reported missing and three dead.

The flooding is preliminarily linked to a glacier collapse in the Bhote Koshi River valley of Nepal’s border district of Rasuwa. The torrent destroyed homes, power towers and other infrastructure, washing away at least 19 bridges and about 40 kilometres of road. More than 500 tourists from several countries are among those missing, including 177 Indians, 100 Chinese and 63 Americans. Nepal’s embassy in Bangladesh said no Bangladeshi citizen had been reported killed, injured or missing.

A new lake formed by the collapse about 40 miles north of Kathmandu holds about 2 million cubic metres of water, with another 3 million cubic metres potentially entering within three days. Nepal has divided rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations into 12 teams, while military personnel use helicopters, drones and search dogs despite blocked roads, high water and deep mud.

Australia has announced A$5 million, about US$3.6 million, in relief and humanitarian assistance for people affected by flooding in Nepal, AFP reported. The announcement comes as the country deals with the impact of severe flooding and efforts continue to locate Australians who remain unaccounted for.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said finding missing Australian nationals had become extremely difficult because of the scale and severity of the disaster. In an interview with Australia’s Today Show on Friday, she said the number of Australians who had lost contact with their families after the floods had risen to 39.

Wong said many people had been killed and many others remained missing in the disaster. She said about 20 officials from Australia’s foreign ministry were currently in Nepal. Australia plans to send further assistance and personnel to Nepal over the coming days.

A Chinese company is set to begin generating electricity from waste at Dhaka’s Aminbazar landfill within the next year and a half, according to State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam. The government plans to buy the electricity at Tk25 per unit. The project is expected to generate 42 megawatts and feed it into the national grid.

Shahe Alam disclosed the plans after Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen met Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moin Khan at the Secretariat on Thursday. A formal tripartite agreement is scheduled to be signed in Beijing on September 2, while a final financing agreement will involve the investor bank, the company and relevant Bangladeshi parties.

The state minister said the price appears high compared with other generation sources, but argued that waste disposal and organic fertiliser production would provide additional benefits. He said the Chinese company would pay monthly rent to the city corporation for use of the landfill, with no government investment required. China also expressed interest in Chattogram’s economic zone and Mongla port development.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Thursday appealed for $31 million to provide emergency assistance to people affected by devastating flash floods and landslides along Nepal’s border with Tibet. The Switzerland-based federation said the funding would support immediate disaster response and later help with medium- and long-term recovery and rehabilitation over the next two years.

The IFRC had previously released 1 million Swiss francs for immediate life-saving operations. Its secretary general, Jagan Chapagain, said the scale of the disaster was gradually becoming clearer, with entire villages known to have been swept away. He said needs would increase in the coming hours and days, while people who lost homes and livelihoods would require long-term support.

The cold water and mud surge struck on Wednesday with force compared to a tsunami wave, submerging settlements and damaging homes, bridges and dams. About 93,000 people may have been affected, although assessments continue in remote areas. Damaged transport infrastructure is complicating damage assessments and aid delivery. Nepal Red Cross teams are already distributing food, water, tarpaulins, blankets, first-aid supplies, stretchers and body bags.

Iran is preparing a set of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz following requests from mediators, according to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Rezaei said ending the regional war is among the conditions being prepared. He also said Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on a shipping route through the strait.

Under the proposed route, vessels would travel partly through Omani waters and partly through Iranian waters. In an interview with a Lebanese television channel, Rezaei said ships could use the strait’s designated central channel if the United States accepts Iran’s conditions.

Earlier, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the two countries had agreed on how control of the strait and revenue generated there would be shared. An IRGC spokesperson said Iran would not allow the strait to reopen until Washington withdraws its naval blockade. The spokesperson also said the United States must provide compensation and lift sanctions imposed on Iran.

A severe gas shortage is disrupting electricity generation across Bangladesh, increasing load shedding and affecting households, transport and industries. On Thursday, Dhaka faced average outages of one and a half to two hours, while areas outside the capital experienced power cuts lasting eight to 12 hours daily. The reported daily electricity shortfall exceeded 2,300 megawatts, alongside an estimated gas deficit of about 1.4 to 1.6 billion cubic feet.

According to the latest daily figures from Petrobangla and the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, gas demand stood at 3.8 to 4 billion cubic feet, against supply of only 2.38 to 2.4 billion cubic feet from production and imports. Domestic fields supplied 1.61 billion cubic feet, while regasified imported LNG added 770 to 800 million cubic feet to the national grid.

Gas-based power plants received 930 to 950 million cubic feet of gas, but officials said insufficient fuel has constrained output. Gas-fired plants with capacity of 12,500 megawatts are producing just over 5,000 megawatts, leaving about 7,000 megawatts of capacity idle. CNG users also reported long queues and low pressure.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump is keeping all options open regarding Iran. In an interview with Fox News, Leavitt said the United States had conducted “Operation Epic Fury” to destroy Iran’s military and was now pursuing “Operation Economic Outcast” to destroy its economy.

Leavitt said there are currently no talks with Iran. She said pressure would continue until Trump believes Iran is prepared to engage in meaningful negotiations.

According to Leavitt, Iran has so far shown no interest in entering meaningful talks. She said the Trump administration is therefore considering every type of option for its next steps concerning Iran.

US Senator Mark Kelly said President Trump is struggling to find a way out of the conflict with Iran. Speaking to ABC News, Kelly said ordinary Americans are paying the cost of the war as petrol and food prices rise. The source does not specify when or where the remarks were made beyond the ABC News interview.

Kelly said Trump faces limited options: escalating the conflict by sending ground troops, fully withdrawing from the war, or applying economic pressure while seeking to rebuild alliances with European partners. He warned that deploying ground forces could result in the deaths of thousands of Americans.

Calling the situation a crisis of Trump’s own making, Kelly said the president’s belief that he knows more than others had left him with few good choices. He also said bombing, which he stated has in some cases killed innocent Iranian children, was not a good plan. Kelly described economic measures and rebuilding alliances as comparatively better than sending ground forces.

The draw for the league phase of the revamped 36-team Champions League has been completed, placing defending champions Paris Saint-Germain and record 15-time winners Real Madrid in demanding schedules. PSG will host Luis Enrique’s former club Barcelona and travel to Manchester City and Aston Villa. Real Madrid will host Inter Milan and face Arsenal away in London.

Barcelona will host Manchester City and travel to PSG in another set of high-profile fixtures. Four teams are making their first appearance in this edition: Italy’s Como, coached by Cesc Fabregas, Austria’s LASK, Norway’s Viking and Azerbaijan’s Sabah.

Each of the 36 teams will play eight different opponents selected from four seeding pots, with four home and four away matches. The top eight teams will advance directly to the March round of 16, while teams ranked ninth through 24th enter February playoffs. The league phase begins on September 8-10 and ends on January 27, with the final scheduled for June 5, 2027.

Three journalists and senior officials at the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes have sued the Trump administration, alleging they were dismissed to undermine the publication’s editorial independence. Publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte filed the case against the Defense Department and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The case is due to be heard in a federal court in Washington, DC.

The plaintiffs received dismissal notices on August 21. Their lawsuit alleges that an interview in which Korte and Slavin discussed the importance of independent journalism at Stars and Stripes on CBS Sunday Morning was cited as one reason for action against them. They say the alleged censorship effort violates freedom of expression.

The Pentagon had previously said it planned to modernize the newspaper and focus its coverage on military operations, weapons, warfighting capability and troop welfare. Critics contend this could restrict its independence. The lawsuit also cites reporting on food and supply shortages and sailors’ mental stress during the prolonged deployment of USS Abraham, reports that President Donald Trump and Hegseth rejected as false.