Jagannath University launched the “Pubali Bank PLC Presents Jagannath University AI & IT Fest 2026” on Sunday, August 30, at the Shaheed Sajid Building premises. Organised by the Jagannath University IT Society, the day-long festival brings together students from about 20 universities and 40 technology clubs. Daily Amar Desh is the event’s media partner.

The festival includes programmes on artificial intelligence, robotics, innovation, project showcases and olympiads. In the AI Ad-Venture—Prompt to Production Challenge, participants are using AI to turn an idea into a realistic production. The AI & IT Olympiad has junior and senior divisions, while BrainChild Season 2.0 displays apps, websites and AI-based projects developed by young innovators from across the country.

TechUncut, Industry Talk and Live Pitch sessions are intended to provide practical industry and career insights through CEOs, industry representatives, technologists, content creators and mentors. A TechCare Zone is also offering software installation, system setup and other technical assistance. Organisers say the event will help students display skills, build networks and connect university innovation initiatives with a national platform.

The Middle East could become one of the world’s leading technology hubs by increasing investment in artificial intelligence and financial technology, according to an analysis. The region’s large financial resources, young population, energy advantages, expanding digital infrastructure and location between Europe, Asia and Africa are cited as key strengths. Global AI markets could grow from $407 billion to $990 billion by 2027, while fintech revenue may reach $2 trillion by 2030.

A major advantage is the region’s youthful population, with people under 30 accounting for nearly half of residents in many countries. Gulf sovereign wealth funds can support long-term technology and infrastructure projects. Relatively cheap and abundant energy also benefits AI data centres, while 5G networks, cloud technology and data-centre expansion are strengthening digital capacity.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have begun major AI and fintech investments. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 seeks a knowledge- and technology-based economy, and the country has declared 2026 the Year of AI. The UAE aims to establish AI leadership by 2031. Experts say other regional states should adopt clear strategies, invest in education and skills, and build on Arabic-language AI and Islamic fintech.

Dr Md Shahjahan, acting director of Cumilla Medical College Hospital, faces allegations of opposing anti-discrimination students during the July-August 2024 uprising and describing BNP rallies as terrorist activities. The report says he actively joined a “peace march” at the hospital on August 3 last year, organised by the group Shantipriyo Chikitsok O Narsra under then director Dr Azizur Rahman Siddiqui.

Sources among physicians alleged that the march positioned participants against students while law-enforcement agencies were suppressing the movement. Local allegations also say Shahjahan was close to former Cumilla Sadar lawmaker and local leader Bahar, and used that influence to marginalise BNP-aligned doctors. The report alleges that after the political change, he presented himself as being from a BNP family.

The report further claims Shahjahan is lobbying for the permanent director’s post with a recommendation linked to Housing and Public Works Minister Zakaria Taher. Former Cumilla district DAB president Dr M M Hasan said opponents of the 2024 uprising were receiving benefits while sidelining genuine BNP supporters. Shahjahan did not respond to repeated requests for comment, the report said.

Jharakata Multipurpose High School in Jharakata, Char Pakerdaha Union of Madarganj upazila, Jamalpur, continues its 119-year educational legacy. Founded as a minor school in 1907, the institution was built with support from local residents and now serves about 350 students. It stands on nearly five acres and has become associated with the region’s educational, cultural and social history.

A local oral tradition says a wandering woman known as Casho Pagli donated one paisa during discussions on establishing the school and requested that it be built at that location. Residents consider it the school’s first donation. Local sources say several residents later donated land and cash, while Abul Hossain of Mymensingh was the first head teacher. The school first took part in matriculation examinations in 1959.

The school has two three-storey academic buildings, one single-storey building, a library and multimedia classrooms, with 13 teachers and six staff members. Forty-seven students sat for the 2026 SSC examination, compared with 50 in 2025. Head teacher Shah Anichur Rahman said the institution is prioritising educational quality and extracurricular activities.

BNP standing committee member and the prime minister’s political adviser Mirza Abbas is scheduled to return to Bangladesh on Wednesday, September 2, after nearly five months of treatment in Singapore and Malaysia. His flight is expected to land at Shahjalal International Airport at 9pm. BNP media cell member Shayrul Kabir Khan confirmed the plan on Sunday.

Khan said Abbas has recovered considerably and decided to return home on the advice of a medical board. Abbas lost consciousness suddenly while drinking water during iftar on March 11. As his condition did not improve, he was admitted to Evercare Hospital in the capital later that night.

After his physical condition worsened on March 15, Abbas was flown from Dhaka to Singapore by air ambulance. Following treatment there, he was taken to Malaysia for further medical care. Abbas was elected member of parliament from the Dhaka-8 constituency in the 13th national parliamentary election.

The United Nations Development Programme said it wants to strengthen cooperation with Bangladesh to attract investment, ease business and trade procedures, reduce logistics costs and build the capacity of micro, small and medium enterprises. The issues were discussed on Sunday, 30 August, at a meeting in the Secretariat between Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir and UNDP Bangladesh Resident Representative Stefan Rodriques.

UNDP said Bangladesh’s investment potential is increasing and stressed the need to use that opportunity while strengthening local businesses and ensuring environmental and social standards. The minister said the government has taken measures to simplify business licensing and approval processes, reducing some procedures from about three months to within two weeks. He said further steps would be taken to make the processes simpler, faster and more effective.

The meeting also addressed reducing high logistics costs and improving efficiency in port and terminal management. UNDP expressed interest in helping link smaller firms to global supply chains, make them export-oriented, reduce unnecessary customs delays, and strengthen Bangladesh’s trade-negotiation capacity through training, tools and international experience sharing. Rodriques said UNDP support would be realigned with government priorities for jobs, growth and economic diversification.

Japan is stepping up efforts to expand trade and reinforce free trade links across global markets amid US tariff policies and growing uncertainty in international commerce. Tokyo is pursuing trade agreements and broader economic cooperation with partners in the Gulf, South America, India and Europe as it seeks to widen its economic diplomacy.

The world’s third-largest economy has become more active over the past decade in supporting a rules-based international trading system. Japan is negotiating a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council and aims to become the second G7 country, after the United Kingdom, to conclude such a deal. It has also begun trade agreement discussions with Mercosur, the South American bloc of about 280 million people with a combined economy of roughly $3 trillion.

Japan imports agricultural products, energy, metals and mineral resources from Mercosur, while seeking future cooperation on rare minerals, lithium and clean energy. Bilateral trade with India reached about $23 billion in fiscal 2024-25, and cumulative Japanese investment there since 2000 exceeded $43 billion. Japan’s economic partnership agreement with the European Union has been in force since 2019.

A union parishad member and local BNP leader, Md Abdul Khalek, has been accused of receiving a widow’s allowance intended for Rahima Begum in Debiganj, Panchagarh, for nearly six years. Rahima, a resident of Baneshwarpara in Tepiganj Union, said she last received the allowance in July 2020 and later learned that payments were being sent to an unfamiliar Nagad number.

Social services office records show that Rahima’s allowance was sent through MIS software to 01917-367492 from 2021 to 2026. The latest payment of Tk1,961 was sent in May 2026, while about Tk40,000 was reportedly withdrawn from the account over six years. An inquiry found that the Nagad account was opened using Khalek’s national identity card information.

Rahima alleged that Khalek’s brother gave her son Tk7,000 and pressured him not to pursue the matter. Khalek said he did not know how his number was linked to the benefit and claimed the SIM was lost four years ago, without filing a general diary. The upazila social services officer and UNO said action would follow an investigation if a written complaint is submitted.

Opposition members of the parliamentary standing committee on law, justice and parliamentary affairs boycotted a meeting over the proposed National Human Rights Commission Bill. At a press briefing at the National Parliament Building on Sunday afternoon, opposition spokesperson and Jamaat-e-Islami MP Barrister Mohammad Najibur Rahman Momen said the move protested what he described as a rushed effort to pass the bill without sufficient time for opinions.

Momen said the committee had been given only two days to submit views, which he said had turned it into a “rubber stamp.” He said opposition members had also walked out when the bill was presented on Thursday. They alleged the government had repealed the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, 2025 unilaterally while disregarding views from affected people, stakeholders and domestic and international human rights groups.

The opposition members said the proposed bill was weaker and narrower than the law the government had promised to enact. They also said it was not aligned with GANHRI standards, the Paris Principles and relevant international conventions and declarations. Momen, Al Faruk Abdul Latif and Akhtar Hossain said they would not participate in discussions, review or any stage of the bill’s passage, and would no longer attend committee meetings.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said the rulers of the United States and Israel are enemies not only of Iran or the Islamic resistance, but of the entire Muslim community. In a message issued on Sunday for “Unity Week,” he called on leaders of Muslim countries in West Asia and the Persian Gulf to identify what he described as the real enemy and confront its conspiracies.

Khamenei said the solution to the Muslim community’s problems lies in unity, mutual friendship and cooperation. He said enemies seek to exploit religious and ideological differences among Muslim countries, as well as ethnic, cultural, social, economic, political and geographical divisions, in an effort to create discord.

He also said Iran provides a successful example of Muslim unity, claiming that hostile conspiracies have not had much effect there. Khamenei warned, however, that efforts to weaken the Muslim community by stoking divisions would continue. The message focused on urging Muslim states to strengthen solidarity and resist what he portrayed as external attempts to deepen internal splits.

International relations expert Yossi Mekelberg said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be putting his political future at risk by escalating tensions with Turkey. Mekelberg said Netanyahu’s recent military actions could be shaped by domestic political calculations ahead of a general election scheduled for October.

According to the analysis, an Israeli strike on Syria’s Abu Duhur airbase near the Turkish border has taken the situation to a new level. Israel said Turkey had planned to deploy troops at the base. Turkey rejected the allegation, with US support, and accused Israel of trying to draw Turkey into conflict. US ambassador to Turkey and Syria envoy Tom Barrack also questioned Israel’s actions.

Mekelberg said Syria’s government under new leader Ahmad al-Shara is not seeking conflict with Israel, instead focusing on reconstruction, economic recovery and foreign investment after a long civil war. He said there is insufficient evidence to regard a possible Turkish presence in Syria as a direct threat to Israel. He warned that direct tensions with NATO member Turkey could weaken Israel’s international position and affect ties with Washington.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States fulfills its commitments. He said no vessel would be allowed to pass through the waterway without Iranian coordination and permission. The remarks did not specify when the commitments were suspended or what actions Washington must take.

Gharibabadi said Iran has reached an understanding with Oman concerning vessel traffic, but that arrangement will not be implemented until the United States meets its obligations. He said Iran is prepared to take further steps regarding the strait if Washington takes the necessary measures first.

The Iranian official said recent US sanctions are not new for Tehran and that Iran is prepared to confront them. He accused the United States of withdrawing from diplomatic understandings for the third time in 16 months. On mediation by Qatar and Pakistan, he said both countries are examining the possibility of implementing commitments under the Islamabad memorandum of understanding. He reiterated that Iran will not take the first step to reopen the strait.

International Crimes Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam said investigators have found a clue suggesting a connection between a person from the cultural sphere and the murders of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi. Speaking to reporters at his office on Sunday, he did not disclose the person’s name or identity.

Aminul Islam said the tribunal’s investigation agency is not conducting the Sagar-Runi murder investigation; another agency is handling the case. He said it is not unusual for investigators to find information or clues related to other incidents during an investigation, and such information has also emerged in this case. The person concerned is under surveillance and the information is being verified.

He said reliable information obtained after further investigation would be provided to the Police Bureau of Investigation, or PBI, which is investigating the case. Sagar and Runi were killed in their rented home in West Rajabazar in the capital on February 11, 2012, and the investigation has remained unfinished for a long time. Aminul Islam said the case is an individual murder case and must be tried in the relevant sessions court, not the International Crimes Tribunal.

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said those involved in enforced disappearances would face justice regardless of their power, describing disappearance as a crime against humanity and a grave human-rights violation. He made the remarks on Sunday at an International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 2026 event at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Agargaon, Dhaka.

The president said disappearances violate constitutional guarantees of life, personal liberty, legal protection and human dignity. He alleged that disappearances, secret detention sites known as Aynaghar, and killings occurred during the past one and a half decades under a “fascist” government. He remembered named victims and said many people who disappeared have not returned, while some survivors had been held for years in harsh conditions.

Citing the final report of the commission investigating disappearances, he said it identified 1,569 cases, including 287 people listed as missing and dead. He said the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Bill, 2026 has been placed in parliament, Bangladesh has signed the international convention against enforced disappearance, and trials are proceeding through the International Crimes Tribunal. He also called for state support, rehabilitation, healthcare, education and livelihoods for affected families.

Climate change is increasing water scarcity, reducing agricultural output and raising the risk of higher food prices across the Arab world, experts say. The region, already among the world’s most water-stressed areas, could face a larger food and humanitarian crisis as desertification expands and water supplies needed for farming decline.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, arable land accounts for less than 5 percent of land in Arab countries. The region is heavily dependent on food imports, with nearly two-thirds of total food demand expected to be met through imports by 2031. Several Gulf countries already import more than 90 percent of the food they need. Egypt imports about half of its wheat, and higher wheat prices can increase subsidy costs and pressure spending in other sectors.

WFP regional director Samer Abdeljaber said excessive dependence on imports leaves the region highly vulnerable to disruptions in global food markets. WFP identified serious food-security conditions in Yemen, Syria, Palestine, and parts of Iraq and Libya. Experts called for early warning systems, effective water management, climate-resilient agriculture, reliable groundwater sources and stronger local disaster-response capacity.