Nepal may need $4 billion to $5 billion to rebuild after devastating floods triggered by a glacier collapse in the Himalayan region, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle told Reuters on Saturday. The collapse occurred last Wednesday, sending rocks, ice, mud and debris downstream and causing severe flooding in Nepal and China’s Tibet. Damage assessments are still under way, and Wagle said the estimate remains preliminary.

More than 600 people have been killed across the two countries, while over 2,000 remain missing. Strong flood currents damaged several towns and settlements near the border, washing away bridges and roads. Important hydropower plants were also affected, adding to the scale of the disaster.

Wagle said the reconstruction requirement could be lower than the amount needed after Nepal’s 2015 earthquake, when about $9 billion was spent on rebuilding. The floods have damaged hydropower projects responsible for more than 12 percent of Nepal’s total electricity-generation capacity. Securing reconstruction funds, restoring infrastructure, normalizing electricity production and reviving economic activity are identified as major challenges.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said a special police unit has been formed to recover illegal and looted weapons, with rewards of up to Tk200,000 for people who help locate them. He announced the measure on Saturday afternoon after a quarterly crime review meeting at the Rajarbagh Police Auditorium.

Ahmed said the operation has already begun with intelligence support from various agencies. He said nationwide drives are also under way to arrest extortionists and terrorists, and warned that police officers who fail to take appropriate action against them will face measures.

The minister said efforts are being made to make police a force that meets public expectations and is friendly to citizens, while improving its image and law-and-order conditions. He said police stations damaged during the July mass uprising have resumed operations and many conditions have returned to normal. However, 1,326 weapons looted from police during that period remain untraced.

The National Citizen Party, or NCP, ultimately held its organisational coordination meeting at the Brahmanbaria District Shilpakala Academy on Saturday night after a day of uncertainty over the venue. The event received renewed approval at 5:30pm and began at 7pm, with central chief organiser Sarjis Alam and leaders from central and local levels in attendance.

The meeting had initially been planned for the Shilpakala Academy, but tensions arose after the Qaumi Chhatra Oikya Parishad announced a programme at the same location. The administration later informed organisers that the academy venue had been cancelled, prompting consideration of Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Bhasha Chattar and then the District Council auditorium.

Earlier on Saturday afternoon, NCP leaders met Qaumi students at Jamia Islamia Yunusia Madrasa. Following the meeting, the Qaumi students withdrew their announced programme at the academy and said they would not obstruct the NCP event. After prolonged discussions and several venue changes, the academy was again designated as the meeting site.

Speakers at an AB Party seminar in the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah Hall of the National Press Club on Saturday warned that replacing the disappearance ordinance with a new law could create opportunities for immunity rather than ensure justice for enforced disappearances. They said ending the culture of disappearances requires a strong law, an independent investigation system and prosecution of every responsible person, including those who gave orders.

BNP media cell convener Dr. Moudud Hossain Alamgir Pavel said a weak police system could not effectively investigate or prosecute an offence as serious as disappearance. FSDS chairman Fazle Elahi Akbar welcomed the government’s committee on the issue but said committees alone would not solve the problem, citing past failures of committees formed on various issues.

BNP lawmaker Hummam Qader Chowdhury said rumours had circulated about the proposed anti-disappearance law, while extensive research had been conducted before drafting it. He said the force accused of a disappearance would not investigate the allegation and that bringing those who ordered disappearances to justice had been considered. Barrister Zubayer Ahmed Bhuiyan said disappearances also leave families in prolonged fear, uncertainty and mental suffering.

Sitakunda Municipal Executive Officer Md Nazrul Islam has acknowledged living in an official room at the municipal building for nearly a decade, saying he stays there to guard the premises like a night watchman rather than for personal convenience. The arrangement, his lengthy tenure at the same workplace and questions surrounding transfer orders have prompted concerns over the use of public property and funds.

More than Tk 400,000 in electricity bills for June and July has also drawn scrutiny. Islam said the amount covers not only the municipal building but also streetlights in all nine wards, and that the bills were calculated on an average basis because the municipality lacks card meters. However, no itemized breakdown has been disclosed separating building consumption from streetlight costs or identifying any personal electricity use.

Former councillor Shamsul Alam Azad said Islam had served almost continuously in Sitakunda since 2015 despite transfers. A May 21, 2024 order transferred him to Kaliganj municipality in Gazipur, though its later status requires document verification. A new order posts him to Shibpur municipality in Narsingdi, where he is due to join by September 1.

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar alleged that extortion, intimidation, repression, looting and political favoritism have returned under the current government. He made the remarks as chief guest at a Jamaat rally at Terokhada’s new bus stand on Saturday, August 29. He said the government was moving along nearly the same path as the Awami League, which, he said, had been removed from power over similar accusations.

Parwar said people across Bangladesh had sought a corruption-free and discrimination-free country, expecting an end to repression of dissent, terrorism, extortion, money laundering and wrongful detention, killings, cases and remand. He questioned the government’s performance after the election, arguing that six months was not too short a period to assess it. He also alleged political discrimination in lists for farmer cards and family cards, claiming people outside BNP were being excluded.

Referring to law and order in Khulna, Parwar alleged increased violence and armed conflict in Rupsa. He demanded implementation of the July Charter and said consensus had been reached on 84 reforms through 72 meetings over nine months. After the rally, he introduced candidates for upazila chairman, vice chairman and union parishad chairman and urged voters to elect them.

Bangladesh’s Education Ministry said Saturday that disciplinary measures have been taken over cheating during an Open University degree examination at Kazipur Degree College in Gangni upazila of Meherpur. A video showing candidates using books during the first-year degree English first-paper examination circulated recently on social media and in news outlets.

Four examinees involved in cheating during the examination have been expelled, according to the ministry’s press release. Two teachers have also been relieved of all examination-related duties. The ministry said preparations are under way to take departmental and legal action against those involved in the incident.

Two journalists were allegedly attacked and beaten while recording video of the incident, and their mobile phones were reportedly taken. Rabby Ahmed, Meherpur district correspondent for Bangladesh Betar and Nagorik Television, filed a case at Gangni police station on Friday against Rafiqzzaman, Moniruzzaman Biplob and 10 unidentified people over the alleged attack.

Police in Tongi, Gazipur, have identified the 26-year-old woman seen unconscious between two men on a motorcycle on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. She is Sahena Begum Sumi, a Baul artist who lived with her elder sister in the Bowbazar area and performed songs in different places. After questioning by Tongi West police on Saturday afternoon, she was released into her elder sister’s custody.

Sumi told local journalists that she drank alcohol herself at a bar in Uttara after becoming mentally distressed by family problems. She said no one made her drink. She said she knew the two motorcycle riders as her uncles and called them when her condition worsened after drinking.

According to her account, the two men took her to a friend’s home in Mirpur, Dhaka, after receiving the information. She also alleged that her former husband, Shahriar, had spread false and misleading information to put her in trouble. Deputy Commissioner SM Shafiqul Islam said police found her currently normal, while efforts continue to locate the two motorcycle riders.

Lawmakers, lawyers, former military officers and returned victims of enforced disappearance criticised a draft law on disappearances at a discussion in Banglamotor, Dhaka, on Saturday. The event, organised by rights group Odhikar for the International Day of the Disappeared, heard objections to provisions that could imprison a complainant for five years if an allegation cannot be proven and allow police to investigate disappearance cases.

BNP lawmaker A M Mahbub Uddin Khokon said victims or relatives may not know who carried out a disappearance and questioned whether police could properly verify such allegations. Jamaat lawmaker and returned victim Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem called the draft a “garbage law,” arguing that it interferes with constitutionally recognised freedom of expression and limits legal remedies. Returned victim Abdullah Al Amin said placing the burden of proof on victims was inhumane where state institutions allegedly destroy evidence.

Odhikar placed three demands before the government. It called for investigations to be assigned to an independent National Human Rights Commission rather than law-enforcement agencies, legal arrangements for families of people who have not returned to manage bank accounts and transfer property, and withdrawal of cases described as false against returned victims.

Julian Alvarez has told Arsenal he does not want to join the north London club because he prefers a move to Barcelona, according to transfer specialist David Ornstein. Arsenal had shown interest in signing the Argentine forward, and Alvarez spoke directly with coach Mikel Arteta about the prospect. Ornstein said a transfer to Arsenal currently appears unlikely because the player’s focus remains on Barcelona.

Alvarez has been linked with a transfer throughout the summer. Barcelona have made several attempts to sign the former Manchester City forward, but Atletico Madrid have not responded to their proposals. The Spanish club said last week that it was not considering selling Alvarez to Barcelona. Reports had presented Arsenal as an alternative destination, with Atletico reportedly more open to reaching an agreement with the English club.

Ornstein said the situation could still change in the coming days if Alvarez softens his stance. The forward’s future has also become uncertain at Atletico, where he was jeered by supporters during last Sunday’s match against Villarreal. He missed morning training on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday because of illness, then returned to Atletico’s Majadahonda training centre on Friday afternoon without training with the squad.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that no other country would be allowed to sell oil in any region where Tehran cannot sell its own. In a post on X on Friday, he described the situation as an all-or-nothing equation, following a claim by US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper that US forces had taken full control of the Strait of Hormuz and stopped Iran’s oil exports.

Ghalibaf said the security of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz depended on the absence of what he called “terrorist US troops.” He said no infrastructure would remain secure if Iran’s security was not ensured, linking the waterway’s safety directly to the absence of US forces.

He also said Iran had repeatedly stated that conditions in the Strait of Hormuz before the war would not return. The strait is one of the world’s most important energy transit routes, carrying about one-fifth of global oil demand, according to the report.

Liverpool twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Nottingham Forest at Anfield, remaining winless after their first two matches of the new season. Dan Ndoye gave Forest the lead in the 24th minute after collecting a pass from Morgan Gibbs-White, and the visitors carried a 1-0 advantage into halftime.

Liverpool levelled in the 60th minute when Alexander Isak finished into an empty net from Cody Gakpo’s low cross. The home side then pushed forward for a winner, but Forest regained the lead in the 69th minute. Goalkeeper Alisson fouled Neco Williams in the box, and Gibbs-White converted the resulting penalty after a VAR review upheld the referee’s decision.

Victor Munoz restored parity for Liverpool in the 82nd minute with a powerful strike. Neither team scored again, leaving both sides with a point. Liverpool have two points from two draws and sit 10th in the standings, while Nottingham Forest are 12th with one point from one draw and one defeat.

Nurul Islam Bulbul, MP for Chapainawabganj-3 and amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Dhaka South, criticised the government over electricity and fuel shortages, rising commodity prices, corruption and mismanagement at a student-youth gathering in Bholahat, Chapainawabganj, on Friday evening. He said a new Bangladesh should be built by implementing the referendum verdict and reforming the constitution.

Bulbul alleged that corruption, inefficiency and mismanagement had disrupted normal state operations and burdened ordinary people. He said 62,000 employees had lost jobs and 41 power plants had become inoperative, while the government had failed to ensure uninterrupted electricity. He also criticised increases in fuel, oil, gas and commodity prices, saying they had made daily life difficult.

Addressing border issues, Bulbul alleged that people in India who are Muslim and Bengali-speaking were being pushed into Bangladesh, creating an economic burden, and said people were being killed indiscriminately at the border. He called for a safe, humane and liveable country based on justice and fairness. Other speakers included MPs Dr Mu. Mizanur Rahman and local Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir leaders.

Qawmi Chhatra Oikya Parishad has warned that it will not allow National Citizen Party (NCP) programmes in Brahmanbaria unless lawmaker Hasnat Abdullah publicly apologises to local residents. The warning was issued at a brief rally outside the Brahmanbaria Press Club late Friday night, following a protest march that began in the city’s Kandipara area and travelled along the main road.

Speakers at the rally strongly criticised Hasnat’s remarks in parliament concerning recent incidents in Brahmanbaria. They raised slogans against him and demanded that he apologise publicly to the people of the district over the statement.

The speakers said that otherwise they would prevent an already scheduled NCP organisational coordination meeting and political workshop from taking place at the District Shilpakala Academy on Saturday afternoon. Earlier on Thursday, Hasnat had sharply criticised the government in parliament for failing to take effective action after cultural programmes were stopped at police lines in Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria.

The Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance has announced support for a march toward the National Parliament and the submission of a memorandum to the Speaker, marking International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30. The alliance disclosed its position in a press release sent to the media on Saturday.

Hamidur Rahman Azad, coordinator of the 11-party alliance and assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, said the programme will be organised by the National Committee for the Prevention of Enforced Disappearances. The march is scheduled to begin at 3pm on Sunday from in front of Rupayan Tower in Banglamotor, Dhaka.

Participants will proceed in a procession toward the parliament complex and submit a memorandum to the Speaker in front of the parliament building. The 11-party alliance said it fully supports the programme and called on its leaders, activists and the public to participate spontaneously to ensure its overall success.