Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy and son-in-law, held direct talks with Hamas leaders in Cairo despite Israeli objections, according to a report published on August 18. The meeting was described as an important step toward implementing Trump’s 15-point plan to end the war in Gaza and establish a subsequent political arrangement. Kushner met for more than two hours with a delegation led by Hamas political leader Khalil al-Hayya.

Kushner was joined by Nikolai Mladenov, director-general of Trump’s Board of Peace, and former British prime minister Tony Blair. Although the United States officially designates Hamas as a banned terrorist organization, analysts said Hamas cannot be completely excluded from any lasting settlement over Gaza’s future. The plan calls for a phased halt to military operations, gradual deactivation and storage of Hamas weapons, Israeli troop withdrawal, deployment of an international stabilization force, and a Palestinian technocratic administration.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the plan, saying Israeli forces would not withdraw until Hamas is fully disarmed. Hamas said it was prepared to accept the plan but demanded that Israel first meet ceasefire terms and stop attacks. Saudi Arabia and seven other countries criticized Israel’s rejection in a joint statement. Disputes over the sequence of disarmament, troop withdrawal and ending the war remain unresolved.

An 11-year-old third-grade student, Shipa Moni, was killed after being hit by a speeding bus in Phulbari, Dinajpur, while walking to school with her mother on Tuesday morning. The crash occurred at about 7:45am in the Bus Stand-Bottoli area of Phulbari municipal town on the Dinajpur-Dhaka regional highway. Shipa, daughter of Istamul Haque of North Sujapur village, attended North Point School, where her mother, Rikta Parvin, works as an attendant.

Local residents took Shipa to Phulbari উপজেলা Health Complex after the bus struck her while she was crossing the road. The attending doctor declared her dead, while the hospital emergency department said she had died before reaching the facility. The bus, travelling from Dinajpur toward Birampur, left the scene after the crash. Her death brought grief among relatives, classmates and local residents.

After news of the death spread, residents blocked the Dinajpur-Dhaka regional highway near the health complex at 9am, disrupting traffic and leaving numerous vehicles stranded on both sides. The blockade was withdrawn after an hour following intervention by the উপজেলা administration. Police said the bus involved had been detained, but its driver and assistant remained absconding. Legal action was under process.

Hakainde Hichilema has been elected to a second term as Zambia’s president after receiving 60 percent of the vote, the Electoral Commission announced on Tuesday. The presidential election was held last Thursday in the copper-producing country and was described as largely peaceful. Hichilema, 64, has been in office since 2021 and faced 13 challengers in the contest.

His main rival, former provincial minister Brian Mundubile, received about 38 percent of the vote, according to Electoral Commission chairperson Mwangaala Jaloumis. Results from five of 226 constituencies were still pending, but the commission said they would not significantly alter the overall outcome. Hichilema thanked citizens for their trust and pledged to work for those who had voted for other candidates.

Hundreds of supporters of Hichilema’s United Party for National Development celebrated in Lusaka with singing, dancing and fireworks. Mundubile alleged irregularities in vote counting and document manipulation without providing evidence. Counting was suspended for nearly six hours on Friday after allegations of attacks on polling workers and ballot theft. International observers, including the European Union, warned the suspension could harm confidence in the electoral process and voters’ trust.

Students of the Marketing Department at Islamic University expressed anger after Professor Dr Abdus Shahid Mia, dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, was appointed department chair. On Tuesday at about 9:30am, they held a human chain on the ground floor of the faculty building before locking it and halting faculty operations. They demanded that a teacher from their own department be appointed chair.

Protesters chanted slogans calling for a departmental chair and rejecting what they described as an illegal appointment. Departmental sources said the Marketing Department has five teachers, all assistant professors. One had previously served as chair, while another’s term ended on August 17. The remaining three teachers are considered eligible to become chair under the rules.

The regulations state that the most senior teacher in a department should be appointed chair, followed by rotation. If no eligible teacher is available, the current chair may be reappointed; if that person declines an interim role, the faculty dean may take responsibility. Students said they would not unlock the gate until their demand was met. Members of the university proctorial body were present, while the registrar could not be reached.

A traffic sergeant assigned to the Pallabi zone detained a suspected snatcher after he allegedly fled with a woman’s bag and mobile phone at Mirpur-12 crossing in the capital. The suspect was identified as Liton Sheikh, 20. The incident occurred near the Mirpur-12 traffic box at about 5:45pm on Monday, August 17, according to Pallabi traffic zone sources.

The sergeant was on duty when he saw a man running away with the woman’s bag and phone. He immediately chased the suspect. Several pedestrians came forward to assist the traffic sergeant during the pursuit, and the suspect was eventually apprehended.

Liton Sheikh was later handed over to Pallabi Police Station. The recovered bag and mobile phone were returned to the woman concerned, the Pallabi traffic zone sources said. The report was published on August 18, 2026, and updated later the same day.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said the government wants to build a taxpayer-friendly revenue structure and transform the National Board of Revenue, or NBR, into an institution trusted rather than feared. He made the remarks as chief guest at the Revenue Conference 2026 at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital on Tuesday. He said efficient and sustainable revenue management was necessary to meet taxpayers’ expectations and build public confidence.

Rahman said the government opposed relying solely on foreign assistance while placing additional debt burdens on future generations. He called for expanding domestic income sources through a people-oriented production policy, which he said would raise investment, trade, industrialisation, incomes and employment. He also urged revenue officials to develop broad skills in areas including the digital economy, e-commerce, international taxation, financial crime, money laundering, artificial intelligence and data analytics.

He called for simpler, online-based tax payment systems free from corruption and harassment. Noting that the tax-to-GDP ratio remains low, the tax base is narrow and much of the economy is informal, he urged authorities to identify tax-capable people rather than repeatedly increasing burdens on existing taxpayers. He said revenue collection showed a positive trend from mid-February through late June.

Litton Kazi, 32, died by suicide after consuming poison in Lohachura village of Maharajpur ইউনিয়ন, Muksudpur upazila in Gopalganj, amid pressure to repay loan installments, according to the report. His father, Mannan Kazi, 60, later died after seeing his son’s body, reportedly from cardiac arrest caused by overwhelming grief. The two were buried after a joint funeral at 10 pm on August 17.

Local and police sources said Litton had taken loans from several NGOs, including Bureau Bangladesh, CARSA and BRAC. On Sunday, he argued with an NGO worker after being pressured to pay an installment. The report said he consumed poison afterward, citing humiliation. Family members first took him to Muksudpur উপজেলা Health Complex before he was referred to Faridpur Medical College Hospital, where he died.

After legal procedures by Muksudpur police, Litton’s body was brought home the following Monday. Police said they had instructed relatives to take the body to the Faridpur morgue for an inquest report before it was returned. Village police officer Bacchu Sheikh and Maharajpur ইউনিয়ন acting chairman Jahid Hossain confirmed the incident.

US Air Force Major Jason Watson has faced disciplinary action after posting on social media that President Donald Trump should be impeached, according to the report published on August 18, 2026. Watson made the call after US military strikes in Iran and publicly criticized Trump’s Iran policy. He questioned the president’s decision to take military action against Iran and said it warranted impeachment.

The report says US military personnel face strict restrictions on political activity and public political statements. Service members on duty cannot take part in activities that could call the military’s political neutrality into question. The action against Watson has prompted renewed debate over the need to uphold military discipline and political neutrality.

Critics have raised questions about how much freedom a service member has to personally criticize government policy or express opinions. The case emerged amid intensified political debate in the United States over the Trump administration’s military and foreign policy toward Iran. It has also renewed questions about the boundaries of free expression, political neutrality and military discipline within the armed forces.

CNG-powered autorickshaws operating on the Mohaniganj-Mymensingh road in Netrokona are using cooking LPG cylinders as fuel amid a prolonged shortage at the local filling station. The cylinders are tied behind passenger seats, creating fears of fire or explosions, according to local residents. The report was published on August 18, 2026.

A field visit found LPG cylinders strapped in the empty rear space of nearly every CNG vehicle standing at the Mohaniganj station. Netrokona's only AR Khan Pathan CNG and Filling Station has faced severe gas shortages for a long time, the report said. Many drivers reportedly wait in line for more than 24 hours without receiving gas.

Resident Rafiq Ahmed Russell said fares from Mohaniganj to Netrokona had risen from Tk100 to Tk150. Driver Rigan Mia said drivers were compelled to use LPG to keep earning and meet bank instalments. A Fire Service official warned that LPG is highly flammable and said legal action would be taken if directed by higher authorities.

The US Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s request for reconsideration in the civil case brought by writer and former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll over sexual abuse and defamation. The decision appeared on the court’s August order list released Monday. It was the second rejection after the court declined in June to hear Trump’s appeal of the 2023 verdict.

In the 2023 case, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 1996 and later defaming her. It ordered him to pay roughly $5 million in damages. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said they were pleased that the Supreme Court again declined to hear the case, adding that the jury’s unanimous decision was now final and could not be challenged in any court.

The Supreme Court gave no explanation for denying Trump’s request, one of 33 reconsideration requests rejected that day. After the June denial, Carroll received about $5.8 million in damages and interest. Trump is also appealing to the Supreme Court a separate 2024 jury award of $83.3 million to Carroll in a defamation case.

The Kalima Tayyiba, “La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah,” has been engraved in Arabic calligraphy on the wall directly behind the speaker’s seat in the National Parliament. The BNP Facebook page said on Tuesday that the work was completed on March 12, before the start of the parliament’s 13th session, following Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s advice.

The initiative was not limited to the speaker’s seat. At the prime minister’s special instruction, the country’s principle of “faith and trust in Almighty Allah” was also added at the entrances to the National Parliament.

Sources concerned said the measure was taken to preserve the dignity and solemnity of the National Parliament. The report was published on August 18, 2026, and updated later the same day.

Two campus journalists alleged they were harassed while covering clashes between two factions of the student wing at Noakhali Science and Technology University. The incident occurred around 3:30am on Tuesday at Bir Muktijoddha Abdul Malek Ukil Hall and near the pocket gate. The journalists named were Mahiz Siddiqui Siam of Manab Zamin and Mehedi Hasan of Protidiner Sangbad.

The reporters alleged that several student-wing activists pushed and assaulted them, seized their phones and deleted recorded video footage. Siam said he was forced to unlock his phone, after which footage was removed and social-media applications were checked to see whether he had sent any video. Hasan said Faisal Hossain took their phones, told them to stop recording and pushed both reporters away from the scene.

The journalists sought a fair investigation and organisational action against those involved. The NSTU Journalists Association said it would submit a complaint to the university administration. Student-wing general secretary Hasibul Hossain said he was unaware of the matter and would look into it. Proctor A F M Arifur Rahman said action would be taken under university rules if a formal complaint is received.

Venezuela’s death toll from two powerful earthquakes that struck near its coast in June has risen to 6,438, authorities said Monday. The updated figure was announced nearly two months after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck on June 24. Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodriguez said the toll had increased from 6,301 reported last week.

At least 190 buildings collapsed in the earthquakes, according to the reported official information. About 60,000 homes were damaged, including roughly 24,000 that have become uninhabitable. Relatives and rescue workers are still searching through rubble for missing people despite the time that has passed since the disaster.

Thousands of people remain in temporary camps, where living conditions are described as extremely difficult. Heavy rain in Caracas over the weekend damaged several tents used by earthquake survivors. The government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez has promised to provide new homes for those affected, aiming to deliver 4,000 homes by the end of the year. So far, only 335 homes have been prepared for victims.

At least three people were injured after two factions of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, or JCD, clashed over a room-seat exchange at Noakhali Science and Technology University. The violence occurred in phases from late Monday night into the early hours of Tuesday, August 18, at Abdul Malek Ukil Hall and the Pocket Gate area. One injured student was admitted to Noakhali General Hospital.

The injured were branch JCD student welfare affairs secretary Anisur Rahman Sifat, former Anti-Discrimination Student Movement coordinator Jahidul Islam Hasan, and agriculture student Samiul Islam. Witnesses said an argument between senior and junior activists began around 2am over a seat exchange. About an hour later, supporters of the branch president and general secretary allegedly attacked Sifat. Samiul was later attacked near Pocket Gate, suffering a split lip, while Hasan was beaten while trying to stop the incident.

Sifat and senior vice-president Sabbir Hasan alleged the attack was planned, while general secretary Hasibul Hossain said he was not aware of the matter and would look into it. Proctor A F M Arifur Rahman said the hall provost body and university administration had been informed, Ansar members were alerted, and a proctorial body meeting would be called. Action would follow university rules if a formal complaint is submitted.

A series of strong earthquakes in Indonesia, Colombia and Mexico over the past month has raised questions about whether the world is experiencing more earthquakes than before. Three earthquakes of magnitude 7 or higher struck those countries, while Venezuela had two major earthquakes within seconds of each other in June. However, data available through mid-August 2026 indicate that recent activity remains within normal fluctuations rather than showing an unusual long-term increase.

From 2016 to 2025, the world recorded an average of 133 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher each year. There were 99 such earthquakes in 2024, compared with a high of 157 in 2021. By mid-August this year, 91 magnitude-6-or-higher earthquakes had been recorded worldwide, including 11 of magnitude 7 or above. Scientists say the pace is slightly higher than the recent decade but not abnormal, and no magnitude 8 or 9 mega-earthquake has occurred this year.

USGS data show that about 20,000 earthquakes are recorded globally each year, or roughly 55 a day, though most are too weak to be felt. Damage also depends on depth, proximity to populated areas, building quality and soil conditions. Scientists cannot precisely predict timing, but risk assessment, stronger construction and early-warning systems can help save lives.