Retired USWNT legend Alex Morgan says the NWSL will continue to attract top domestic and international players even under its $3.3M salary cap, which rises to $5.1M by 2030. Speaking ahead of her jersey retirement with the San Diego Wave, Morgan pointed to the league’s competitiveness, improved facilities, and consistent high-level matches as major draws.

Her comments follow Alyssa Thompson’s record move to Chelsea and other big-money transfers abroad, which have fueled debate over whether Europe’s spending power could lure away talent.

Morgan, now a Wave minority owner, acknowledged the growing fees — with multiple $1M+ transfers this year — but said the NWSL’s week-to-week intensity still makes it “the most competitive league in the world.”

USWNT forward Alyssa Thompson has joined Chelsea from Angel City FC in a record-breaking transfer, one of the most expensive in women’s soccer. The 20-year-old leaves behind her role as Angel City’s star player to test herself against some of the world’s best in England.

For Chelsea, the signing fits their “Vision 2030” strategy of securing elite young talent. With Mayra Ramírez sidelined long-term, Thompson adds immediate depth and long-term promise as the club continues its push for the elusive Champions League title.

For Thompson, it’s a chance to grow: daily training with top players, tougher league and European matches, and a more competitive environment than the mid-table NWSL side she leaves. While she won’t walk into Chelsea as the star, she will gain valuable experience that should also benefit the USWNT.

For Angel City and the NWSL, it’s a major loss — both on the field and symbolically. Thompson was a hometown face of the league, and her departure highlights the challenge U.S. clubs face in keeping top talent amid Europe’s growing pull.

In her own words, Thompson’s goals with Chelsea are clear: “Win the Champions League. Develop as a player. Win — a lot.”

The D.C. Council voted 9–3 to approve a $3.7 billion stadium project at the historic RFK site, clearing the way for the Washington Commanders to return to the District. The team will cover $2.7B, while the city contributes $1B.

The domed stadium is slated to open by 2030, part of a 174-acre redevelopment including housing, retail, and a sports complex. Officials project $779M in city gains over 30 years, plus immediate job creation. A final council vote comes Sept. 17, but approval is expected. Fans and leaders hail the move as a historic homecoming for the franchise.

Awami League leaders and activists, whose political activities are currently banned, held flash processions in Dhaka on Friday, five days after their previous gathering. Around 2pm, the flash procession took place in the Nabisco area under the banner of Dhaka Metropolitan North Awami League, reports Bdnews24.com. More than a thousand participants marched from Nabisco towards the Tibet area, chanting slogans such as “Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Hasina,” “Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu,” and “Remove Yunus, Save the Country.”

OC of Tejgaon Industrial Area police station Md Aslam Hossain said, “In the morning, some people came out from GM corner, but we did not allow them to march. At that time, Niyamul Hasan from Tejgaon College Chhatra League was detained. In the afternoon, Awami League members came out from Nabisco again, and we are trying to detain them.”

An Awami League leader at the procession told Bdnews24.com, “Even if we stay at home, there is no chance of survival. This illegal government is harassing Awami League leaders and activists, including our party chief Sheikh Hasina, through false cases. That is why we took part in the rally today.”

In addition to the Tejgaon procession, several hundred Awami League activists were reportedly holding a flash protest at Dhanmondi. Dhanmondi police OC Keshainyu Marma said authorities were gathering information about the .procession

Similar marches were reported in Dhanmondi and Gulistan earlier this month, including near Rapa Plaza and the south gate of Baitul Mokarram Mosque.

Thirty Bangladeshi nationals were sent back from the United States in handcuffs and shackles on Thursday night when a special chartered flight carrying them landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The deportees were brought to the runway still bound in chains. The shackles were removed only before they were taken to the arrival gate. During this time, no one was allowed to approach them or take photographs.

Officials at the airport said the flight landed just after 11 pm but remained on the runway for three hours while the handcuffs and shackles were removed. Around 2 am, the deportees were brought under tight security to the airport’s arrival area. A special team from the Ministry of Home Affairs, several intelligence units, and officials from the US embassy were present.

According to reports, the NGO Brac provided financial assistance to help the deportees reach their homes. Eyewitnesses described the deportees as “devastated” after the long journey. Abdullah, a 22-year-old from Noakhali, said: “Throughout the journey, I was shackled like a marked criminal. Being sent back is already heartbreaking, but arriving chained like a terrorist made it even worse.”

Since US President Donald Trump began his second term, deportations of illegal immigrants have intensified. Over the past months, at least 180 Bangladeshis have been deported in several phases. Initially, deportees were not handcuffed or shackled, but on August 2, a military transport aircraft carried 39 Bangladeshis—including one woman—bound in chains to Dhaka.

The deportees described enduring nearly 60 hours in chains, sitting in extreme pain and surviving on only bread and water. Even trips to the toilet required escorting and re-shackling.

According to sources from the police Special Branch and the Immigration Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), 42 Bangladeshis were deported on a chartered flight on June 8 this year, and from March 6 to April 21, another 34 were sent back.

Most migrants had entered the US through Mexico, Latin America, or other routes, often paying Tk30 lakh to Tk75 lakh. Many of those returned on Thursday reported being held captive in Mexico by human trafficking networks. At least six said they were tortured and their families forced to pay ransoms of Tk40 lakh to Tk50 lakh. Tanzil Hasan of Munshiganj said some were extorted up to Tk75 lakh, forcing them to sell all assets to pay traffickers. He added that countless Bangladeshis remain in captivity under national and international trafficking networks.

A similar deportation in 2016, where 27 Bangladeshis were sent back in handcuffs, sparked strong reactions in Bangladesh, raising human rights concerns and prompting discussions between Dhaka and US authorities.

Migration experts argue that deportees should not be shackled during repatriation, citing violations of international human rights standards. Shariful Hasan, associate director of Brac’s Migration and Youth Platform, said: “People go abroad with the dream of a better life, often paying traffickers large sums. Deporting them in handcuffs is extremely regrettable and causes lifelong trauma. We hope future repatriations will be more humane and that US authorities take this issue seriously.”

The ongoing political and human rights situation in Bangladesh has triggered debate in the British Parliament, with MPs highlighting bans on political parties, corruption allegations against a UK lawmaker, and actions taken by the interim government.

Concerns over democratic norms and human rights

Over the past year, MPs have repeatedly raised concerns about human rights in Bangladesh. In a December 2024 House of Commons session, Labor MP Barry Gardiner and former home secretary Priti Patel warned about rising violence against the Hindu community. Catherine West, minister for the Indo-Pacific, said the UK government is closely monitoring the situation and remains in contact with the administration of Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus to ensure minority protection.

On July 15, MP Bob Blackman and the Bangladesh Unity Forum hosted a parliamentary event highlighting Bangladesh’s constitutional crisis. Speakers denounced the use of anti-terror laws against political opponents and described the May 2025 ban on Awami League activities as an unprecedented assault on democracy. A message was also sent to the International Criminal Court (ICC), detailing allegations of arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings.

UK’s stance on upcoming election

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has stressed the need for elections within a set timeframe to restore stability. It said free, fair and participatory polls are vital for a functioning democracy. British MPs have urged the interim government to publish a roadmap and call early elections, while also demanding guarantees of freedom of expression and protection for political dissent.

Corruption allegations and MP’s resignation

Another issue drawing attention was the corruption allegation raised by Bangladesh against British MP Tulip Siddiq, niece of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Following Hasina’s ouster, Siddiq was accused of corruption and resigned from the post of economic secretary to the treasury and city minister in January 2025, following allegations of misconduct. She has denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated propaganda.

Withdrawal of controversial report

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Commonwealth faced criticism over a November 2024 report accused of being biased in favors of Hasina’s ousted government. The report was withdrawn in January 2025. Labor MP Rupa Huq dismissed it as irrelevant and described it as a vicious attack on Bangladesh’s interim government.

Earlier on August 30, Gono Odhikar Parishad activists set the Jatiya Party central office on fire

The Jatiya Party (JaPa) central office in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar was once again targeted on Friday evening, as miscreants vandalized and set fire to the office. Around 7:15pm, stones were thrown at the office. Earlier, at about 6:30pm, leaders and activists of the Gono Odhikar Parishad held a demonstration at Shahbagh intersection, burning tires to demand a ban on JaPa, before marching towards the office at Bijoynagar.

Ramna police station duty officer, Sub-Inspector (SI) Sajjad Hossain, told Bangla Tribune: “Suddenly, a few miscreants launched an attack on the Jatiya Party office. They vandalized some furniture inside and set fire. On receiving the report, police quickly arrived, extinguished the fire, and brought the situation under control.”

Eyewitnesses said that around 5:45pm, a group of people gathered in front of the office, carried out several rounds of attacks, and later attempted arson. A local shopkeeper said: “Suddenly, a few youths came shouting slogans, entered the office, and began vandalizing. I saw smoke rising soon after. They dispersed when police arrived.”

The area remains tense, and this is not the first time the office has faced such attacks. Earlier on August 30, activists of Gono Odhikar Parishad set the Jatiya Party central office on fire.

Bangladesh Bank has once again invited applications from investors to establish the country’s first digital banks, with an aim of ensuring faster and more accessible financial services through a fully branchless model. In a notice issued on Tuesday, the central bank said it will accept applications between September 1 and September 30, 2025, under section 31 of the Bank Company Act, 1991.

Applicants must submit proposals with a non-refundable processing fee of Tk 5 lakh. Failure to provide the required documents will lead to automatic cancellation, it said. The central bank framed its digital bank guidelines on June 14, 2023, and recently revised them to strengthen capital and operational requirements. The minimum paid-up capital has been raised to Tk 300 crore from Tk 125 crore earlier.

Digital banks must also launch an initial public offering (IPO) within five years of licensing, with the IPO size not less than the sponsors’ initial capital. According to the guidelines, a digital bank will operate entirely online with only a head office, requiring no physical branches, sub-branches, ATMs, or cash-deposit machines.

All services will be app-based and delivered through mobile phones and other digital devices. While structurally different from traditional banks, digital banks must comply with the same business, governance, and operational standards.

Bangladesh Bank said the move reflects global shifts toward technology-driven finance and aims to widen access to credit, particularly for cottage, micro, and small enterprises (CMSEs) and underserved groups, according to the notice.

Promoting innovation-led growth and financial inclusion is also seen as crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and adapting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it said.

This is not the first attempt to introduce digital banks.

The central bank previously invited applications in 2023 and approved Nagad as a digital bank, though the licence was later cancelled following the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024.

Currently, 61 scheduled commercial banks and 35 non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) operate in Bangladesh, with many already offering digital banking services. However, about 20 banks and 25 NBFIs have faced near collapse in recent years due to loan irregularities, mismanagement, and corruption. Critics have questioned the necessity of licensing new banks in such a troubled sector, arguing that strengthening existing institutions should take priority. Still, the central bank insists that dedicated digital banks could drive efficiency, expand outreach, and reduce costs in delivering financial products across the country.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the High Court’s acquittal of BNP acting chair Tarique Rahman and 48 others in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack cases, effectively nullifying the lower court’s conviction of all 49 accused. At least 24 people, including senior Awami League leader Ivy Rahman, were killed and scores, including the then opposition leader and AL president Sheikh Hasina, were injured when grenades were hurled at the AL rally in front of the party central office at Paltan in the capital.

Meanwhile, any activities of the Awami League have been banned until the competition of trials of those involved in the crimes against humanity committed during the July 2024 mass uprising that ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and she fled to India on August 5, 2024.

On October 10, 2018, Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 sentenced 19 people, including former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, to death, Tarique Rahman and 18 others to life term imprisonment, and 11 more to various prison terms.

Tarique, along with 15 other accused, was tried in absentia, as he has been living in London since 2008. The Appellate Division also struck down the High Court directive for a further investigation into the attack, in the verdict that such an instruction to the executive branch violated the constitutional principle of separation of powers.

The apex court emphasised that courts should not interfere in matters of government policy, citing the constitutional principle of separation of powers. It also ruled that the HC observation amounted to judicial overreach by stepping into the domain of policymaking. As a result, the apex court ordered that part of the HC judgment to be expunged.

The chief justice, Syed Refaat Ahmed, pronounced the unanimous decision of the six-judge bench in 12 minutes in a crowded courtroom while dismissing the state’s appeal that challenged the High Court verdict delivered on December 1, 2024, acquitting Tarique, Babar, and 47 others of murder and charges related to explosives, citing legal and procedural flaws in the 2018 trial-court judgment.

Five other Appellate Division judges were Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, Justice Md Rezaul Haque, Justice SM Emdadul Hoque, and Justice Farah Mahbub. The Appellate Division issued an order in advance asking the jail authorities to immediately release all the acquitted individuals unless they were wanted in other cases.

It also cited serious doubts over the voluntariness of second confessional statements made in 2007 by three accused — Harkat-ul Jihad leader Mufti Hannan, his brother Mohibullah, and Moulana Sharif Shahidul Alam — all within five and a half hours in a single day.

The Appellate Division observed that the prosecution’s case was significantly weakened by the execution of accused Mufti Abdul Hannan before he could be examined under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Mufti Hannan was executed on April 12, 2017 in connection with the grenade attack on then British high commissioner Anwar Choudhury in Sylhet on May 21, 2004. The attack injured Anwar Choudhury and killed two bystanders and a police officer. The apex court stated that the second-occasion confessions were either extracted under coercion or made under oppressive and unlawful conditions.

As a result, the apex court ruled, the confessions failed to meet the legal standard of reliability and could not be used as credible evidence. This finding played a key role in upholding the HC decision to acquit the accused.

The Appellate Division said that several accused, including Mufti Abdul Hannan, were in a prolonged custody — some in death-row cells — before being presented to magistrates in 2007 for recording the confessional statement. Others were held in police custody for extended periods without proper judicial oversight.

The court highlighted that the 2007 confessional statements by Hannan and three other convicts had been recorded on the same day by a single magistrate in what it called an ‘unusual haste,’ violating procedural safeguards.

It further pointed out that the accused had later retracted their confessions, alleging they were made under duress, including torture and illegal detention by law enforcement agencies. On October 10, 2018, Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 sentenced the 19 people to death, Tarique and 18 others to life-term imprisonment, and 11 more to varying prison terms.

The High Court acquitted all the convicts and asked the home ministry to initiate a proper investigation by expert and impartial agencies to ensure justice for the victims. The verdict read, ‘This heinous and tragic incident requires a thorough and independent investigation to bring justice to the victims, including Ivy Rahman, the then AL leader, and others who lost their lives. The earlier proceedings failed to deliver fair justice.’

Earlier in 2011, a supplementary charge sheet added 30 new accused, including Tarique Rahman and Lutfozzaman Babar, based on Hannan’s second confession in 2007. This followed a fresh investigation launched in 2009 during the Awami League regime. Sixty-one witnesses testified during the trial. The original charge sheet, submitted in 2007, named 22 accused, including Mufti Hannan, former BNP state minister Abdus Salam Pintu, and Moulana Tajuddin. Altogether, 49 people were tried and convicted.

Two cases — one for the murders and another under the Explosive Substances Act — were filed by the police against unidentified people in connection with the grenade attack.

The HC verdict observed that 30 additional individuals, including Tarique, Babar, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Harris Chowdhury, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, who was executed in a war crime case, and former National Security Intelligence director general Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, were named in a supplementary charge sheet.

Chief defence counsel SM Shajahan told New Age that it was true that many people were killed in the grenade attack but the trial targeted the wrong individuals to harass them politically as the real perpetrators were not properly identified due to a flawed investigation.

Md Jalal, branded as ‘Joj Miah,’ spent four years in jail after being falsely implicated in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack case. His wrongful detention highlighted flaws in the investigation during the BNP regime. Jalal, hailing from Senbagh, Noakhali, was imprisoned from June 10, 2005 to June 27, 2009. He was exonerated of the murder charges after CID superintendent Fazlul Kabir submitted the first charge sheet on June 9, 2008.

A National API Connectivity Hub is being developed through Citizen Service to bring all services from government offices into one platform

Chief Adviser’s Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi, inaugurated passport services at the Citizen Service Centre in Gulshan, Dhaka. For the first time in the country, services related to passport application and renewal have been introduced at an entrepreneur-driven citizen service centre outside of a passport office.

The announcement was made on Thursday, in a Facebook post by the Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant, Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb. At present, Citizen Service is running pilot and learning programs with a total of 400 services, including those related to passports, driving licences, birth and death registration, national identity cards (NIDs), and land record services from various government offices, upazila parishads, and zila parishads.

Ten Citizen Service pilots will be launched simultaneously at the end of this month in six locations: Gulshan 1, Uttara Sector 6, Nilkhet, Ramna, Mohammadpur, and Banasree. Among them, the centres in Gulshan 1, Uttara, and Nilkhet are already fully operational.

The post stated that among the six centres in Dhaka (ten in total under the pilot program), citizens are encouraged to visit their nearest Citizen Service Centre, inform the centre about their service needs, and provide suggestions for improving the quality of services.

A National API Connectivity Hub is being developed through Citizen Service to bring all services from government offices into one platform, ensuring citizens receive hassle-free service.

As a result, it will no longer be necessary to apply separately through hundreds of different websites of various offices. Instead, all services will be available in one place through the National Connectivity Hub. Services of different ministries, online platforms, and digital centres created in the past as digital islands will also be interconnected and interoperable through Citizen Service.

This is the first Citizen Service Connectivity Hub in Bangladesh aimed at providing all essential services for citizens in one place.