ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - President Donald Trump on Saturday blamed Iran for what the country's authorities said was a deadly strike on a school in the southern county of Minab. According to Iranian authorities, a strike hit a girls' elementary school last Saturday, killing more than 150 people, mostly students. Israel and the United States have not claimed responsibility for the reported attack -- with US officials saying it remains under investigation -- while Iran has blamed Washington for the strike. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday they had targeted a US base in the UAE that they alleged had been used as a launchpad for the strike. The Pentagon has confirmed it is investigating, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US would "not deliberately target a school."

Australia could help protect Gulf states from Iran attacks: FMSYDNEY, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Australia will consider a request by Gulf states for assistance against Iranian drone and missile attacks, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Sunday. Asked whether that meant assistance in protecting them from Iranian drone and missile attacks, Wong said "correct". Iran responded with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel as well as Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar. As of last month, around 70 Australian military personnel are currently serving on American nuclear submarines, Canberra has said. The personnel were on the submarine as part of training arrangements under AUKUS, a multi-decade defence pact with Britain and the United States, Albanese said.

DOVER, United States, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump said Saturday that "two aircraft carriers" from Britain are not needed "any longer" to aid his war in the Middle East -- his latest critique of London's stance. The United Kingdom "is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. That's OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don't need them any longer," Trump posted to his Truth Social account. Trump posted the message shortly after attending the return of the first six US service members killed in the Middle East war, at Dover Airforce Base in the northeastern state of Delaware. Trump has said he is "not happy with the UK," mocking Starmer by saying "this is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with."

ERBIL, Iraq, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Several strikes hit Kurdish Iranian militants in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on Saturday, officials from the exiled groups told AFP. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Saturday morning they had targeted "separatist groups" in Iraq's Kurdistan, as the war against Israel and the United States entered its second week. The autonomous region hosts camps and rear bases operated by several Iranian Kurdish militant groups that have repeatedly come under Iranian fire since the war began. The parties included the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and the Komala party. "If separatist groups in the region make any move against Iran's territorial integrity, we will crush them," the Guards added.

In the United States, protesters carried Iranian, Lebanese and Palestinian flags and signs "Iran is not our enemy" and "No war on Iran" in downtown Detroit, Michigan. In Washington DC, demonstrators gathered at the National Mall carrying US, Israeli and Iranian flags, with some protesters painting the colours of the Iranian flags on their cheeks. Protesters carried pictures of Khamenei and denounced the war in central Tunis in Tunisia. In Cape Town, Iranian pro-democracy activists and supporters of Israel waved Israeli flags and chanted slogans in the Albert Waterfront shopping mall. Several counter-protesters carried signs denouncing Israel and in support of the Palestinians.

FAIRFORD, United Kingdom, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The United States has started using British bases for certain operations against Iran during the Middle East war, the UK government announced on Saturday. Britain's defence ministry said the US had begun using the military sites for "specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region". UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer annoyed US President Donald Trump for initially refusing to have any role in the US-Israeli war with Iran, which started a week ago, on February 28. He later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a "specific and limited defensive purpose". Those bases are Fairford in Gloucestershire, southwestern England, and the UK-US Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

TEHRAN, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Iran's military called on its neighbour Azerbaijan to "expel the Zionists" from its territory on Saturday in order to preserve its security, a day after Baku accused Tehran of plotting attacks on its territory. Israel is a close ally of Azerbaijan's and a key arms supplier, while Tehran has long accused Israel of using Azerbaijani territory for intelligence operations. Azerbaijan on Friday said it had foiled a series of planned Iranian terrorist attacks on its territory including on a key oil pipeline, a synagogue and Jewish community leaders. On Thursday at least four drones crashed into Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan, including one that hit an airport, with Baku blaming Tehran. Tehran denied the allegation and accused Israel of trying to stage a provocation.

MADRID, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Nicolas Gonzalez netted twice for Atletico Madrid in an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad in La Liga on Saturday. It was only the second defeat for Real Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo in 14 matches at the helm, with the Basque side rising to eighth since his arrival. Atletico substitute Antoine Griezmann created the goal with a tidy backheel, and Gonzalez showed poise before stroking home. Real Sociedad immediately equalised, with Mikel Oyarzabal smashing in from the edge of the box, inside Jan Oblak's near post. However, Gonzalez netted again for Simeone's side, leaping high to nod home Matteo Ruggieri's curling cross from the left.

ISTANBUL, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Turkey's foreign minister warned against efforts to stir up a civil war inside Iran, while cautioning Tehran after NATO intercepted a Turkey-bound ballistic missile launched from Iran earlier in the week. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said any effort to stir up a civil war inside Iran in a bid to bring about regime change would be a 'historic' mistake. "We are against all scenarios that aim to instigate a civil war in Iran, that target ethnic or religious fault lines," Fidan told journalists in Istanbul. "We hope the Kurdish opinion leaders in the region will not make the mistake of shouldering such a historical responsibility," he said. "After Iraq and Syria, a long period of uncertainty, war and turmoil in Iran is not in anyone's interest," he said.

DORAL, United States, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Latin American nations to use military power against the "cancer" of drug cartels and offered to support them with US missile strikes targeting narco kingpins. They're extremely accurate," Trump told a dozen right-wing leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean at his Doral golf club near Miami. Irene Mia, a Latin America expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said drug cartel violence has hit countries in the region that until recently were considered fairly safe such as Ecuador and Chile. Trump urged regional leaders to use military force to stamp out criminal organizations, which he likened to a cancer, saying: "We don't want it spreading." "I'll take care of Cuba," Trump told leaders.

New attacks in Gulf as Iran vows for moreDUBAI, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Gulf nations on Saturday reported new missile and drone attacks, while Iran vowed to press on with its strikes against neighbouring countries. Hours later, Iran said it would continue conducting strikes on sites in Gulf countries which were "at the disposal of the enemy". - Dubai airport closed, reopens -Earlier in the day, Dubai closed its main airport -- the world's busiest for international traffic -- after authorities said an unidentified object was intercepted nearby. Flights from Dubai's main airport had partially resumed on Monday despite daily drone attacks targeting sites in the UAE. Elsewhere in the Gulf on Saturday, Qatar's defence ministry said its military had intercepted two missile attacks targeting the country.

Bronze and Stanway on target for England in World Cup qualifyingPARIS, France, March 8, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - European champions England made it two wins from two in their World Cup 2027 qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win over Iceland at the City Ground in Nottingham on Saturday. Lucy Bronze, earning her 145th cap, powered England ahead midway through the first half after a cross from Lauren James on the left. England and Spain meet in a repeat of the Euro 2025 final and the 2023 World Cup final next month. Only the winners of each of the four European 'League A' groups will qualify automatically for the World Cup. The other 12 teams go into play-offs, which will also involve the four League B group winners and the six group winners and two best runners-up from League C.

DHAKA, Mar 7, 2026 (BSS)- International Women's Day will be observed tomorrow across the country as elsewhere in the world with the theme 'Digit ALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality'. The United Nations has been observing the day as International Women’s Day since 1975. On February 28, 1909, the first international women’s conference was organised at a women’s rally arranged by the Social Democratic women’s organisation in New York under the leadership of German socialist leader Clara Zetkin. Clara, a German politician and one of the architects of the German Communist Party, later proposed at the second International Women’s Conference held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1910 that March 8 be observed annually as International Women’s Day. United Nations formally recognised March 8 as International Women’s Day in 1975 and called upon countries to observe it.

Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid today spoke at an iftar and doa programme at the Cumilla Stadium Gymnasium. The minister said, "Bangladesh currently has sufficient oil stock to meet domestic demand for at least one month while the next shipment carrying oil has already set sail for the country." Cumilla Shop Owners Association President Syed Jahangir Alam presided over the programme. BNP Divisional Co-Organising Secretary (Cumilla Division) Mostak Mia, President of Bangladesh Shop Owners Association Helal Uddin, Secretary General Mohammad Zahirul Haque Bhuiyan and Cumilla City BNP General Secretary Yusuf Molla Tipu spoke as special guests. General Secretary of Cumilla Shop Owners Association Jamal Khandakar delivered the welcome speech, while leaders of different business organisations in Cumilla also addressed the programme.

The upazila administration conducted a price monitoring drive on oil and gas at Taherpur Municipal Market in Bagmara on Saturday. During the drive, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Saiful Islam Bhuiya fined two traders Tk 1,500 for selling LPG gas at prices higher than the government-fixed rate. Saiful Islam Bhuiya said that taking advantage of the ongoing war and crisis in the Middle East, a group of dishonest traders has been trying to charge extra money from consumers. As a result, two traders were fined for selling gas at higher prices. He added that the drive will continue during the ongoing Ramadan and ahead of Eid to ensure that the general public does not suffer.