Qatar's got an air ambulance ready to fly Khaleda Zia out of Bangladesh for treatment, and their embassy confirmed it. The former prime minister's been dealing with a bunch of health issues like arthritis, diabetes, kidney and lung problems, and eye conditions. Medical specialists from the UK and China have shown up to help treat her.
After the Awami League government collapsed during mass protests last August, she got out of detention. She flew to London in January for advanced care, stayed there for nearly four months, and came back home in May.
Khaleda Zia is fighting for her life in a hospital, and millions across Bangladesh are praying for the former prime minister's recovery. She was moved to intensive care at Evercare Hospital after her health got worse, which has left the whole country worried and upset. People have even offered to donate their organs if it would help save her.
Zia has been through a lot over the years. She lost her husband when she was young, her mom died while she was locked up, and one of her sons passed away under tragic circumstances. The authoritarian governments of Ershad and Hasina put her through hell, but she never backed down from fighting for democracy. She spent time in jail during Hasina's rule and didn't get the medical care she needed...
Gambian lawmakers pushed through a bill that bumps their salaries and pension packages, with Sulayman Jammeh from Bundungka Kunda moving the proposal forward while Biram JS Sowe from Niamina West backed it up. The National Assembly Salaries and Pensions Amendment got sent to the Committee of the Whole Assembly for deeper review, and citizens are already mad about politicians giving themselves raises during an affordability crisis.
Three other bills hit committee referrals during the same session, covering coastal zone management, food security operations, and climate policy. Legislators are supposed to dig into the pay increase details over the coming days, but the timing looks terrible when regular people are getting crushed by living...
West Coast Region deputy governor Musa Amul Nyassi shut down rumors that three village heads from Foni Bintang got their official stamps yanked because they skipped President Barrow's tour stop. The alkalolu from Kaimo, Bantending, and Sitta villages lost their stamps after repeatedly blowing off district chief summons, and Nyassi said dodging leadership meetings undermines the whole chain of command.
Regional authorities scheduled a meeting where the affected alkalolu need to prove they actually showed up to previous gatherings or face potential legal heat. First-time offenders who admit they messed up get forgiveness, but Nyassi made clear that ignoring the district chief cannot slide. He stressed that nobody forces village leaders...
Gambian lawmakers grilled the finance ministry about Social Security dropping roughly 1.1 billion dalasi on 70 buses for GTSC through some company called TK Export, and legislators wanted receipts on whether this counted as a government loan or just a straight purchase. The minister said the Executive branch ordered the deal while Social Security handled the transaction, with GTSC revenue covering part of the tab and taxpayer subsidies picking up the rest.
Budget support became another talking point when the minister revealed project grants hit 5.56 billion dalasi by mid-year, while regular budget support was still pending, though the World Bank signed off, and EU funding sat in advanced processing stages. The IMF staff agreement for...
PASTEF The Gambia dropped a statement saying persons with disabilities deserve actual representation in government instead of just symbolic gestures, and public relations officer Mayorro Sidibeh laid out plans for accessible infrastructure spanning transport networks and digital platforms. The political movement wants disability rights baked into national priorities through education reform, healthcare upgrades, and job opportunities that let people live with dignity.
Sidibeh argued that real transformation happens when marginalized citizens get decision-making power at every governance level, and he pushed for legal protections backed by enforcement mechanisms. The group used the annual commemoration to highlight barriers in...
The Gambia grabbed its first complete catalog of intangible cultural heritage from UNESCO's Dakar office at a ceremony in Toubacouta, Senegal, and deputy heritage director Mamat Sallah thanked the organization for backing the inventory project that tracked cultural knowledge across the country. The catalog hits schools and universities nationwide while officials work with the education ministry to bake the content into classroom curricula, and Sallah mentioned recent planning meetings in Janjanbureh to figure out rollout logistics.
The government is running inventory work across 33 communities in the Central River Region and pushing to get a Gambian cultural element onto UNESCO's official safeguarding list. Sallah said the project...
Zimbabwe rolled out electronic toll tags through Zinara and tech company Instatoll about three months back after a six-month test run at Ntabazinduna plaza on the Bulawayo-Harare highway, and roughly 30,000 vehicles have signed up for the RFID windshield stickers that auto-open boom gates without stopping. Transport ministry official Joy Makumbe says the system ditches cash payments to kill the queues that pile up during holidays, while Zinara board chair George Manyaya confirmed logistics companies are registering their entire fleets.
The setup covers nine toll plazas with 58 lanes total, and Manyaya mentioned they are building an e-wallet app tied to SIM cards for paying vehicle licensing fees and toll charges. Instatoll operations...
Indian Ambassador Bramha Kumar told attendees at a Harare business seminar that his country's investors dropped over $600 million into Zimbabwean manufacturing operations that employ more than 15,000 locals, and bilateral trade hit $250 million with Zimbabwe shipping $46 million worth of goods back to India. Deputy Minister Raj Modi connected the event to Vision 2030 goals, while noting roughly 10,000 people of Indian descent live in Zimbabwe, and about 5,000 Zimbabwean students are enrolled at Indian universities.
ZimTrade representatives said the trade balance skews heavily toward India, which exports pharmaceuticals, machinery, plastics, and vehicles worth around $189 million, compared to Zimbabwe's exports that lean heavily on...
