Former two-time Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia has left the nation for the first time in seven years for medical treatment in London after being released from house arrest following her rival Sheikh Hasina’s resignation last year.
Ms Zia, 79, chairwoman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was the country's first female prime minister but was convicted in graft cases in 2018 under Ms Hasina’s government.
She left the capital Dhaka on a special royal air ambulance sent by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim, one of her advisers Zahiruddin Swapan told the media.
A team of local and Qatari doctors, family members, and other staff accompanied the leader on the flight. She would be seeking treatment at a London clinic. State news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha quoted her doctors as saying that her treatment in London was expected to take a few months.
Thousands of her supporters gathered outside her house in Dhaka’s Gulshan area, turning the 10km journey to the airport into three hours. Her departure was broadcast live on television.
Ms Zia served as the country’s first female prime minister between 1991 and 1996, followed by another five-year term from 2001 to 2006.
However, she was charged with dozens of corruption cases in the following years, including under the three-year military rule from 2006 and during her rival Ms Hasina’s 16-year term. She was convicted in two cases of corruption in 2018 and was sentenced to a 17-year jail term.
Ms Zia served two years in Dhaka jail until 2020 when she was released during Covid-19 pandemic. The courts later suspended her sentence over her poor health but she remained under house arrest in Dhaka.
She was acquitted by the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus in some of the cases while at least seven cases are pending before the courts.
She has been diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, heart disease and kidney ailments and last visited London in 2017 for treatment and to see her self-exiled son, politician Tarique Rahman.
Ms Zia has maintained that the cases against her were politically motivated. She had asked the Hasina administration to allow her to the treatment abroad, which she claimed was never approved.
The former prime minister has been one of the central figures in the country’s politics but was largely sidelined during the rule of rival Ms Hasina, who fled to India in August last year when thousands of protesters stormed her residence in Dhaka during a student-led civil agitation that left hundreds of people dead.
Ms Zia’s departure from the country comes at a time when the country is in a political transition and slated for big-ticket reforms under the interim government of Dr Yunus.
The BNP has been pushing for elections to be held in December this year, with Mr Rahman, expected to return to the country to lead the party in the national elections that political commentators say will go in the favour of the BNP after a 15-year-long ironclad rule of Ms Hasina's Awami League government.
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The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
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Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday
AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)
Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)
Benevento v Parma (5pm)
Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)
Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)
Lazio v Spezia (5pm)
Napoli v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)
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Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)
Francesco Totti's bio
Born September 27, 1976
Position Attacking midifelder
Clubs played for (1) - Roma
Total seasons 24
First season 1992/93
Last season 2016/17
Appearances 786
Goals 307
Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Results
5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (Dirt) 1,000m, Winner: Hazeem Al Raed, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 85,000 (D) 1,000m, Winner: Ghazwan Al Khalediah, Hugo Lebouc, Helal Al Alawi
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7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Only Smoke, Bernardo Pinheiro, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
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- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Sanju
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Rating: 3.5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Vacancy Rate 5.4%
Markets With Positive Absorption 85.7 per cent
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(Source: Colliers)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
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If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Rating: 2/5
TRAP
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Director: M Night Shyamalan
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Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
