Tony Fernandes, the CEO of AirAsia, has come under fire after posting a photo of himself, shirtless, receiving a massage while in attendance at a management meeting. The businessman stated it had been "a stressful week" in a LinkedIn post, which now seems to have been removed, reports BBC Also read: Thai AirAsia launches Dhaka-Bangkok flight "Got to love Indonesia and AirAsia culture that I can have a massage and do a management meeting," he wrote. A statement from AirAsia has been requested over the matter, the report said. Also read: 'Air Incheon-Korean Airlines’ introduces direct cargo flight from Bangladesh to South Korea The image caused a stir on social media, as several individuals criticised Fernandes' posting choice. It was "inappropriate and absurd", wrote one person. It was "unprofessional", said another. Also read: AirAsia keen to promote leisure, medical tourism, business travel to Bangladesh "He should be setting an example of good work ethics and culture, not flaunting his body and privilege," added the user. "Some CEOs need to stay off LinkedIn," posted another. Others were not as harsh, stating that it was an excellent illustration of what "working from home" should always be. The 59-year-old Fernandes has been called Malaysia's Richard Branson, the report also said. Fernandes acquired the low-cost airline AirAsia from the Malaysian government for less than a dollar in 2001. He received his education at Epsom College, one of the most expensive colleges in Britain. In addition to being the principal stakeholder of Queens Park Rangers Football Club until July of this year, he founded the defunct Caterham F1 Formula One team.

When King Charles III is crowned on Saturday, soldiers carrying flags from the Bahamas, South Africa, Tuvalu and beyond will march alongside British troops in a spectacular military procession in honor of the monarch. For some, the scene will affirm the ties that bind Britain and its former colonies. But for many others in the Commonwealth, a group of nations mostly made up of places once claimed by the British Empire, Charles’ coronation is seen with apathy at best. In those countries, the first crowning of a British monarch in 70 years is an occasion to reflect on oppression and colonialism’s bloody past. The displays of pageantry in London will jar especially with growing calls in the Caribbean to sever all ties with the monarchy. “Interest in British royalty has waned since more Jamaicans are waking to the reality that the survivors of colonialism and the holocaust of slavery are yet to receive reparatory justice,” the Rev. Sean Major-Campbell, an Anglican priest in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, said. Also Read: PM Hasina arrives in London to attend coronation of UK’s King Charles III The coronation is “only relevant in so far as it kicks us in the face with the reality that our head of state is simply so by virtue of biology,” Major-Campbell added. As British sovereign, Charles is also head of state of 14 other countries, though the role is largely ceremonial. These realms, which include Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, represent a minority of the Commonwealth nations: most of the 56 members are republics, even if some still sport the Union Jack on their flags. Barbados was the most recent Commonwealth country to remove the British monarch as its head of state, replacing Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, with an elected president in 2021. The decision spurred similar republican movements in neighboring Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize. Last year, when Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness welcomed Prince William and his wife, Kate, during a royal tour of the Caribbean, he announced that his country intends to become fully independent. It made for an awkward photo with the royal couple, who were also confronted with protests calling for Britain to pay slavery reparations. Also Read: UK’s diverse communities ambivalent about king’s coronation William, the heir to the throne, observed later in the same trip that the relationship between the monarchy and the Caribbean has evolved. The royal family will “support with pride and respect your decisions about your future,” he told a reception in the Bahamas. Rosalea Hamilton, an advocate for changing Jamaica’s Constitution to get rid of the royals, said she was organizing a coronation day forum to engage more Jamaicans in the process of political reform. The timing of the event is meant to “signal to the head of state that the priority is to move away from his leadership, rather than focus on his coronation,” Hamilton said. Two days ahead of Charles’ crowning, campaigners from 12 Commonwealth countries wrote to the monarch urging him to apologize for the legacies of British colonialism. Among the signatories was Lidia Thorpe, an Australian senator, who said Thursday that Charles should “begin a process of repairing the damage of colonization, including returning the stolen wealth that has been taken from our people.” Buckingham Palace said last month that Charles supported research into the historical links between Britain’s monarchy and the transatlantic slave trade. The king takes the issue “profoundly seriously,” and academics will be given access to the royal collection and archives, the palace said. In India, once the jewel of the British Empire, there’s scant media attention and very little interest in the coronation. Some people living in the country’s vast rural hinterlands may not have even heard of King Charles III. Also Read: With coronation approaching, Charles and Buckingham Palace working at top speed to show new king at work “India has moved on,” and most Indians “have no emotional ties with the royal family,” Pavan K. Varma, a writer and former diplomat, said. Instead, the royals are seen more like amusing celebrities, he said. And while the country still values its economic and cultural ties with the European country, Varma pointed out that India’s economy has overtaken the U.K.’s. “Britain has shrunk globally into a medium-sized power,” he said. “This notion needs to be removed, that here is a former colony riveted to the television watching the coronation of Prince Charles. I don’t think this is happening in India.” Since gaining independence in 1947, India has moved to shed the vestiges of British imperialism. The statue of King George V that used to stand near the India Gate monument in New Delhi was moved in the 1960s to Coronation Park. Once the scene of celebrations honoring Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and George V, the park is now a repository for representations of former monarchs and officials of the British Raj in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led a renewed push to reclaim India’s past and erase “symbols of slavery” from the country’s time under the British crown. His government has scrubbed away colonial-era street names, some laws and even flag symbols. “I don’t think we should care much about (the royals),” Milind Akhade, a photographer in New Delhi, said. “They enslaved us for so many years.” In Nairobi, Kenya, motorcycle taxi driver Grahmat Luvisia was similarly dismissive of the idea of following the coronation on TV. “I will not be interested in watching the news or whatever is happening over there because we have been mistreated back then by those colonizers,” he said. Herman Manyora, a political analyst and journalism professor at the University of Nairobi, said memories of Britain’s harsh response to the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s are still raw. Many Kenyans will not watch the coronation “because of the torture during colonialism, because of the oppression, because of detentions, because of killings, because of the alienation of our land,” Manyora said. Not everyone is as critical. In Uganda, political analyst Asuman Bisiika says British culture continues to have a strong influence on young people in the East African country, especially those who follow English soccer. There is also a lot of goodwill for Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September after 70 years on the throne. “It’s not about caring for the British monarchy,” Bisiika said. “It’s about relating.” In the South African city of Durban, expat British communities have planned a live screening of the coronation ceremony, complete with trumpeters to announce the moment the Archbishop of Canterbury crowns Charles. On Sunday, there will be a special church service followed by a picnic or a “braai,” a traditional South African barbecue. “I think people want to be part of an important moment in history,” Illa Thompson, one of the organizers of the festivities, said. Experts say that despite its flaws, historical baggage and fraying edges, the Commonwealth still holds appeal, especially for poorer nations. Gabon and Togo, which are former French colonies with no colonial links to Britain, became the association’s newest members last year. Most observers believe countries like Jamaica that want an elected head of state are likely to retain their memberships. “Countries, whether they benefit or not, feel like they need to have this closeness to Britain as an economic entity,” said Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University. “As much as there will be still be some dissent — (Charles) is not as popular as his mother — it’s all about the economics.”   

A recommendation from Egypt’s government – to eat chicken feet – has come under vehement criticism from the country’s citizens. Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world, is currently experiencing a record currency crisis and the highest inflation in five years, which has made food so costly that many Egyptians are no longer able to purchase chicken, a staple item. The most recent dietary advice from the state recommended preparing chicken feet, a protein-rich part of the bird that is often kept for dogs and cats, according to a BBC report published yesterday. Egypt is one of the countries suffering the most from skyrocketing inflation, which surpassed 30 percent in March. Read More: Argentines struggle to make ends meet amid 100% inflation Cooking oil and cheese, which were once reasonable necessities for many, have become unaffordable luxuries. Some product prices have doubled or tripled within a matter of months. The BBC report quoted Wedad, a mother of three in her 60s, as saying: “I eat meat once a month, or I don’t buy it at all. I buy chicken once a week.” Egypt is under a lot of strain in part because it relies significantly on imported food rather than homegrown agriculture to support its over 100 million-strong population. Even the grain used to feed the chicken is imported. Read More: Why another high inflation report may not cause Fed to hike In comparison to the US dollar, the Egyptian pound lost half of its value over the course of a year. As the government depreciated the currency once more in January, the price of imports such as grain rose dramatically. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi frequently attributes his country's present economic troubles on the chaos that preceded the 2011 Egyptian revolt and fast population growth. In addition, he mentions the epidemic that followed the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had a devastating effect on Egyptian economy. Egypt is the second largest wheat importer in the world, and the two countries were its principal suppliers. As a result of the disruption of exports due to the war, price of wheat and bread skyrocketed. Russian and Ukrainian tourists used to visit Egypt in droves; the tourism industry has also suffered financial losses. Tourism, which used to account for around 5% of Egypt’s GDP, has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Read More: In the EU’s inflation crisis, the humble egg takes the cake Egypt has requested a bailout from the International Monetary Fund four times in the previous six years due to its economic difficulties. These debts, which account for 90% of GDP, consume nearly half of the state’s revenues. Gulf nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have purchased state assets and are aiding Egypt, but they have also toughened their requirements for future investments.

Senior Democrats, dismayed by a steady stream of startling disclosures, expressed criticism Sunday of how President Joe Biden handled classified material after leaving office as vice president and disappointment that the White House has not been more forthcoming with the public. Lawmakers who might have anticipated questions focusing on the debt limit or Ukraine aid when they were booked last week for the Sunday news shows found themselves quizzed about the latest development over the weekend in the document drama that has put Biden's presidency on the defensive: During a search Friday of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, the FBI found additional documents with classified markings and took possession of some of his handwritten notes, the president’s lawyer said Saturday. Biden should be “embarrassed by the situation,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, adding that the president had ceded the moral high ground on an issue that has already entangled former President Donald Trump. Special counsels appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland are investigating both cases. “Well, of course. Let's be honest about it. When that information is found, it diminishes the stature of any person who is in possession of it because it's not supposed to happen. ... The elected official bears ultimate responsibility," Durbin said. Read more: FBI searched Biden home, found documents marked classified Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Biden “should have a lot of regrets. ... You just might as well say, ‘Listen, it’s irresponsible.'" The president told reporters on Thursday that he had “no regrets” over how and when the public learned about the documents and that there was “no there there.” Despite their criticism, Biden's fellow Democrats defended what they said was his cooperation with the Justice Department as the search for additional classified material unfolds. They contrasted it with Trump's resistance to efforts to recover hundreds of documents after he left office. “It is outrageous that either occurred,” Durbin said. "But the reaction by the former president and the current president could not be in sharper contrast.” Biden voluntarily allowed the FBI into his home on Friday, but the lack of a warrant did not dim the extraordinary nature of the search. It compounded the embarrassment to Biden that started in earlier in January with the disclosure that the president’s lawyers had found a “small number” of classified records at a former office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington shortly before the Nov. 8 elections. The White House has disclosed that Biden's team found classified documents and official records on three other occasions in recent months — in follow-up searches on Dec. 20 in the garage of his Wilmington home, and on Jan. 11 and 12 in his home library. The discoveries have become a political liability as Biden prepares to kick off his 2024 reelection bid, and they undercut his efforts to portray an image of propriety to the American public after the tumultuous presidency of his predecessor, Trump. Manchin excoriated both men for their handling of sensitive security documents. “It's just hard to believe that in the United States of America, we have a former president and a current president that are basically in the same situation,” he said. “How does this happen?” Read more: Biden on classified docs discovery: 'There's no there there' At the same time, Democrats worried that Biden's travails have created an opening for newly empowered House Republicans. “We have to worry, since this new group that has taken over control of the House of Representatives has promised us endless investigations, confrontations, impeachments and chaos, what is going to happen,” Durbin said. The new chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., said he took Biden “at his word when the first set of documents were found. ... But now this is gone from just simply being irresponsible to downright scary.” The Justice Department says Trump took hundreds of records marked classified with him upon leaving the White House in early 2021 and resisted months of requests to return them to the government. Biden has willingly turned over the documents once found. But the issue is wearing on Biden and his aides, who have said they acted quickly and appropriately when the documents were discovered, and are working to be as transparent as possible. Durbin appeared on CNN's “State of the Union,” Manchin was on CNN and NBC's “Meet the Press" and Comer was interviewed on Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Highlighting BNP-Jamaat government’s failure and corruption in the country’s power sector, Prime Minister's ICT affairs adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy has said the only achievement of BNP was activating the operation of Tongi Power Station through overhauling on September 3, 2005. Its plaque was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia but the power station tripped even before she could reach Abdullahpur in Uttara after inaugurating it, Sajeeb recalled in a Facebook post accompanied by a visual titled “Reform proposal by Mirza Fazrul quarter: Will BNP revive the power sector that it has destroyed?” Read: August 21 grenade attack planned in Hawa Bhaban: Joy “During their tenure between 2001 and 2006, BNP couldn’t add even a single megawatt to the grid. In the name of generating electricity, Tarique’s (BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman) cohorts with a Hawa Bhaban syndicate looted billions by simply erecting electric posts,” said the commentary in the video. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir vowed before media that if they came to power, they would overhaul the power sector, according to the video posted on Friday night.  

Taking a swipe at Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen for his comment that the people of Bangladesh are living in heaven compared to other countries, BNP on Saturday said it is nothing but a joke with people when they are struggling to survive. “At a time, when the people of the country are suffering every moment and finding it difficult to survive amid miseries, then the foreign minister said we’re living in heaven. It’s ridiculous,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir Speaking at a press conference, he also said it is unjustified for AK Momen to ridicule people at a time of their anguish. Fakhrul said the Foreign Minister has made such somewhat ridiculous remarks in the past. “But he has no right to make such a mockery." “I am sorry to speak on a personal level. Lately, what has emerged in his (Momen’s) appearance is that he has become puffed up. What has happened to most of the ministers--let me say in our local language that--their fat has increased, because of widespread plundering,” he observed. Read: Momen accuses BNP of destroying caretaker government system for lust of power The BNP leader said the ministers are ridiculing people only for justifying their plundering. “They have started joking with people about this (power) crisis.” BNP Standing Committee member Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku and Chairperson’s Advisory Council member Ismail Zabihullah were present at the press conference.   Earlier on Friday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen reportedly told journalists in Sylhet that people in Bangladesh are happier than those in many other countries as if they are living in heaven amid the global recession.

Britain announced Tuesday that it plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035 — five years earlier than its previous target —  in a bid to speed up efforts to tackle climate change.