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Dhaka, Bangladesh – Laili Begum can no longer afford to keep her two children in school. There are days when the 37-year-old garment worker struggles to put even one proper meal on the table.

An experienced sewing operator at Virtual Bottoms Limited, a ready-made garments factory near Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, Begum earns around 15,000 taka ($121) a month, which sometimes rises to 18,000–20,000 taka ($145–$161) when she works overtime.

Her 15-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son dropped out of school earlier this year because she could not afford their education.

“We can barely afford one proper meal a day. This morning, we had only puffed rice and Bombay mix [a snack]. There was nothing for lunch. We’ve been going hungry, hoping to have a proper meal tonight. Yesterday was the same. This is how we survive now,” she told Al Jazeera.

“My son is so thin that you can count every rib in his chest. What else can I do?”

Begum is among approximately four million garment factory workers in Bangladesh, half of them women. They are now protesting for better wages.

Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest apparel exporter after China, is a key supplier to global fashion brands such as H&M, Zara, Levi Strauss, Walmart, and Primark. The country’s ready-made garment sector accounts for more ⁠than 80 percent of its export earnings, which touched $39bn last financial year.

Yet, the people sewing those clothes say their pay no longer covers basic living costs.

‘Government only makes promises’

A Muslim-majority South Asian nation of 170 million people, Bangladesh has one of the world’s lowest wages among apparel-producing countries.

Cambodia has a minimum wage of $210 a month for garment workers, Vietnam’s range from $140-$210, while wages at China’s manufacturing hub of Guangdong range between $286 and $378.

That disparity – worsened by rising inflation and the growing cost of living – pushed the workers to strike and hit the streets on Saturday to demand a minimum wage of 30,000 taka ($241), more than double the current wage of 12,500 taka ($102).

On Sunday, Begum joined one such protest in the Jamgora part of the Ashulia industrial area on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, with the police firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the protesters, and arresting dozens of them.

The ⁠Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said the demonstrations disrupted operations at 529 factories on Sunday and affected nearly a million workers.

Later that day, the government announced the formation of a six-member wage board to review the workers’ demands.

But that did not stop the garment workers from returning to the streets for a third straight day on Monday.

In northern Dhaka’s Gazipur area, the workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway, and vandalised and torched several vehicles, while clashes with police were reported from the neighbouring Mirpur district.

“The government only makes promises,” Begum told Al Jazeera. “They haven’t told us when wages will increase and by how much.”

Inflation eating into wages

Rasel Khan, a 30-year-old garment worker at Ashulia, told Al Jazeera his monthly earnings of 18,000–20,000 taka ($145–$161), including overtime, were no longer enough to support his family, which included his mother and younger brother besides his wife and child.

As living costs soar, he has accumulated a debt of about 100,000 taka ($805) to meet his needs. “It’s impossible to support a family on this income anymore. Prices keep rising, and we have to borrow money just to survive,” he said.

The last revision of the minimum wage in the garment sector took place in December 2023. Since then, prices have continued to climb. Official data put annual inflation at 8.34 percent in September, including 7.22 percent for food and 9.30 percent for non-food expenses.

Begum says she pays 3,500 taka ($28) as rent for a single room shared with her mother and children. Her father, living in their village in the central district of Sirajganj, also depends on her income.

She says she is burning discarded paper and other materials to cook because she is not able to afford a gas cylinder that costs about 2,200 taka ($18).

Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka office, said persistent inflation over the past five years has sharply eroded the purchasing power of low-paid workers.

“When real income falls, they have to cut their daily living standards,” he told Al Jazeera. “They don’t have any surplus income.”

Hussain said a recent hike in the salary of government employees has had a “demonstration effect” among private-sector workers waiting for a similar relief.

The government’s announcement of a wage board follows an amendment to labour laws to reduce the wage review cycle from five years to three years. The current three-year period ends in December.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman convened an emergency meeting of top government officials on Sunday, while Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed met the garment factory owners on Monday, assuring them that a new minimum wage would be fixed through negotiations.

Labour Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury meanwhile urged the workers to resume work, saying the wage board would begin its deliberations shortly.

But Babul Akhter, a workers’ representative on the board, called for the new wages to take effect with January 2027 salaries. He also asked the demonstrators to return to work and demanded the release of arrested workers and withdrawal of cases against them.

‘Western brands hold lion’s share’

The impending wage negotiations come at a challenging time for Bangladesh’s garment industry, as manufacturers balance workers’ demands for better wages with rising production costs and intensifying global competition.

Sheikh Hossain Muhammad Mustafiz, an official at Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and managing director of Cute Dress Industry Ltd, told Al Jazeera that fair wages and employment security must go hand in hand with their ability to compete in the international market.

“Workers deserve wages that support a decent standard of living. However, without fair purchasing prices from international brands, significant wage increases could put pressure on factories and threaten employment,” he said.

Mustafiz emphasised that protecting the workers’ purchasing power amid rising inflation is a responsibility that global brands that buy Bangladeshi garments must share.

“Sustainable wage growth cannot be achieved by manufacturers alone,” he said. “International brands must contribute through fair pricing and responsible purchasing practices to protect both the workers’ livelihoods and the industry’s long-term sustainability.”

Taqbir Huda, a Tech Global Institute senior fellow at the University of Oxford, accused the western brands who buy Bangladeshi garments of not addressing the issue of the workers’ rights.

“One party that could change the situation overnight has held the most extractive and exploitative role: the western buyer brands who hold the lion’s share of the value that is generated by the clothes that these workers produce,” he told Al Jazeera.

Huda said the wage board, which was due this year, was announced only after the workers began their protest.

“History gives very little reason for the workers to believe anything will improve unless they protest,” he said, adding that the formation of the wage board does not meet their demands unless it addresses rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

For Begum, a drawn-out process to decide the new wages means another month of struggle to feed her family.

“Wages must rise, but food prices must also come down.”

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s caption reads:

Illustration shows a visit to the Commandobunker of Kemmel, in Heuvelland, Friday 18 March 2022. After World War II, in the middle of the cold war, several countries including Belgium, France and Great-Britain, decide to build a bunker to coordinate west Europe aerian defence. BELGA PHOTO KURT DESPLENTER (Photo by KURT DESPLENTER / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by KURT DESPLENTER/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

PRIME DIRECTIVES:

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s caption reads:

The interior of the launch control equipment room in the underground of the Oscar-1 Minuteman Missile Alert Facility on Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, June 18, 2020. The Oscar-01 MAF was constructed at Whiteman AFB in 1963 and determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) by Missouri SHPO in 1998. The facility consists of a one-story surface structure, assembled as a Launch Control Support Building (LCSB), and two sub-surface, re-enforced concrete encapsulated steel pods- a Launch Control Center (LCC) and Launch Control Equipment Building (LCEB). These two sub-surface wings are connected by a Tunnel Junction and accessed by an elevator. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Alexander W. Riedel)

PRIME DIRECTIVES:

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.

Michael Gray, who played the teenager who could turn into a superhero in the 1970s live-action Saturday morning children’s TV series “Shazam!,” has died. He was 75.

Gray died Oct. 16 from natural causes in Palm Desert, a representative for the actor announced Thursday. No other details were provided.

Based on the comic book superhero Captain Marvel, who first appeared in an issue of Whiz Comics in 1939, “Shazam!” aired for three seasons on CBS from 1974 to 1976. Gray starred as Billy Batson, a teenager who could transform into a grown-up superhero by saying the magic word “Shazam!” In his enhanced form, Captain Marvel possesses powers such as superhuman strength and speed, heightened intelligence and the ability to wield lightning. The character has since been renamed to Shazam.

“It was a lot of fun,” Gray said of the role in a 2012 interview with Fanboy Planet. “I didn’t know how much I would like it until years later when I found out how much of an influence my character was, and the show was, in people’s lives.

“There were such good moral values to the show,” he added. “I meet people 1792821573 who say, ‘You have no idea what you did for me as a child. You helped me get through life.’ … I didn’t know the show had that much strength and power back then.”

Born Sept. 2, 1951, in Chicago, Gray grew up in Miami Beach before making his way out west to pursue a career in Hollywood. He would frequently grace the covers of teen pop magazines, including Tiger Beat, thanks at least in part to his manager Charles Laufer, the magazine’s publisher.

“The teen idol angle was orchestrated to some degree,” Gray said during a Q&A event in 2012, according to Comic Book Resources. “I was interviewing for ‘The Brian Keith Show’ with Warner Brothers, and they also owned a news company that produced a lot of magazines. They wanted me to be the next David Cassidy. I was on the front cover of ‘Tiger Beat’ and it worked.”

Among Gray’s earliest screen credits were appearances on shows such as “Room 222” (1969), “The Flying Nun” (1970) and “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (1970). His first recurring role was on “The Little People,” also known as “The Brian Keith Show,” where he played a student doctor named Ronnie Collins. Gray also appeared in an episode of “The Brady Bunch” as Marcia’s boyfriend, Jeff.

Gray left acting not long after his run on “Shazam!” after feeling typecast in the roles that were offered to him. His later pursuits included work in children’s theater education and men’s fashion and owning a West Hollywood flower shop.

More recently, Gray’s legacy from “Shazam!” pulled him back into Hollywood. He voiced a version of himself as Sterling Archer’s childhood hero in four episodes of FX’s adult animated series “Archer” from 2015 to 2019. He also appeared in a cameo in the 2023 film “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” where he interacted with the latest incarnation of the superhero played by Zachary Levi.

Gray is survived by his wife, Stacy Benon Gray; his stepchildren Ryan Cooper and Laurel Cooper; and son-in-law Lee Barker.

easyJet has announced a new scheme to pay for baby passports, but families will need to book by its deadline if they want to use the offer

EasyJet has issued a travel update for all parents planning a holiday with their babies. It’s part of a new initiative to make travelling with little ones even easier, while also helping to save money on their first trip abroad.

The cost of a standard child’s passport in the UK, including for babies, is £66.50 when applied for online, or £80 when applied for by paper. However, in an exciting announcement for parents, easyJet and easyJet holidays confirmed they will cover the £66.50 cost of newborn babies’ passports.

The offer will be available to parents who book an easyJet holiday, and you’ll need to have booked by November 26. The aim is to make travel for young families as easy as possible, while helping to save extra cash. It comes after a survey from the airline and tour operator found that 75 per cent of parents said the cover of their baby’s passport would make a holiday feel more affordable.

Elsewhere in the study, easyJet found that 4 in 5 parents said a baby’s first holiday was a defining family moment, with more than half noting it was one of their proudest milestones as a parent. Meanwhile, 47 per cent of parents said that taking their children abroad makes them more curious about the world, with easyJet holidays seeing a 10 per cent increase in the number of babies travelling this year compared to 2025.

With the cost of the baby passport covered by easyJet when booking a holiday through the provider, the parents will just need to capture an approved passport photo. Almost a quarter of parents surveyed said it took them about six attempts to capture the right image, while almost one in 10 admitted they didn’t know their baby needed a passport until they started planning their getaway.

While it can be challenging to get a baby passport photo, parents can take it with their phones at home before submitting it online, as long as it meets the official guidelines from HM Passport Office. Certainly a much easier task than having to take a baby to the passport booth at the local supermarket.

In addition, families can watch easyJet’s new short video on the Peppa Pig Muddy Puddle Parenting YouTube channel, starring easyJet Captain Kate West, a new parent, alongside Mummy Pig and the family. The video provides advice to parents on taking a baby passport photo, as well as tips for jetting off abroad with little ones.

Captain Kate commented: “We carry millions of families across Europe every year, and we know that travelling with a baby brings a whole series of exciting firsts. We want to make travel as easy and accessible as possible for everyone, including young families, so they can enjoy all the experiences and memories that travel can bring. We hope that covering the cost of a baby’s first passport goes a small way towards making that first family adventure a little easier and gives our youngest travellers a warm welcome to the world.”

For more information on the baby passport scheme, you can visit the easyJet website.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

NICOLE Kidman’s daughter Sunday Rose has addressed being labelled a “nepo-baby” after she posed for Vogue.

The 18-year-old model has followed in her famous parents’ footsteps after launching her career on the runway at age 16.

Sunday – who is the daughter of Hollywood actress Nicole, 59, and country singer father Keith Urban, 58 – made her cover debut for Vogue Germany this month and opened up about getting opportunities due to her parents.

“I’m very aware that I’m given opportunities that not everyone can have, and I’m truly grateful to be able to take advantage of them,” she said.

“When I’m at work, I make sure to always give my best, never come to work with a negative attitude, no matter how tired or jet-lagged I may be, and treat everyone with respect.”

Sunday often steps out with her famous parents as she continues to make a name for herself in the industry.

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Last year, she was seen with mum Nicole at a private dinner for Chanel at New York Fashion Week.

The teenager looked stylish as she joined the special event, which also saw Kirsten Dunst and Jon Hamm attend.

For the glam evening, Sunday Rose opted for a chiffon long sleeved crop top, and black trousers.

Sunday is busy carving out a career in modelling and film.

She previously walked in the Miu Miu Paris Fashion Week show in October 2024.

The opened the showcase of the brand’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection. 

Sunday then became one of the new faces of Miu Miu’s 2025 Duets campaign.

In the gig, she starred alongside the likes of actress Liu Haocun, singer Eliot Sumner and Netflix favourite Joey King.

As well as her catwalk work, Sunday has also starred in The Angry Birds Movie 2, The Undoing and Big Little Lies.

Nicole shares daughters Sunday and 16-year-old Faith, with husband Keith.

Nicole previously spoke out about how she parents her children.

“I won’t let them be on Instagram,” she said in 2020 during an appearance on UK chat show Loose Women.

“I have a 12-year-old right now who is chomping at the bit and wants to get into all of that.

“It’s just that constant push, pull. I’d say a lot of parents would say the same thing.

“I think it’s keeping their confidence and their self-esteem intact.”

Hey guys, just wanted to talk about a cool thing that happened last Sunday. We won Best Military Aviation Submission at the 2026 Defense Media Awards in Washington, D.C., for “What The F-47’s Canards Say About The Rest Of Its Design.” This is the biggest deal in our little corner of journalism. Not just that, but we were nominated in many categories:

• Tyler: Best Defense Electronics and Best Missile Defense
• Tyler and Joe Trevithick: Best Rotorcraft
• Howard Altman: Integrated Maritime, AI Integration, and the John Morrocco Award for In Depth Reporting
• Thomas Newdick: Training, Simulation and Readiness, and Missile Defense
• Jamie Hunter: Best Multimedia
• Hope Seck: National Security Space
• Joe Trevithick: Space and Mobile Combat Systems

A big thanks to the committee and the Defense Media Awards!

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s caption reads:

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (Sep. 18, 2023) – Navy Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians assigned to EOD Mobile Unit (EODMU) 6 conduct radiological search procedures at a training bunker onboard Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story as part of a training evolution, Sep. 18. EODMU 6 provides operational EOD capabilities for the location, identification, rendering safe, recovery, field evaluation and disposal of explosive ordnance, including chemical and nuclear weapons.

PRIME DIRECTIVES:

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s caption reads:

Illustration shows a visit to the Commandobunker of Kemmel, in Heuvelland, Friday 18 March 2022. After World War II, in the middle of the cold war, several countries including Belgium, France and Great-Britain, decide to build a bunker to coordinate west Europe aerian defence. BELGA PHOTO KURT DESPLENTER (Photo by KURT DESPLENTER / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by KURT DESPLENTER/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

PRIME DIRECTIVES:

• If you want to talk politics, do so respectfully and know that there’s always somebody that isn’t going to agree with you. 
• If you have political differences, hash it out respectfully, stick to the facts, and no childish name-calling or personal attacks of any kind. If you can’t handle yourself in that manner, then please, discuss virtually anything else.
• No drive-by garbage political memes. No conspiracy theory rants. Links to crackpot sites will be axed, too. Trolling and shitposting will not be tolerated. No obsessive behavior about other users. Just don’t interact with folks you don’t like. 
• Do not be a sucker and feed trolls! That’s as much on you as on them. Use the mute button if you don’t like what you see.  
• So unless you have something of quality to say, know how to treat people with respect, understand that everyone isn’t going to subscribe to your exact same worldview, and have come to terms with the reality that there is no perfect solution when it comes to moderation of a community like this, it’s probably best to just move on. 
• Finally, as always, report offenders, please. This doesn’t mean reporting people who don’t share your political views, but we really need your help in this regard.