THE Chinese president, Xi Jinping, last Friday (28) pledged deeper cooperation with his Bangladeshi counterpart Muhammad Yunus in a meeting that came as Dhaka seeks new friends to offset frosty ties with India.
Yunus took charge of Bangladesh last August after the toppling of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi after a student-led uprising.
India was the biggest benefactor of Hasina’s government, and her ouster sent cross-border relations into a tailspin, culminating in Yunus choosing to make his first state visit to China.
Xi told Yunus that Beijing was “willing to work with Bangladesh to push bilateral cooperation to a new level,” Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.
“China... insists on remaining a good neighbour, good friend and good partner to Bangladesh, based on mutual trust,” Xi said, according to CCTV.
Beijing and Dhaka should “firmly support each other” on core interests, the Chinese leader said. He backed Bangladesh on issues including safeguarding national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
He added that the two countries would explore cooperation in infrastructure construction, water conservancy and the digital, marine and environmental sectors.
Dhaka said Yunus’s China visit showed Bangladesh was “sending a message”.
The 84-year-old Nobel Prize winner held several other meetings with highlevel officials in the Chinese capital.
According to reports, the two leaders also discussed Bangladesh’s immense population of Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled a violent military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in 2017.
China has acted as a mediator between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the past to broker the repatriation of the persecuted minority, although efforts stalled because of the ruling junta’s unwillingness to have them returned.
Meanwhile, senior figures in the Indian and Bangladeshi governments traded barbs ahead of Yunus’s visit to Beijing.
Muhammad Yunus
Those tensions have almost completely halted travel by Bangladeshis to India for medical tourism, thousands of whom crossed the border each year to seek care. Dhaka’s top foreign ministry bureaucrat said last week that talks in Beijing would touch on the establishment of a Chinese “Friendship Hospital” in Bangladesh.
Yunus’s caretaker administration has the unenviable task of instilling democratic reforms ahead of new elections expected by mid-2026.
It has requested – so far unsuccessfully – that India allow Hasina’s extradition to Bangladesh to face charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of protesters during the unrest that toppled her government.
Yunus has also sought a meeting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in a bid to reset relations, with both expected to be at the same regional summit in Bangkok this month.
His government has yet to receive a response, with Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar saying the request was “under review”.
In another development, Bangladeshi police last Friday filed a new criminal case against Hasina over an alleged plot to overthrow the government that replaced her.
Numerous criminal indictments have been issued against her and top loyalists of her Awami League party, including over a crackdown by security forces that killed hundreds of demonstrators during last year’s unrest.
The latest case revolves around a virtual meeting attended by nearly 600 Awami League members in December, which police said had conspired to “wage civil war in Bangladesh” with the aim of restoring Hasina to power. “Many of them, both inside and outside the country, pledged to continue their fight until their last breath,” the case documents stated.
Police spokesman Jasim Uddin Khan said that charges had initially been filed against Hasina and 72 others, but that the number of defendants may increase as the investigation progressed.
“The number of participants in the virtual meeting was 577. We are investigating their roles, and if found complicit in the conspiracy, they will be charged,” he said.
A report from the UN rights office earlier this year stated that Hasina’s government was responsible for systematic attacks and killings of protesters as it attempted to hold onto power last year.
UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.
The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.
According to a spokesperson for the British High Commission, the aircraft is currently awaiting repairs at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport after it developed an engineering issue.
The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.
"The aircraft will be moved to the hangar once UK engineering teams arrive with specialist equipment, thereby ensuring there is minimal disruption to scheduled maintenance of other aircraft," the spokesperson said.
The F-35B is the only fifth generation fighter jet with short takeoff and vertical landing capabilities, which allows it to operate from smaller decks, austere bases and ships.
The official said the aircraft would return to active service once the repairs and safety checks are completed.
"Ground teams continue to work closely with Indian authorities to ensure safety and security precautions are observed. We thank the Indian authorities and Thiruvananthapuram international airport for their continued support."
The aircraft was unable to return to HMS Prince of Wales due to adverse weather conditions.
Engineers from HMS Prince of Wales had assessed the aircraft after the emergency landing and determined that support from UK-based engineering teams was required.
The Indian Air Force had said a few days after the incident that it was providing all necessary support for the "rectification and subsequent return" of the aircraft.
Earlier this month, the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group conducted military exercises with the Indian Navy.
In British service, the F-35B is referred to as the 'Lightning'. It is the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the fighter jet, designed for use from short-field bases and air-capable ships.
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Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)
TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.
The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.
The emotional impact of the incident continues to affect survivors and relatives of those who died.
Counselling support on the ground
In the immediate aftermath, the Department of Psychiatry at B J Medical College deployed a team of psychiatrists—five senior residents and five consultants—across locations including Kasauti Bhavan, the postmortem building, and the civil superintendent's office to support families.
"The accident was unimaginable. Even bystanders were disturbed. Then what must be the condition of someone who lost their loved one?" said Dr Minakshi Parikh, Dean and Head of Psychiatry at BJMC.
"If the people who heard the news were so disturbed, then it is not even within our scope to imagine the state of mind of the family members of people who lost their lives," she told PTI.
Processing grief in stages
As visuals of the crash began to circulate, families arrived in large numbers—many still hoping their relatives had survived. The existence of a lone survivor gave rise to hopes that it might be their loved one.
"There was an uncertainty whether one would be able to identify the loved ones they have lost and wait for matching of the DNA samples for three days. In some cases, samples of another relative of the kin had to be taken. The shock would have logically led to acute stress reactions and post-traumatic stress disorder," said Dr Parikh.
Dr Urvika Parekh, assistant professor and a member of the crisis response team, said denial was the immediate response among many families.
Facing denial and despair
"They kept asking for updates, insisting their family member had survived. Breaking the news gently, while having no confirmation ourselves, was incredibly difficult. We had to provide psychological first aid before anything else," she said.
Parekh said the hope placed on the lone survivor became a coping mechanism. "We had to deal with the denial and explain that nobody could have survived the horrific crash (except one who was not their relative)," she added.
Families were initially reluctant to accept counselling. "It was also difficult to accept the truth without seeing the bodies of their loved ones. Counselling aided them at this critical juncture," Parekh said.
She shared the case of a man who remained silent after losing his wife in the crash. "There was immense guilt—survivor guilt (that he is alive and his wife died). We gave him anti-anxiety medication to help ease the immediate stress. Eventually, he began to speak. He talked about their plans, their memories. It was catharsis. We didn't interrupt—we just let him speak and communicated through silence and empathy,” she said.
Parekh said that listening empathetically was a major part of the process. "We were managing their anger, outburst, and their questions like 'why us' (why did it have to happen to us)," she said.
The wait for DNA results was another major source of distress. With confirmation taking up to 72 hours or more, some families insisted they could identify their loved ones without DNA.
"There was one father who kept saying he didn't need DNA tests—he could identify his son by his eyes," said Parekh. "We had to gently discourage that. Seeing their loved ones in such a state could trigger PTSD and depression. We told them: it's better to remember them with a smile than with charred remains.”
Dr Parikh said the five commonly known stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—were not experienced in a fixed sequence.
Lingering grief and support
"People cycle through these stages. Someone might accept the loss in the morning and fall back into denial by evening,” said Parekh. "So we mourned with them. That was part of the therapy".
Parekh stays in one of the residential buildings near the crash site. Her building was not damaged.
Some families found the waiting unbearable. One Air India crew member’s family had to wait seven days for DNA confirmation. “The exhaustion, the helplessness—it broke her mentally,” a relative said. “But the counselling helped. Those sessions were our only anchor."
"A calm voice, the right amount of information, and simply being there—these saved a lot of families from spiralling into chaos,” said Dr Parikh.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
INDIA has declined a request from the United Nations aviation agency to allow one of its investigators to observe the probe into the Air India crash that killed 260 people in Ahmedabad on June 12, Reuters reported, citing two senior sources familiar with the matter.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) had offered to provide assistance by sending one of its investigators, following the crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner earlier this month. It was an unusual move, as ICAO typically deploys investigators only upon request from the country leading the investigation.
In this case, ICAO had asked Indian authorities to allow the investigator already present in India to join the probe as an observer, the sources told Reuters. However, Indian officials refused the offer. Times Now was the first to report this development on Thursday.
The civil aviation ministry said on Thursday that the flight recorder data was downloaded around two weeks after the crash.
Some safety experts had earlier raised concerns over the delay in the analysis of the black box data and a lack of information on the progress of the probe. The first combined black box unit was recovered on June 13, and a second set was found on June 16.
It is still unclear whether the black boxes are being read in India or the US. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is also participating in the investigation. The Indian government has held only one press conference so far, where no questions were taken.
According to global aviation norms under "Annex 13", a decision on where to read the flight recorders should be made immediately if the information obtained could help prevent similar accidents in the future.
An unnamed aviation ministry official said earlier this week that the ministry is "following all the ICAO protocols." The official also said that media representatives have been sharing updates on major developments.
Most air accidents result from a combination of factors. A preliminary report is expected within about 30 days of the crash.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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(From left) Axiom Mission 4 Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu, Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Commander Peggy Whitson, and Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski wave from inside the Space Dragon spacecraft. (Photo: NASA)
INDIA’s Shubhanshu Shukla and three other astronauts entered the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday after a 28-hour journey aboard the Dragon spacecraft. The crew received warm hugs and handshakes upon arrival as the capsule docked with the orbital laboratory.
The spacecraft, named Grace and fifth in the Dragon series, made a soft capture with the ISS’s Harmony module at 4:01 pm IST while flying over the North Atlantic Ocean. Full docking procedures, including power links and pressure checks, took about two more hours to complete.
“The #Ax4 crew -- commander Peggy Whitson, ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, ESA astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, and mission specialist Tibor Kapu -- emerges from the Dragon spacecraft and gets their first look at their home in low Earth orbit,” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) posted on X.
The #Ax4 crew—commander Peggy Whitson, @ISRO astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, @ESA astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, and mission specialist Tibor Kapu—emerges from the Dragon spacecraft and gets their first look at their home in low Earth orbit. pic.twitter.com/5q0RfoSv4G — NASA (@NASA) June 26, 2025
“We are happy to be here. It was a long quarantine,” said Whitson, who is making her fifth spaceflight. The four astronauts waved at mission control in Houston during their live interaction.
Soft capture, docking and crew entry
Live footage from NASA showed the Dragon spacecraft approaching the ISS. The docking was confirmed at 4:15 pm IST. After its launch from Florida at 12:01 hours on Wednesday, the spacecraft fired thrusters in a series of controlled manoeuvres to position itself for docking.
The approach progressed faster than expected, with mission control skipping planned pauses at “waypoint-1” and “waypoint-2”, allowing the docking to advance by nearly 30 minutes.
At just 20 metres from the ISS, the spacecraft used laser-based sensors and cameras to align precisely with the docking port on the Harmony module. Once soft capture was achieved, hard-mating followed through 12 sets of mechanical hooks and the activation of power and communication links.
The ISS crew then carried out leak checks and pressure equalisation between the two spacecraft. The hatch was opened after ensuring pressure levels matched those at sea level on Earth.
Whitson entered the space station at 5:53 pm IST, followed by Shukla, Slawosz and Kapu.
Shukla first Indian on ISS, others also make history
Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, is the second Indian to go to space and the first since Rakesh Sharma’s mission in 1984.
Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski, an engineer and project astronaut from the European Space Agency, is the second person from Poland to travel to space, and the first since 1978.
Tibor Kapu, a mechanical engineer and mission specialist, is the second Hungarian to go into space. Hungary’s last space mission took place 45 years ago.
The ISS already has seven astronauts onboard – Nicole Ayers, Anne McClain and Jonny Kim from NASA, Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Roscosmos cosmonauts Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
EFFORTS are underway to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to the Air India plane crash earlier this month, which killed over 260 people, the civil aviation ministry said on Thursday.
A multi-disciplinary team led by the director general of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is conducting the investigation.
The team began extracting data from the black boxes of the aircraft on June 24.
Over 270 dead in Ahmedabad crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12, killing more than 270 people, including 241 passengers onboard.
“Following the unfortunate accident involving Air India Flight AI-171, the AAIB promptly initiated an investigation and constituted a multidisciplinary team on 13 June 2025, in line with prescribed norms.
“The team, constituted as per international protocol, is led by DG AAIB, and includes an aviation medicine specialist, an ATC officer, and representatives from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which is government investigative agency from the state of manufacture and design, (USA), as required for such investigations,” the ministry said in its statement.
Crash protection module retrieved
According to the ministry, the team led by AAIB Director General GVG Yugandhar, along with technical members from AAIB and NTSB, started the data extraction process on June 24.
“The Crash Protection Module (CPM) from the front black box was safely retrieved, and on 25 June, 2025, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the AAIB Lab,” the statement said.
Black box data analysis underway
“The analysis of CVR (Cockpit Voice Recorder) and FDR (Flight Data Recorder) data is underway. These efforts aim to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the accident and identify contributing factors to enhance aviation safety and prevent future occurrences,” it added.
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