DUBAI: The Dubai Airshow 2025 opened at Al Maktoum International Airport on Monday, bringing together global aviation leaders, defence officials and industry experts for one of the region’s largest aerospace events.

Aircraft from Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates were parked side by side in the static display area, drawing attention from visitors who noted the close proximity of the two fleets.

The arrangement was seen as a symbolic reflection of strong ties between the UAE and Pakistan in defence and aviation cooperation.

The skies above the airshow were dominated by colourful aerobatic displays as military and commercial jets performed precision manoeuvres throughout the opening day.

Crowds gathered around the runway and viewing stands as teams showcased high-speed turns, formations and signature stunts.

Pakistan’s JF-17 Thunder remained a major attraction. The multirole fighter impressed aviation enthusiasts with its agility during the aerobatic segment and later drew large groups of visitors at the static display.

Many attendees stopped to take photos of the aircraft and ask technical questions from the Pakistan Air Force officials present.

Pakistani pilots also became a highlight, with participants lining up for pictures and selfies following their performance. Visitors praised the professionalism and display routine of the PAF team, calling it “one of the best crowd-pullers” of the day.

The five-day airshow will continue to feature defence announcements, aircraft showcases and daily demos from international manufacturers and air forces.

• Former interior minister also faces extradition.
• India notes verdict, avoids extradition response.
• Muhammad Yunus calls verdict a historic milestone.
  

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Monday demanded India extradite ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, hours after she was sentenced to hang for crimes against humanity.

Hasina’s autocratic rule was backed by New Delhi, and the 78-year-old fled to India after her ouster in a mass uprising in August 2024, fraying relations between the two neighbours.

She has been in hiding ever since.

On Monday a court in Dhaka sentenced Hasina as well as former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia, after being found guilty of crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown against last year’s student-led uprising.

The former minister’s whereabouts are not known, but Bangladesh says he is also in India.

“We urge the government of India to immediately extradite the two convicts to the Bangladeshi authorities,” Dhaka’s foreign ministry said in a statement, saying it was “an obligatory responsibility for India”.

Bangladesh warned that “granting asylum to these convicts… would be extremely unfriendly and an affront to justice.”

India’s foreign ministry said that it had “noted the verdict” of Hasina.

“India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability,” the ministry said in a statement that does not directly address the issue of potential extradition.

Hasina’s 15-year tenure saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

Bangladesh last year said it would request an Interpol red notice for Hasina, but there was no record on the global police body alert law enforcement list.

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus welcomed the verdict.

“The awarding of death sentences to Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in the crimes against humanity case is a historic verdict,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a statement.

He called for calm and warned against any “attempt to violate public order”, urging “everyone to refrain from any indisciplined acts”.

Hasina’s son and adviser, Sajeeb Wazed, told Reuters on the eve of the verdict that they would not appeal unless a democratically elected government took office with the Awami League’s participation.

During the trial, prosecutors told the court that they had uncovered evidence of her direct command to use lethal force to suppress a student-led uprising in July and August 2024.

According to a United Nations report, up to 1,400 people may have been killed during the protests between July 15 and August 5, 2024, with thousands more injured — most of them by gunfire from security forces

Hasina was represented by a state-appointed defence counsel who told the court that the charges against her were baseless and pleaded for her acquittal.

Ahead of the verdict, Hasina dismissed the accusations and the fairness of the Tribunal proceedings, asserting a guilty verdict was “a foregone conclusion.”

Bangladesh has been tense ahead of the verdict, with at least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles torched across the country over the past few days. There have been no casualties, however.

‘Politically motivated’

Hasina, 78, who has remained in India since she was overthrown in August 2024, challenged the legitimacy of the Tribunal in an email interview with Reuters last month.

“These proceedings are a politically motivated charade,” she said. “They have been brought by kangaroo courts, with guilty verdicts a foregone conclusion. They are presided over by an unelected government which consists of my political opponents.”

She also said she was denied adequate notice of the hearings and any meaningful opportunity to mount a defence, adding that she was not personally involved in the use of lethal force or other alleged crimes.

The Muslim-majority South Asian country of 170 million people has been governed by an interim administration headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus since Hasina fled. Although the country has been largely peaceful since, political stability is yet to return.

In the Reuters interview, Hasina warned of growing anger among supporters of the Awami League and said that millions of party loyalists would boycott the parliamentary elections in February.

On Monday, security remained tight across Dhaka and other major cities, with paramilitary forces deployed around key government buildings and the tribunal complex.

Authorities said they were prepared for any trouble after the verdict.

The UK government on Monday threatened visa bans on three African countries unless they accept the returns of irregular migrants, as the interior minister was set to announce sweeping changes to the asylum system.

Britain said it would stop granting visas to nationals from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless the countries accepted the returns of “their criminals and illegal immigrants”, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was expected later on Monday to announce the government has touted as the “most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times”.

Immigration has become a bitterly divisive issue in Britain in recent years, fuelling support for the hard-right Reform UK party.

Mahmood’s hardline rhetoric and measures is aimed at curbing asylum seekers crossing the Channel from France to Britain on small boats— but they are widely seen as an attempt to claw back public support from Reform, which has surged past the governing Labour Party in popularity polls.

Echoing US President Donald Trump’s travel bans, the Home Office said the “three countries face penalties for their unacceptably low cooperation and obstructive returns processes”.

Home Office minister Alex Norris told Sky News the countries had “one month to get this in order”.

The government also said it would consider similar measures against other countries.

These include an “emergency brake” on visas for people from countries with high rates of asylum claims, who travel to the UK by legal routes.

Despite an increase in asylum claims being submitted, the number of initial positive decisions the UK authorities have granted fell from 2023 to 2024, according to the latest government figures.

Thousands of visas have been granted under humanitarian schemes for Ukrainians, Afghans and Hong Kong residents in recent years.

Other planned measures, modelled on Denmark’s strict asylum system, will include ending automatic benefits for asylum seekers and drastically reducing protections for refugees.

One of the most contentious proposals — which has been condemned by charities as well as Labour lawmakers — will see the length of refugee status cut from five years to 30 months.

Refugees will have their protection “regularly reviewed” and will be forced to return to their home countries once those are deemed safe.

They will also need to wait for 20 years, instead of the current five, before they can apply for permanent residency.

“We should be welcoming and integrating and not creating this situation of kind of perpetual limbo and alienation, which doesn’t help the refugees and it doesn’t help society,” Labour MP Tony Vaughan told the BBC’s Today programme.