a day ago
Daily Briefing: Air India probe in plane crash to be ‘fully transparent'; Israel-Iran fallout; Materialists movie review
Good morning,
Have you ever wondered why women either write, or read a lot of fanfiction? From the Harry Potter series, to Sherlock Holmes, women drastically dominate this genre. As fanfic provides one the freedom to change the story's ending, play with the characters here and there, rewrite rules, all culminating into everyday forms of transgression in the reader's life. Aamatullah Rajkotwala, in our latest Fresh Take column, writes: 'Women read and write fanfiction for a variety of different reasons. Many, like me, found themselves entrenched in a fandom, hungry for more material. Many others have used it as a space for escapism, dissent, power, sexual release or a combination of all these things.'
With that, let's move on to the top 5 stories from today's edition:
🚨 Big Story
Mourning: Dreams of Gujarat's NRIs went down with the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that burst into flames on Thursday. In Kasumbad village of Borsad taluka in Gujarat's Anand district, residents and close friends are clutching onto the memories of those who 'made it' to London and were an 'inspiration' for the youth chasing dreams of settling abroad. The crash has also momentarily shaken the dreams of many youngsters from the region of Charotar — known as the NRI belt of Gujarat, comprising villages from Anand and Kheda districts.
Grief, and a long wait: A day after Air India's London-bound AI 171 crashed soon after taking off from Ahmedabad, staff at the BJ Medical College, where the aircraft fell and broke into pieces, ushered family members and relatives of many of the 241 passengers and crew who were victims of the crash. They arrived from different parts of the country, waiting to provide their DNA samples so that they could identify whatever was left of their loved ones. Authorities have also arranged counselling staff to help the families cope with the grief and the long wait.
Probe: Air India will be fully transparent in the investigation into the crash of its Boeing 787-8 aircraft and will support the probe process as long it lasts, the Tata group airline's chief executive officer Campbell Wilson said on Friday. Releasing a recorded statement, the Air India CEO said that he has assured the government that the carrier is 'committed to full cooperation with those working on the ground and through the investigations'. Wilson, along with N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Air India, were present at the site of the incident within moments of the crash.
⚡ Only in Express
Meena Mistry was rolling out rotis, Aryan Rajput moved to the handwash area, Jeet Bhuriya walked in late for lunch. At the hostel mess of a medical college, nothing was out of the ordinary. Moments later, an Air India plane crashed in through the wall. Hostellers and students of B J Medical College share their ordeal as they head to vacate the premises and recover from the traumatic incident.
💡 Express Explained
In what is its most ambitious military operation in recent years, Israel launched a series of air strikes against Iran on Friday, targeting nuclear sites, missile facilities and other military infrastructure. The attack killed some of the country's key military and civilian personnel as well. What did Israel target? Why? We explain.
✍️ Express Opinion
In our Opinion section today, C Raja Mohan delves into the power relations and options available for Iran amid Israel's unprecedented attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, which would present far-reaching implications on stability within the Middle East region. He writes: 'As Tehran weighs its options, Tel Aviv has made a bold gamble to neutralise Iran's nuclear ambitions, challenge its sclerotic regime, and confront its ageing patriarch, Ali Khamenei. Israel's hopes for a regime change in Iran are longstanding but have been difficult to realise. Could it be different this time?'
🎥 Movie Review
Wondering what to binge-watch this weekend? Well, we've got you covered! Celine Song's latest release, Materialists is all about 'never-too-old romances and did-you-really-think-new lives.' The film, starring Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans, has something important to say, Shalini Langer writes in her review. 'About the transactional nature of modern romance, about the fast-evaporating options for women even in their late 20s, about the fear of ending up alone in a world where you are bombarded with images of happiness, about the realities of the matchmaking market where physical and material assets are boxes to be ticked off, about the racism and classism that shows up in demands of perfectly regular people.'
That's all for today. Have a lovely weekend!
Until next time,
Ariba
