Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday extended Eid al-Fitr and Nowruz greetings to Iran&rsquo;s President Masoud Pezeshkian, while expressing solidarity with the Iranian people amid what he described as &ldquo;ongoing hostilities&rdquo; in the region, the prime minister&rsquo;s office said. During his virtual call, Pezeshkian reciprocated the greetings and conveyed his best wishes for the people of Pakistan, the statement added. PM Sharif expressed &ldquo;deep condolences&rdquo; over the loss of lives and prayed for the recovery of those injured and displaced, the statement said. He also voiced &ldquo;serious concern&rdquo; over the situation in the Gulf, calling the hostilities &ldquo;dangerous&rdquo; and urging collective efforts for de-escalation and a return to dialogue and diplomacy among neighboring countries, the statement said. The prime minister stressed the importance of unity within the Muslim world, adding that Pakistan would continue diplomatic outreach and play a constructive role in promoting regional peace, according to the statement.

Foreign Affairs

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday extended Eid al-Fitr and Nowruz greetings to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, while expressing solidarity with the Iranian people amid what he described as “ongoing hostilities” in the region, the prime minister’s office said

Pakistan PM extends Eid greetings, expresses solidarity with Iran amid ‘ongoing hostilities’

BOGOTA:&nbsp;A Colombian military plane carrying 125 troops and crew crashed on take off Monday, with as many as 80 people aboard feared dead. The Hercules aircraft went down shortly after departure from Puerto Leguizamo, near the southern border with Ecuador, strewing burning wreckage on the jungle floor. The troubled border area has been the scene of heavy military activity in recent weeks, as the Colombian and Ecuadoran militaries try to tackle drug-running cartels and militias. The toll remained unclear. Officials said that as many as 48 survivors had been found. A military source told AFP that 80 people may have been killed, although there was no official toll. Images from the scene showed civilians clambering around the broken tail of the aircraft, marked FAC 1016, as smoke and flames billowed above the trees. Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed &quot;deep sorrow&quot; over the disaster. &quot;Military units are already at the scene,&quot; Sanchez posted on social media, adding that &quot;the number of victims and the causes of the crash have not yet been confirmed.&quot; &quot;It is a deeply painful event for the country. May our prayers bring some measure of comfort,&quot; said Sanchez. General Carlos Fernando Silva Rueda said that 114 troops were aboard and 11 crew. They had been travelling between Puerto Leguizamo and another Amazon outpost nearby. The crash is the second by a C-130 Hercules aircraft in South America in under a month. A Bolivian military cargo plane carrying banknotes crashed while landing near La Paz on February 27, leaving at least 24 people dead. The Hercules is a four-engine turboprop plane built by Lockheed Martin. Renowned for its ability to operate from makeshift airstrips, it is widely used by militaries around the world and can carry everything from troops to vehicles.

Americas

A Colombian military plane carrying 125 troops and crew crashed on take off Monday, with as many as 80 people aboard feared dead.

Colombia military aircraft crashes with 125 aboard, many feared dead

UNITED NATIONS: Countries that ratified a landmark treaty to protect the high seas on Monday set January 2027 as the proposed date for their first summit, known as a conference of the parties. After years of delays, the treaty was ratified in September by 60 countries. The law aims to protect biodiverse areas in international waters, beyond countries&rsquo; exclusive economic zones. Belizean diplomat Janine Coye-Felson, co-chair of the committee working on implementing the treaty, said the group would recommend &ldquo;that the first meeting of the COP be convened from 11 to 22nd January 2027 at UN Headquarters&rdquo; in New York city. The preparatory committee is holding its final meeting in New York to lay the groundwork for January&rsquo;s summit, where operating rules and the location of a new secretariat must be decided. The treaty, adopted in June 2023, aims to counter the myriad threats facing the world&rsquo;s high seas, including climate change, pollution and overfishing. Teeming with life, the oceans are responsible for creating half of the globe&rsquo;s oxygen supply and are vital to combatting global warming because they absorb significant amounts of the CO2 emitted by human activities, conservationists say. The high seas begin where a country&rsquo;s exclusive economic zone ends &mdash; up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the coast &mdash; and fall outside the jurisdiction of any single nation. Although they cover nearly half the planet, the high seas have been long overlooked in the fight to preserve the environment. Today only about one percent of the high seas is subject to conservation measures. In 2022 at the COP15 biodiversity conference, the world&rsquo;s nations committed to protect 30 percent of global lands and oceans by the year 2030.

Belizean diplomat Janine Coye-Felson, co-chair of the committee working on implementing the treaty, said the group would recommend “that the first meeting of the COP be convened from 11 to 22nd January 2027 at UN Headquarters” in New York City.

First UN high seas summit proposed for January in New York

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">JERUSALEM:&nbsp;A malfunction in the David&#39;s Sling aerial interceptor system allowed two Iranian ballistic missiles to strike southern Israel, wounding dozens of people over the weekend, the military confirmed Monday. The towns of Dimona and Arad were hit on Saturday evening, with the former widely believed to hold Israel&#39;s undeclared nuclear arsenal. Most of the wounded were injured by shrapnel or while rushing to shelters, Israeli first responders said. Several buildings were also damaged in the strikes. Israeli financial daily and website Calcalist first reported that it was David&#39;s Sling, a key component of Israel&#39;s multi-layered air defense shield, that had failed to intercept the incoming Iranian ballistic missiles. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military confirmed that it was David&#39;s Sling, named after the Biblical figure who slew Goliath, that had malfunctioned. Operational since April 2017, the aerial defence system was originally designed to counter heavy rockets and cruise missiles. Long-range ballistic missiles of the kind fired by Iran are typically handled by the Arrow system, which intercepts targets outside the atmosphere, while shorter-range threats fall to the Iron Dome and the newly deployed Iron Beam laser system. Calcalist reported that the military chose to use David&#39;s Sling on Saturday following a recent upgrade in a bid to preserve Arrow interceptor stocks amid concerns the war with Iran could drag on. On February 11, the defense ministry announced that David&#39;s Sling had successfully completed a series of tests as part of what it described as a &quot;future threat readiness upgrade&quot;.The war with Iran began on February 28. Yoav Tourgeman, chief executive of Rafael, the system&#39;s main contractor, was quoted as saying that the upgraded version &quot;incorporated new capabilities across a wide range of challenging scenarios&quot;. Despite Saturday&#39;s failed interceptions, the military has stressed that its forces have intercepted about 92 percent of the more than 400 ballistic missiles fired by Iran since the start of the war. Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on Sunday that there had been only four direct hits on Israeli territory since the Iran war began. The Middle East was sparked by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered a wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks against Israel and several other countries in the region.

Middle East

 A malfunction in the David's Sling aerial interceptor system allowed two Iranian ballistic missiles to strike southern Israel, wounding dozens of people over the weekend, the military confirmed

Israel's David's Sling system failed to intercept Iranian missiles: army

LONDON: Just a trickle of cargo ships and tankers &mdash; most of them Iranian &mdash; have made it through the Strait of Hormuz since Iranian forces effectively blocked the crucial trade route in the Middle East war. Here are facts and figures about vessels that have passed through the 167-kilometer (104-mile) long strait since the war broke out with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. 95% shipping dropFrom March 1 to 1600 GMT on March 23, commodities carriers made just 144 crossings, according to analytics firm Kpler &mdash; a 95 percent decrease from peacetime. Of these, 91 crossings were by oil and gas tankers and more than half were loaded, Kpler data showed, with most traveling east out of the strait. &ldquo;Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to be severely disrupted,&rdquo; shipping intelligence journal Lloyd&rsquo;s List said in its latest update Monday. On Monday, two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and a China-bound carrier were among the latest to navigate the strait, according to Kpler. The Panama-flagged Bright Gold was due to arrive in China on April 13 with around 40,000 tons of methanol. A Chinese-owned containership &mdash; the Newvoyager &mdash; also transited the waterway after making a payment to Iranian authorities, Lloyd&rsquo;s List reported. The exact amount and method of payment could not be confirmed, it said. New approved route?Monday&rsquo;s crossings all appeared to have used a purported Tehran-approved northern route around Larak Island just off the Iranian coast.Lloyd&rsquo;s List updated Monday that it has tracked more than 20 ships using the so-called corridor, with the majority Greek-owned but others Indian-, Pakistan- and Syrian-owned. It added that the Iranian authorities are reportedly handling transit requests on a case-by-case basis while some governments, including India, were said to be negotiating with Tehran for bulk passage arrangements. At least one vetted vessel paid a reported $2 million payment to pass safely through the strait, Lloyd&rsquo;s List reported last week. Two of the vessels navigating it Monday &mdash; the Bright Gold and the Indian tanker Pine Gas &mdash; kept their AIS transponders on, a rare occurrence for a non-Iranian vessel in the current climate. Iranian, Greek, Chinese shipsThe biggest proportion of ships to have passed through the strait are owned or flagged in Iran, followed by Greek and Chinese carriers, Bridget Diakun, an analyst at Lloyd&rsquo;s List Intelligence, said last week. &ldquo;Although Iran is continuing to control the Strait and exit its own oil, everything else is largely still at a standstill,&rdquo; Meade previously noted. 51 sanctioned shipsSince the war started, more than 40 percent of the ships transiting the strait have been under US, EU or UK sanctions, according to an AFP analysis of passage data. Of the oil and gas tankers, nearly 59 percent were under sanctions. Since March 16, &ldquo;anything heading westbound has been shadow fleet, gas carriers or tankers... they absolutely dominate the traffic going through,&rdquo; Diakun told the Lloyds briefing. Oil, LNG to AsiaCommodities analysts at JPMorgan bank have noted that most of the oil passing through the strait was headed for Asia, principally China. Cichen Shen, Asia Pacific editor at Lloyd&rsquo;s List, said there were indications online that Chinese authorities were working on &ldquo;some sort of exit plan&rdquo; for their big tankers stuck in the region. Meanwhile, Europe-bound LNG cargoes have been diverted to Asia, according to MarineTraffic. It noted that around 11 LNG tankers originally bound for Europe have been diverted to Asia since March 3, according to its analysis of market data, amid restricted supply and rising spot prices. 1.3 million barrels of Iran oilThe JPMorgan analysts said overall 98 percent of the observable oil traffic through the strait was Iranian, averaging 1.3 million barrels a day &ldquo;in early March.&rdquo; A fifth of the world&rsquo;s oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the strait in peacetime.

Business

From Pakistan-linked vessels to Asian markets, Strait of Hormuz traffic drops 95%, dominated by Iranian and sanctioned ships, as paid northern routes emerge and most oil and LNG flows divert eastward amid conflict.

What cargo ships are passing Hormuz strait?

Aleena Zara Malik

People have a lot of questions about Eid, and Google definitely has answers. This episode of Debunkistan takes on the most searched queries from non-Muslims and breaks them down with humour, context, and a much-needed reality check.

Debunkistan

This episode of Debunkistan takes on the most searched queries from non-Muslims and breaks them down with humour, context, and a much-needed reality check.

Most searched questions about Eid | Debunkistan

LONDON: England coach Brendon McCullum will keep his job despite the team&#39;s Ashes debacle, with cricket chief Richard Gould insisting he can &quot;adapt and evolve&quot;. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) promised a &quot;thorough review&quot; after Ben Stokes&#39;s team were demolished 4-1 on their five-Test tour of Australia, which ended in January. In addition to their poor performances on the pitch, there were reports of excessive drinking by players while they were on a break, raising concerns about the dressing-room culture. Revelations followed that vice-captain Harry Brook had been involved in an altercation with a nightclub bouncer on the pre-Ashes visit to New Zealand. A 4-0 loss in Australia four years earlier led to the departures of Chris Silverwood and Ashley Giles but this time the ECB has backed its leadership team following its review. It means captain Stokes, McCullum, and England managing director of men&#39;s cricket Rob Key will all keep their jobs. McCullum, 44, at the helm since 2022, has been responsible for England&#39;s aggressive &quot;Bazball&quot; approach to red-ball cricket, which has produced some spectacular performances. But his methods have failed to yield a series win against India or Australia -- England&#39;s main rivals in the Test arena. The New Zealander&#39;s contract, which is reportedly worth more than &pound;1 million ($1.3 million) a year, runs for another 18 months. Learning lessonsECB chief executive Gould told a briefing at Lord&#39;s on Monday that there was a resolve among the leadership group to put things right. &quot;There was a lot of consideration as to what is the right mix of leadership and who do we want and who do we need,&quot; he said. &quot;I think what we&#39;ve seen is a determination from all those involved to adapt and evolve, to understand that there are different ways of doing things and through the disappointment and difficulties of the Ashes to learn from that. &quot;And so, you know, we&#39;ve got a lot of people, yes, hurt by what went on during the Ashes, but equally determined to now put things right and looking forward to seeking revenge in 2027 (when Australia tour England).&quot; Key, speaking alongside Gould, said there had often been a &quot;lack of consequence for sub-standard performance&quot; in terms of under-performing players. But Gould, the son of former Wimbledon and Wales football manager Bobby Gould, defended the lack of change in senior team management by saying such decisions were not a &quot;popularity campaign&quot;. &quot;My old man was a football manager, sacking was part of the job,&quot; he said. &quot;It didn&#39;t necessarily do the right thing. Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That&#39;s not the route that we&#39;re going to take. &quot;I&#39;ve seen the driving ambition and determination that we&#39;re lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.&quot; Key, a former England Test batsman, insisted he was hurting as much as any fan after the Ashes loss. &quot;I wouldn&#39;t underestimate some of the pain that we&#39;ve been through,&quot; said Key, adding: &quot;Brendon, myself, Ben, it&#39;s been as tough a time as I think I&#39;ve had... You don&#39;t do these jobs to be the most popular person in the world. You do it to try and make a difference. &quot;I felt personally that there&#39;s still a lot to do.&quot; England host New Zealand and Pakistan in two three-Test series this season, starting with the series opener against the Black Caps from June 4.

Cricket

ECB promised a "thorough review" after Ben Stokes's team were demolished 4-1 on their five-Test tour of Australia, which ended in January.

England coach McCullum survives review into Ashes drubbing

Faraz Saeed

LAHORE: As Eid ul Fitr festivities concluded, markets across Pakistan witnessed peak commercial activity, capping weeks of heightened economic momentum driven by festive spending. Eid ul Fitr, one of the most significant occasions in the Islamic calendar, marked the conclusion of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, prayer and reflection. The festival began with special congregational prayers, followed by family gatherings, exchange of gifts, charitable giving and shared meals, as Muslims celebrated both spiritual renewal and community. On the eve of Eid, commercial centers across the country, especially in the eastern city of Lahore, remained crowded late into the night as last-minute shoppers finalized purchases ranging from clothing and footwear to jewelry and mehndi. At Liberty Market, the rush intensified as families completed their Eid preparations. &ldquo;I was shopping for jewelry and clothes, and I also planned to get mehndi done,&rdquo; said Sidra, a shopper speaking to Pakistan TV Digital. &ldquo;My total budget was around Rs30,000 [$107] to Rs40,000 [$143].&rdquo; Retailers reported an exceptional season, with strong consumer turnout translating into significant gains. Muhammad Tayyab, a shopkeeper, described the surge in business as unprecedented in recent years. &ldquo;Sales increased by around 70% to 80% compared to previous years,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In the past seven years, business had not been this strong. This Eid season brought a very positive change for retailers.&rdquo; The spike in commercial activity reflected broader seasonal financial trends. The State Bank of Pakistan reported that currency in circulation rose by approximately Rs1.5 trillion ($5.38 billion) in FY25, with a marked increase during Ramadan and Eid due to heightened consumer spending. In addition, around Rs27 billion ($96.8 million) in fresh currency notes were issued ahead of Eid last year, helping facilitate transactions during the peak shopping period. Fresh notes are preferred for the tradition of Eidi, where elders give cash gifts to children and younger family members. Crisp currency symbolizes festivity and generosity, making it ideal for gifting during Eid. Economic experts pointed to further inflows boosting purchasing power. &ldquo;Zakat and Fitrana, estimated at Rs50 billion [$179.2 million] to Rs70 billion [$251 million] this year, circulated among lower-income groups,&rdquo; said Waqas Ghani, Head of Research at JS Global. &ldquo;Remittances also typically increased by 15% to 30% during this period, further fueling spending across markets.&rdquo; As the country marked Eid, the convergence of spiritual celebration and economic activity highlighted the festival&rsquo;s dual significance, strengthening both social bonds and commercial vitality nationwide.

Culture

Economy

Pakistan’s Eid economy surges as spending peaks, with Rs1.5 trillion in circulation, Rs27 billion in fresh notes issued, and Rs50–70 billion redistributed through Zakat, Fitrana and rising remittances.

Eid spending surge fuels retail boom across Pakistan markets

Asfandyar Yahya

Eid ul-Fitr might look like a festival filled with food, family, and joy, but behind it is a much deeper idea about discipline, self-control, and returning to your original state. In this episode of Tell Me Why, we explore the meaning behind Ramadan, what fasting actually does to the body and mind, and why Eid isn&rsquo;t just about ending hunger but understanding it.

Tell Me Why

In this episode of Tell Me Why, we explore the meaning behind Ramadan, what fasting actually does to the body and mind, and why Eid isn’t just about ending hunger but understanding it.

Tell me why we celebrate Eid

NEW YORK: A plane and an official vehicle collided on a runway at New York&#39;s LaGuardia Airport, authorities said early Monday, forcing a halt to flights at the transport hub. The New York police department told AFP that an Air Canada plane &quot;collided with a port authority vehicle&quot;. Separately, the fire department said it had &quot;responded to a reported incident involving a plane and vehicle&quot; on runway four. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop for the airport, saying there was a &quot;high&quot; likelihood it would be extended. Authorities did not immediately provide details of the incident, including on casualties. AFP has contacted the port authority and Air Canada for comment. Flight tracking platform FlightRadar24 said an Air Canada Express plane had &quot;collided with an airport rescue and firefighting vehicle&quot; while landing. The aircraft, a CRJ-900 operated by Jazz Aviation, Air Canada&#39;s regional partner, had departed from Montreal, the platform said. It &quot;was rolling down the runway when it struck&quot; the vehicle as it crossed its path, according to FlightRadar24. Unverified social media images showed an Air Canada aircraft with a badly damaged nose and cockpit area apparently on a runway at night, with emergency vehicles nearby. New York&#39;s emergency management authority warned people to &quot;expect cancellations, road closures, traffic delays &amp; emergency personnel&quot; near the major transport hub in the borough of Queens. &quot;Use alternate routes,&quot; it said on X. All departing flights from LaGuardia had been either delayed or canceled as of early Monday, the airport&#39;s website showed. AFP has also contacted the airport and the port authority police department for comment. LaGuardia had already been suffering from flight disruptions due to poor weather, the airport said Sunday on X. Passengers were also waiting longer to pass security due to &quot;staffing impacts&quot; from a federal funding lapse, it said last week.

An Air Canada plane collides with an airport vehicle on a runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York City, prompting a ground stop and widespread flight disruptions as authorities investigate the incident.