State-run Pakistan International Airlines resumes direct flights to Europe after EU lifts ban

State-run Pakistan International Airlines resumes direct flights to Europe after EU lifts ban
Ground staff stand next to the Pakistan International Airline aircraft ahead of its takeoff for Paris at the Islamabad International Airport on Jan. 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 10 January 2025
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State-run Pakistan International Airlines resumes direct flights to Europe after EU lifts ban

State-run Pakistan International Airlines resumes direct flights to Europe after EU lifts ban
  • The curb was imposed in 2020 after 97 people died when a PIA plane crashed in Karachi
  • The ban caused a loss of nearly $150 million a year in revenue for the flag carrier

ISLAMABAD: State-run Pakistan International Airlines resumed direct flights to Europe on Friday following a decision by the European Union’s aviation safety agency to lift a four-year ban over safety standards, officials said.
Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif inaugurated the twice-a-week flights to Paris and vowed that PIA will expand its operations to other European countries soon.
The flight from Islamabad was fully booked with more than 300 passengers, the airline said.
Asif said in a speech that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency had imposed the ban on PIA’s operations to Europe because of an “irresponsible statement” by a former aviation minister.
The curb on PIA was imposed in 2020 after 97 people died when a PIA plane crashed in Karachi in southern Pakistan. Then-Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said an investigation into the crash found that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilot’s exams. A government probe later concluded that the crash was caused by pilot error.
The ban caused a loss of nearly $150 million a year in revenue for PIA, officials say.
Meanwhile, the first international flight was scheduled to depart from Gwadar, a new airport in southwestern Pakistan, later Friday. The Chinese-funded airport was inaugurated by Chinese Premier Li Qiang in October.
The airport, Pakistan’s largest, is located in restive southwestern Balochistan province and is part of a massive investment by Beijing that links a deep seaport and airport on the Arabian Sea by road with China.


Sri Lankan president makes first Middle East trip for World Governments Summit

Sri Lankan president makes first Middle East trip for World Governments Summit
Updated 49 sec ago
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Sri Lankan president makes first Middle East trip for World Governments Summit

Sri Lankan president makes first Middle East trip for World Governments Summit
  • President will be accompanied by foreign minister
  • Visit is Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s third international presidential trip after India and China

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new president embarked on his first Middle East trip on Monday to participate in the World Governments Summit 2025 in Dubai.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake secured the top job in September, taking over the leadership of a country reeling from the 2022 economic crisis — the worst since its independence in 1948 — and the austerity measures imposed under a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund.

He has so far made two foreign trips: to India in December, where he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar; and to China, where he held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

During the Dubai trip, Dissanayake will address the annual summit that brings together leaders, policymakers, and experts from around the world to discuss global governance, public policy, and the future of governments.

Accompanied by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, he is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with the UAE leadership and witness the signing of several agreements.

“Sri Lanka is set to enter into agreements on fuel and gas purchases, power and energy projects and trade and investment ... Setting up of a joint commission between Sri Lanka and UAE will be another highlight of the visit,” Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said in a statement to Arab News.

“Government-to-government projects are to be entered into and memoranda of understanding are expected to be signed. Negotiations on the import of fuel and gas advantageous to Sri Lanka will be among the priorities.”

Other agreements that the Sri Lankan government are going to pursue include job opportunities for its expat workers, promotion of tourism and education.

“Sri Lanka is looking forward to promote the export of tea and gems while attracting tourists from UAE. Besides the bilateral meeting with the president of the UAE, meetings will also be held with the business community,” the ministry said.

“Sri Lanka is looking forward to increase investments from the UAE.”

More than 350,000 Sri Lankans live and work in Dubai. The president is expected to have a meeting with the diaspora as well.


Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details

Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details
Updated 50 min 9 sec ago
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Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details

Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details
  • Asked whether Trump’s plan was acceptable for Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that 1.2 million people lived in Gaza

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Monday it was waiting for more details on USpresident Donald Trump’s plan to buy the Gaza Strip, an idea which has sparked condemnation from many countries.
Trump said on Sunday he was committed to buying and owning Gaza, but could allow sections of the war-ravaged land to be rebuilt by other states in the Middle East.
Asked whether Trump’s plan was acceptable for Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that 1.2 million people lived in Gaza.
“It’s worth waiting for some details here if we’re talking about a coherent plan of action. We are talking about almost 1.2 million Palestinians who live there, and this is probably the main issue,” Peskov told a conference call.
“These are the people who were promised a two-state solution to the Middle East problem by the relevant Security Council resolutions, and so on and so forth. There are a lot of questions like that. We don’t know the details yet,
so we have to be patient,” said Peskov.


Almost all nations miss UN deadline for new climate targets

Almost all nations miss UN deadline for new climate targets
Updated 10 February 2025
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Almost all nations miss UN deadline for new climate targets

Almost all nations miss UN deadline for new climate targets
  • Just 10 of nearly 200 countries required under the Paris Agreement to deliver fresh climate plans by February 10 did so on time
  • Under the climate accord, each country is supposed to provide a steeper headline figure for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035

PARIS: Nearly all nations missed a UN deadline Monday to submit new targets for slashing carbon emissions, including major economies under pressure to show leadership following the US retreat on climate change.
Just 10 of nearly 200 countries required under the Paris Agreement to deliver fresh climate plans by February 10 did so on time, according to a UN database tracking the submissions.
Under the climate accord, each country is supposed to provide a steeper headline figure for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035, and a detailed blueprint for how to achieve this.
Global emissions have been rising but need to almost halve by the end of the decade to limit global warming to levels agreed under the Paris deal.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell has called this latest round of national pledges “the most important policy documents of this century.”
Yet just a handful of major polluters handed in upgraded targets on time, with China, India and the European Union the biggest names on a lengthy absentee list.
Most G20 economies were missing in action with the United States, Britain and Brazil — which is hosting this year’s UN climate summit — the only exceptions.
The US pledge is largely symbolic, made before President Donald Trump ordered Washington out of the Paris deal.
There is no penalty for submitting late targets, formally titled nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
They are not legally binding but act as an accountability measure to ensure governments are taking the threat of climate change seriously.
Last week, Stiell said submissions would be needed by September so they could be properly assessed before the UN COP30 climate conference in November.
A spokeswoman for the EU said the 27-nation bloc intended to submit its revised targets “well ahead” of the summit in Belem.
Analysts say China, the world’s biggest polluter and also its largest investor in renewable energy, is also expected to unveil its much-anticipated climate plan in the second half of the year.
The UAE, Ecuador, Saint Lucia, New Zealand, Andorra, Switzerland and Uruguay rounded out the list of countries that made Monday’s cut-off.
The sluggish response will not ease fears of a possible backslide on climate action as leaders juggle Trump’s return and other competing priorities from budget and security crises to electoral pressure.
Ebony Holland from the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development said the US retreat was “clearly a setback” but there were many reasons for the tepid turnout.
“It’s clear there are some broad geopolitical shifts underway that are proving to be a challenge when it comes to international cooperation, especially on big issues like climate change,” she said.


Police in India pull the plug on British singer Ed Sheeran’s impromptu street concert

Police in India pull the plug on British singer Ed Sheeran’s impromptu street concert
Updated 10 February 2025
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Police in India pull the plug on British singer Ed Sheeran’s impromptu street concert

Police in India pull the plug on British singer Ed Sheeran’s impromptu street concert
  • Sheeran was singing and playing his guitar on pavement in center of Bengaluru ahead of Sunday concert
  • Police say event organizers had refused permission for street performance on one of city’s busiest streets

A street performance by Ed Sheeran in India’s tech capital of Bengaluru was stopped abruptly by police on Sunday, outraging fans and prompting the British singer to issue a clarification.

Sheeran, dressed in a white t-shirt and shorts was seen singing and playing his guitar on a pavement in the center of Bengaluru ahead of his concert on Sunday night.

Local channels showed a policeman walking up to Sheeran as he was singing the hit single “Shape of You” and unplugging the microphone, as onlookers jeered. Sheeran left soon after.

Police said event organizers had refused permission for the street performance, which was on one of the city’s busiest streets.

“I refused to give permission because Church Street gets very crowded. That is the reason he was asked to vacate the place,” Bengaluru police official Shekar T Tekkannanavar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Sheeran, who began his career as a busker in the UK, said later on his Instagram account that he did have permission to perform.

“It wasn’t just us randomly turning up. All good though,” he wrote.

Sheeran is in India for a series of concerts, and performed in front of thousands of people at an open ground in the city later that night, accompanied by Indian singer Shilpa Rao. 
 


China’s Xi accepts invitation to attend Moscow’s Victory Day in May, TASS reports

China’s Xi accepts invitation to attend Moscow’s Victory Day in May, TASS reports
Updated 10 February 2025
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China’s Xi accepts invitation to attend Moscow’s Victory Day in May, TASS reports

China’s Xi accepts invitation to attend Moscow’s Victory Day in May, TASS reports
  • Kremlin earlier said it had invited ‘many countries’ to attend the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two
  • The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine

MOSCOW: Chinese President Xi Jinping has accepted Russia’s invitation to attend the commemorations of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, TASS state news agency reported on Monday.
“Chinese President Xi Jinping has accepted an invitation to take part in the celebrations on May 9 in Moscow on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War,” TASS cited Russian ambassador to China, Igor Morgulov, as telling Russian state television.
The Kremlin said in December that it had invited “many countries” to attend the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, which Russians call the “Great Patriotic War.”
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two, including many millions in Ukraine, but eventually pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Adolf Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in 1945.
Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender came into force at 11:01 p.m. on May 8, 1945, marked as “Victory in Europe Day” by France, Britain and the United States. In Moscow it was already May 9, which became the Soviet Union’s “Victory Day” in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45.
Victory Day has become Russia’s most important secular holiday.
Morgulov said that Xi in return, invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to China for the country’s commemoration of the end of World War Two, which are planned for September.