Around 140 people missing after Iranian navy ship sinks off coast of Sri Lanka

Published

1 month ago

2026/03/4

Priyan

A vessel seen near Galle earlier - the Iranian ship went down around 40 nautical miles off the coast, officials say [BBC]

Around 140 people are missing after an Iranian navy ship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan navy says around 180 people were on board, with 32 rescued. A spokesman tells the BBC the cause of the sinking is not known

Sri Lanka’s navy has confirmed that it’s rescued 32 people after it received a distress call from Iranian navy ship ‘IRIS Dena’ early this morning.

Budhika Sampath, the spokesman of Sri Lanka’s navy says: “Though it was beyond our waters, it was within our search and rescue region. So we were obliged to respond as per international obligations.”

He adds: “We found people floating on the water, rescued them, and later when we inquired we found that those people are from an Iranian ship.”

He also says that according to the documentation of the ship 180 people are believed to have been on board, although the exact number of missing is unknown.

The spokesman says at the time of launching the rescue operations they did not see the vessel but saw oil patches on the water and floating life rafts.

He also tells the BBC that he rejects the reports of a submarine attack causing the sinking, and that the cause is unknown.

Earlier the secretary of the country’s defence ministry Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuiyakontha told BBC Sinhala that around 140 people are thought to be missing.

So far, Sri Lanka’s military has not been able to confirm what might have caused the ship to sink.

[BBC]

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Zimbabwe Women set for maiden tour of Pakistan

Published

4 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

Pakistan and Zimbabwe will play 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is [Cricbuzz]

Zimbabwe Women are set for their maiden tour to Pakistan for three ODIs and three T20Is.

The ODIs kick off on May 3 and will be part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2025-29. The T20I series will be played from May 12. All six matches will take place at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi.

Pakistan are currently placed fifth on the Women’s Championship table after a 2-1 series loss to South Africa. Zimbabwe are placed seventh after a three-match series loss to New Zealand.

Zimbabwe are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on April 29.

Date	Match
May 3	1st ODI
May 6	2nd ODI
May 9	3rd ODI
May 12	1st T20I
May 14	2nd T20I
May 15	3rd T20I

[Cricbuzz]

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Bangladesh advance match timings to save energy

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

BCB aim to wrap up the matches by sunset, which is around 6:30 pm local during this time of the year [Cricbuzz]

The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced that they have decided to change match timings of the upcoming international assignments of the national cricket team in order to support the government’s energy-saving initiative.

As a result, the match timings of the upcoming men’s white-ball series against New Zealand and the women’s T20I series against Sri Lanka have been changed.

“The board has decided to readjust the match timings of the forthcoming Bangladesh vs New Zealand ODI and T20I series to support the energy saving initiative of the Bangladesh Government. The revised timing will aim to make maximum use of daylight in the day-night games,” the BCB said in a statement.

The board said they will bring the start time forward by three hours for all three ODIs scheduled in Dhaka and Chattogram, with the aim to finish the matches by sunset, which is around 6:30 pm during this time of the year. The ODIs will start at 11:00 am. The three T20Is will start from 2:00 pm with an aim to finish them by 5:30 pm.

Instead of the originally planned 6 pm starts, women’s T20Is will begin at 1:30 pm at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. The women’s T20Is are scheduled on April 28 and 30, and May 2.

New Zealand are scheduled to arrive on April 13 for the tour, which comprises three ODIs and three T20Is. The first two ODIs will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on April 17 and 20, before the teams travel to Chattogram for the third match on April 23 at the Bir Shreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Cricket Stadium.

The first two T20Is will be held in Chattogram on April 27 and 29, with the final game scheduled in Dhaka on May 2. Bangladesh began their preparations for the series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on March 27.

[Cricbuzz]

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Israel to hold direct talks with Lebanon but no ceasefire, Netanyahu says

Published

10 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

Israel launched a blitz of air strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday, hitting over 100 targets in 10 minutes (BBC)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his government to begin direct talks with Lebanon, he said in a statement on Thursday.

Netanyahu said the talks would focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese political and militant group, and establishing peaceful relations.

A US State Department official confirmed it would host a meeting next week “to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Israel and Lebanon”.

Lebanese officials called for a ceasefire before the talks begin, but Netanyahu in a subsequent address to residents of northern Israel said: “There is no ceasefire in Lebanon.”

The Israeli military continued to strike Lebanon on Thursday – targeting what it described as Hezbollah rocket launch sites in the south. It also issued a new evacuation warning for residents in the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on X that this included the Jnah area, which includes two major hospitals.

“At this time, no alternative medical facilities are available to receive approximately 450 patients from the two hospitals (including 40 patients in the ICU), rendering their evacuation operationally unfeasible,” he said.

Among those being treated at the hospitals, Tedros added, were some of the 1,150 people that Lebanon’s health ministry said were wounded in Wednesday’s massive wave of Israeli strikes. At least 303 people were killed.

Tedros also said that the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Health, which “hosts five shelters accommodating more than 5,000 people”, is in the evacuation area.

That ceasefire began with confusion over whether Lebanon, Israel’s second front, was to be included. Iranian officials and mediators from Pakistan said it was, US and Israeli officials said clearly that it was not.

Amid the confusion, the wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon – the heaviest since the conflict began six weeks ago – prompted Iran to declare that Israel was break8ng the terms of the ceasefire, once again halt passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, and to threaten retaliatory strikes.

Israel’s military continues to occupy a large part of the south of Lebanon, where it has destroyed villages in recent days. Without a commitment to a temporary ceasefire at least, it is not clear how productive talks could proceed between the two sides.

(BBC)