Kites Soar, Pakistan Ready: A Springtime of Change

Pakistan's cricket team was ready to face India at the T20 World Cup, despite only being given the green light a few days before the match, according to Pakistan skipper Salman Agha. The highly anticipated clash at the 35,000-capacity R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was expected to draw hundreds of millions of viewers on television.

Meanwhile, in Lahore, Pakistan, the springtime festival of Basant saw kites fill the skies for the first time in 19 years, following the lifting of a two-decade ban. Vendors in the city's Old City near Mochi Gate were selling kites and string to eager customers, who crowded the narrow streets and shop windows, according to NPR. The festival's return brought inflated prices, with people calling out in exasperation over the cost of supplies.

The news comes as Britain's High Court ruled that the government's decision to outlaw the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was unlawful, although the ban remained in place pending an appeal. The court's decision followed protests outside The Old Bailey court in London, where activists were charged over a break-in at RAF Brize Norton.

The transatlantic alliance's future was also a topic of discussion. U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate NATO Observer Group, spoke with NPR about the alliance's survival at the Munich Security Conference.