News Room : Israeli missile attack on Syria’s Damascus area wounds 2 soldiers
Israel has conducted air attacks on targets in the Damascus area with loud explosions heard over the capital city at approximately 1:20am local time (22:20 GMT), the ministry of defence and state media reported. The SANA state news agency said Syrian air defences were “confronting hostile targets” in the early hours of Thursday morning, the Associated Press reported. (Aljazeera)
News Room : Armed soldiers forcing CPC employees to act against their will – Unions – The Island
By Rathindra Kuruwita The government was threatening petroleum workers and forcing them to work against their will, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) trade union leaders said, protesting against the deployment of the police and the military in CPC premises. CPC unions on Tuesday withdrew from issuing fuel in protest against the government’s decision to privatise a large portion of the retail fuel...
News Room : Ex-political prisoner marries girlfriend who waited 23 yrs
By Dinasena Ratugamage A Tamil political prisoner who was released recently after 23 years in detention has married his longtime girlfriend within a week of being freed. Shakthiwel Ilangeswaran of Vavuniya, was recently released from prison on a presidential pardon. A large number of people had gathered to greet him on the occasion. Ilangeswaran’s girlfriend had waited until his release from prison for...
News Room : Deadly fire at Juárez migrant centre kills at least 40
BBC reported that at least 40 people people have died at a migrant processing centre in Mexico in a fire that officials say started during a protest against deportations. Many of the victims had travelled from Central and South America trying to get to the US. The blaze at the facility in Ciudad Juárez broke out shortly before 22:00 local time...
News Room : Myanmar military dissolves Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party
Aljazeera reported that Myanmar’s military-controlled election commission has announced that the party of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be dissolved for failing to re-register under a new electoral law, according to state television. The National League for Democracy (NLD) party was among 40 political parties that failed to meet the ruling military’s registration deadline for an election, Myawaddy...
News Room : Sacked PUCSL Chairman fights back, writes to Prez – The Island
By Shamindra Ferdinando Convenor of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) trade union wing, Samagi Joint Trade Union Alliance, Ananda Palitha yesterday (28) said that with the appreciation of rupee against the USD and comparatively lower crude prices in the world market, the government could reduce the price of litre of petrol (92 Octane) and diesel by as much as Rs...
News Room : Veteran singer and musician Professor Sanath Nandasiri passed away at the age of 81
Veteran singer and musician Professor Sanath Nandasiri has passed away at the age of 81
News Room : Scientists discover water inside tiny beads of glass on moon
Scientists say they have discovered water trapped inside tiny beads of glass scattered across the moon, suggesting a potential reservoir of this precious resource for future human activities on the lunar surface. The moon was long believed to be dry, but over the last few decades, several missions have shown there is water both on the surface and trapped inside...
News Room : Three children, three adults killed in Nashville school shooting
Aljazeera reported that Three children and three adults have been killed after a woman opened fire at a primary school in Nashville, Tennessee, local officials said, in the latest instance of deadly gun violence in the United States. The shooting happened on Monday morning at The Covenant School, a private Presbyterian school with a student body of about 200 that...
News Room : Australia based Lankans fund solar light units for needy children
The Special Task Force (STF) has so far distributed approximately 400 solar power light units among needy children in Bakmitiyawa, Mamaduwa, Kekirawa and Hasalaka under ‘Darkness to Light’ social care programme. These units, courtesy the social care project launched in New South Wales, Australia by Chandra Fernando and his wife Maria Fernando were provided to children dependent on bottle...