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A suspect was arrested in the Wathugedara area of Ambalangoda after Special Task Force (STF) officers discovered a concealed micro pistol and live rounds inside a room of a house.

The operation was carried out by personnel from the Akmeemana STF camp following information received through a tip-off. During the search, officers located the firearm and ammunition hidden within the premises.

Police identified the suspect as a 33-year-old resident of Wathugedara. Initial inquiries indicate that he was allegedly planning to sell the weapon to another group.

Further investigations into the incident are being conducted by the Ambalangoda Police.

Anusha Palpita, former Ministry Secretary and Director General, was taken into custody by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) today.

The arrest relates to allegations that Palpita failed to disclose the source of income totaling Rs. 46 million.

Palpita appeared before the Commission on January 23, where he provided his initial statement. Following the proceedings, authorities moved to formally arrest him as part of the ongoing investigation.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would impose a 100% tariff on Canada if it follows through on a trade deal with China and warned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that a deal would endanger his country.

“China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.”
In a video on Saturday, Carney urged Canadians to buy domestic products, but did not directly mention Trump’s tariff threat.

“With our economy under threat from abroad, Canadians have made a choice to focus on what we can control,” Carney said. “We can’t control what other nations do, we can be our own best customer.”

The Canadian prime minister this month traveled to China to reset the countries’ strained relationship and reached a trade deal with Canada’s second-biggest trading partner after the U.S.

Immediately after Carney’s China trip, Trump sounded supportive. “It’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal,” Trump told reporters at the White House on January 16. “If you can get a deal with China, you should do that.”

“There is no pursuit of a free trade deal with China. What was achieved was resolution on several important tariff issues,” Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, said on Saturday in a post on X.

The Chinese embassy in Canada said in a statement to Reuters that China was ready to work with Canada to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.

U.S.-Canada tensions have grown in recent days following Carney’s criticism of Trump’s pursuit of Greenland.

MORE PRESSURE ON CANADIAN INDUSTRIES

On Saturday, Trump suggested China would try to use Canada to evade U.S. tariffs.
“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken,” Trump said, using a title for Carney that refers to Trump’s past calls for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state.

In a second Saturday post, Trump said, “The last thing the World needs is to have China take over Canada. It’s NOT going to happen, or even come close to happening!”
If Trump makes good on Saturday’s threat, the new tariff would greatly increase U.S. duties on its northern neighbor, adding pressure to Canadian industrial sectors such as metal manufacturing, autos and machinery.

Relations between Carney and Trump seemed relatively placid until the Canadian leader this week spoke out forcefully against Trump’s pursuit of Greenland.

Carney subsequently at the World Economic Forum called on nations to accept that a rules-based global order was over and pointed to Canada as an example of how “middle powers” might act together to avoid being victimized by American hegemony.

Carney, during his speech in Davos, Switzerland, did not directly call out Trump or the U.S. by name. However, the prime minister said “middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.”

Many world leaders and industry titans present at the Switzerland confab responded with a standing ovation.

Trump shot back in his own Davos speech and said Canada “lives because of the United States,” a statement that Carney rejected on Thursday.

“Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership in the economy, in security and in rich cultural exchange,” Carney said in Quebec. “Canada doesn’t live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian.”

Since then, Trump has dug in against Canada, revoking its invitation to his Board of Peace that he wants to deal with international conflicts and Gaza’s future.

After Carney’s election last year, Trump and Carney shared a congenial tone. “I think the relationship is going to be very strong,” Trump said at the time.

But Trump this month dismissed the mega trade deal between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico — up for renegotiation in July — as “irrelevant.”

Trump has issued many tariff threats since returning to the presidency, though in several cases he has paused them during negotiations or relented entirely. This week, Trump backed off his recent threat to impose stiff tariffs on European allies after the NATO chief and other leaders promised to step up security in the Arctic.

“We hope the two governments can come to a better understanding quickly that can alleviate further concerns for businesses who face the immediate consequences of torqued up uncertainty,” the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Matthew Holmes said in a statement.
 
Source: adaderana.lk

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the lower house of Parliament on Friday, paving the way for a Feb. 8 snap election.

The move is an attempt to capitalize on her popularity to help governing party regain ground after major losses in recent years, but will delay discussion and a vote on a budget that aims at boosting a struggling economy and addressing soaring prices.

Elected in October as Japan’s first female leader, Takaichi has been in office only three months, but she has seen strong approval ratings of about 70%.

Takaichi is also seeing rising animosity with China since she made pro-Taiwan remarks. And U.S. President Donald Trump wants her to spend more on weapons as Washington and Beijing pursue military superiority in the region.

The dissolution of the 465-member lower house paves the way for a 12-day campaign that officially starts Tuesday. When house speaker Fukushiro Nukaga declared the dissolution, the assembled parliamentarians stood up, shouted banzai — “long live” — three times and rushed out to prepare for the campaign.

Takaichi’s plan for an early election aims to capitalize on her popularity to expand a governing majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber Parliament.

The scandal-tainted LDP and its coalition have a slim majority in the more powerful lower house after an election loss in 2024. The coalition does not have a majority in the upper house and relies on winning votes from opposition members to pass its agenda.

Opposition leaders criticized Takaichi for delaying passage of a budget needed to fund key economic measures.

“I believe that the only option is for the people, as sovereign citizens, to decide whether Sanae Takaichi should be prime minister,” she told a news conference Monday when announcing plans for the election. “I’m staking my career as prime minister” on it.

A hardline conservative, Takaichi wants to highlight differences with her centrist predecessor Shigeru Ishiba.

Takaichi stresses that voters need to judge her fiscal spending moves, further military buildup and tougher immigration policies to make Japan “strong and prosperous.”

While an upbeat and decisive image has earned her strong approval ratings, especially among younger people, the LDP is not popular as it recovers from a political funds scandal. Many traditional LDP voters have shifted to emerging far-right populist opposition parties, such as the anti-globalist Sanseito.

Meanwhile, Japan faces escalating tensions with China after Takaichi made remarks suggesting that Japan could become involved if China takes military action against Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. A furious China has increased economic and diplomatic retribution.

Takaichi wants to push further a military buildup and spending increases, while Trump has pressured Japan to spend more on defense.

Source:adaderana.lk

The Department of Meteorology has predicted intermittent rainfall in the Northern, North-Central, Eastern and Uva provinces, as well as in the Matale and Nuwara-Eliya districts today (25).

The North-Western Province may experience several rounds of showers, while other parts of the country could see showers or thundershowers developing after 2.00 p.m.Early morning misty conditions are also likely in parts of the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and Uva provinces, along with the Galle and Matara districts.

Authorities urge the public to take necessary safety measures to reduce the risk of damage caused by sudden strong winds and lightning associated with thundershowers.

The Chinese Coast Guard said on Friday it dispatched two vessels to rescue 21 Philippine crew members in a foreign cargo ship that capsized near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

The coast guard said it received a report of the incident at 1:34 am on Friday. Thirteen people have been saved so far while search-and-rescue efforts were continuing, it said in a statement, which did not identify the ship’s owner.

The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Scarborough Shoal is one of Asia’s most contested maritime features and a frequent flashpoint in disputes over sovereignty and fishing rights.

On Tuesday, the Chinese military said it organised naval and air forces to drive away a Philippine government aircraft that it accused of “illegally intruding” into airspace over the atoll.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, overlapping the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Source:adaderana.lk

As part of a nationwide daily anti-drug operation, police arrested 819 individuals across the country yesterday (23).

The operations, conducted under a coordinated national campaign, aim to disrupt the supply of illicit drugs, reduce demand, expand enforcement activities, rehabilitate addicts, prevent substance abuse, implement targeted prevention programs, and raise public awareness against drugs.

During yesterday’s raids, authorities seized 367 grams of heroin, 2.097 kilograms of ice, and 32.804 kilograms of cannabis, among other illegal substances.

Since October 30 of last year through yesterday (22), the nationwide operations have resulted in a total of 77,105 arrests, according to police reports. Investigations have been initiated against 68 individuals for involvement with illegal assets, while detention orders have been issued against 1,582 suspects.

In total, police say 77,824 seizures have been recorded during this period. Significant drug confiscations include 320.741 grams of heroin, 1,280.956 kilograms of ice, 6.816 kilograms of cocaine, 2,341.723 kilograms of cannabis, 5,568,583 cannabis plants, 155.487 kilograms of kush, 44.047 kilograms of hashish, and 132,561 narcotic pills.

Police emphasized that these operations continue to form a central part of the national strategy to combat drug trafficking and abuse throughout the country.

Gold pushed past $4,900 per ounce for the first time on Thursday, powered by ongoing geopolitical tensions, a softer U.S. dollar and expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, while silver and platinum prices hit fresh record highs.

Spot gold climbed to a record peak of $4,917.65 per ounce, as of 01:51 p.m. ET (18:51 GMT).

U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled 1.6% higher to $4,913.4 per ounce.

The U.S. dollar slipped 0.4%, making greenback-priced bullion more attractive to overseas buyers.

“Geopolitical tensions, generally weak dollar, expectations for the Fed easing this year are all factors that are part and parcel of the macro de-dollarisation trend and are still impacting the demand (for gold),” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had secured total and permanent U.S. access to Greenland in a deal with ⁠NATO, whose head said allies would have to step up their commitment to Arctic security to ward off threats from Russia and China.

But the details of any agreement were unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island was not up for discussion.

On the data front, the latest U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report showed consumer spending increasing in November and October, indicating a third straight quarter of strong growth.

Markets anticipate the U.S. central bank will implement two quarter-percentage point ⁠rate cuts in the ⁠latter half of the year, raising non-yielding gold”s appeal.

“Short-term setbacks will be viewed as buying opportunities (for gold). We have been seeing the $5,000/oz level nearby and beyond that Fibonacci projection of $5,187.79/oz looks plausible,” Grant added.

Elsewhere, spot silver surged to a record high of $96.58/oz.

“Silver has a far more compelling fundamental narrative than gold.. Maybe it”s not a reserve asset in the way that gold is, but it still benefits from safe-haven flows, and dollar weakness,” said Nikos Tzabouras, senior market analyst at Tradu.

Spot platinum rose 4.6% to a record high of $2,601.03.Palladium was up 3.3% to $1,900.59.

Source:adaderana.lk

The Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court has ordered that Anusha Palpita, a former Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media and a past Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), be held in remand custody until February 6.

Palpita was taken into custody by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in connection with an investigation into assets valued at approximately Rs. 46 million, for which he allegedly failed to provide a satisfactory explanation regarding their origin.The case is part of ongoing legal proceedings examining alleged financial irregularities, with further investigations continuing under the direction of the relevant authorities.

The Wattala Magistrate’s Court has extended the remand custody of five individuals, including former minister Johnston Fernando and his two sons, following their arrest by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID). The suspects will remain in custody until January 30 as investigations continue.

Those remanded include Johnston Fernando, his son Johan Fernando, his youngest son Jerome Kenneth Fernando, and two other individuals. They were taken into custody over allegations linked to the improper use of a vehicle owned by Lanka Sathosa during Fernando’s tenure as a cabinet minister.

Authorities are probing claims that a Sathosa lorry was unlawfully used, resulting in a substantial loss to state resources. The investigation focuses on the suspected misuse of government property for non-official purposes.

In a related development, Indika Ratnamalala, who served as Sathosa’s Transport Manager at the time, was arrested earlier on January 4. He was produced before the same court and remanded until January 9.

According to investigators, Ratnamalala is accused of altering official documents at the request of Johan Fernando to enable the use of a Sathosa-owned lorry for work at a company allegedly linked to the former minister. Further inquiries into the matter are ongoing.

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has announced the commencement of a 48-hour island-wide token strike in government hospitals, beginning at 8.00 a.m. today (23).

The association stated that the decision was taken after the Ministry of Health failed to act on an agreed framework intended to address longstanding issues affecting the free healthcare system and the professional concerns of doctors.

Despite the industrial action, the GMOA assured the public that essential services will be maintained, with maternity and children’s hospitals, kidney treatment centres, and cancer hospitals excluded from the strike.