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A tragic accident has claimed the life of a seven-year-old student at an international school located in Mahaiyawa, police reported.

According to authorities, the child was run over by a vehicle belonging to a member of the school’s board of directors. The incident occurred within the school area in Kandy.

The young student sustained fatal injuries as a result of the accident. Police have launched an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that the only way to end the war with the United States and Israel is the recognition of Iran’s legitimate rights, the payment of reparations, and firm international guarantees against future aggression.

The statement, posted on X, is Tehran’s clearest public outline of its demands for a ceasefire and appears to rule out any immediate resolution of the kind suggested by President Donald Trump, who said earlier this week he believed the conflict would end “very soon.”

The announcement comes amid intensifying military activity., with the Israeli military launching a “large-scale wave of strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahieh area of Beirut,” with interception efforts ongoing.

Spokesperson Avichay Adraee urged residents of the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital to evacuate immediately.

Hezbollah has also launched rockets at several areas in Israel, while the Israeli foreign ministry said Iran and Hezbollah are targeting northern Israel “with missiles raining down daily on homes, streets, schools, and families.”

Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on X that the country’s “national infrastructure is under attack,” reporting that a branch of Iran’s oldest bank was bombed “while full of employees” and promising retribution for the incident.

President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that firm international guarantees are essential to prevent future aggression, framing the conditions as non-negotiable prerequisites for any halt to hostilities.

Source:adaderana.lk

The Parliamentary Committee on High Posts has granted approval for a number of new diplomatic appointments representing Sri Lanka overseas.

Among the key decisions, the committee endorsed the appointment of M. I. Fazeeha Azmi as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Iran, while S. K. Chandrasiri received approval to serve as the country’s Ambassador to Israel.

The committee also cleared several other diplomatic postings. Dharshana M. Perera has been approved as the High Commissioner to Malaysia, while D. M. S. P. Dassanayake will serve as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

Meanwhile, Dayani Mendis has been appointed as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Austria, and S. P. W. Pathirana will serve as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Romania.

Additional appointments include N. I. D. Paranavitana as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Ethiopia and the African Union, Dhammika Fernando as High Commissioner-designate to Kenya, Anura Withanage as Ambassador to Lebanon, and M. Farook M. Fawzer as Sri Lanka’s representative to Palestine.

According to the President’s Media Division, all ambassador-designates held meetings with Anura Kumara Dissanayake before taking up their new diplomatic roles.

Iran said the world should be ready for oil at $200 a barrel as its forces hit merchant ships on Wednesday and the International Energy Agency recommended a massive release of strategic reserves to dampen one of the worst oil shocks since the 1970s.

The war unleashed with joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes nearly two weeks ago has so far killed around 2,000 people, mostly Iranians and Lebanese, as it has spread into Lebanon and thrown global energy markets and transport into chaos.

Despite what the Pentagon has described as the most intense airstrikes since the start of the war, Iran also fired at Israel and targets across the Middle East on Wednesday, demonstrating it can still fight back.

On Wednesday, three vessels were reported to have been hit in Gulf waters as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said their forces had fired on ships in the Gulf that had disobeyed their orders.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has not committed to a timeline for military operations, suggested on Wednesday he was not yet ready to call an end to the war.

At a rally in Kentucky, he said “we won” the war, but the United States didn’t want to have to go back every two years.

“We don’t want to leave early, do we?” he said. “We got to finish the job.”

Trump said U.S. forces had knocked out 58 Iranian naval ships and that oil prices would come down and told reporters in Washington that Iran was “pretty much at the end of the line.”

“Doesn’t mean we’re going to end it immediately, but ... They’ve got no navy, they’ve got no air force, they’ve ⁠got no anti-air traffic anything. They have no systems of control. We’re just riding free range over that country,” he said.

STRATEGIC STRAIT

Trump said the U.S. would now “look very strongly” at the Strait of Hormuz, adding: “The straits are in great shape. We’ve knocked out all of their boats. They have some missiles, but not very many.”

Despite Trump’s words, there has been no sign that ships can safely sail through the strait, a now-blockaded channel along the Iranian coast that serves as a conduit for around a fifth of the world’s oil. An Iranian military spokesperson said the strait was “undoubtedly” under Iran’s control.

Trump said ships “should” transit through the strait but sources said Iran had deployed about a dozen mines in the channel, further complicating the blockade.
On Wednesday, the G7 group of nations - the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Britain, Germany and France - agreed to examine the option of providing escort for ships so they can navigate freely in the Gulf.

ABC News said the Federal Bureau of Investigation had warned of Iranian drones potentially striking the U.S. West Coast, although Trump said he was not worried that Iran might launch strikes on U.S. soil.

The State Department also warned that Iran and aligned militias may be planning to target U.S.-owned oil and energy infrastructure in Iraq and warned that militias had previously targeted hotels frequented by Americans.

U.S. and Israeli officials have said their aim is to end Iran’s ability to use force beyond its borders and destroy its nuclear programme.Oil prices, which shot up earlier in the week to nearly $120 a barrel before settling back to around $90, rose nearly 5% on Wednesday amid renewed fears about supply disruption, while Wall Street’s main share indexes fell.

The war has seen ports and cities in the Gulf states, as well as targets in Israel, hit by Iranian drone ⁠and missile barrages.

‘LEGITIMATE TARGETS’

The U.S. military told Iranians to stay clear of ports with navy facilities, drawing a warning from Iran’s military that if the ports were threatened, economic and trade centres in the region would be “legitimate targets”.
With prices at the pumps already surging and Trump’s Republican Party trailing badly in the polls ahead of midterm elections in November, oil prices have become an increasingly urgent element in the calculations behind the war.

The International Energy Agency, made up of major oil consuming nations, recommended releasing 400 million barrels from global strategic reserves to stabilise prices, the biggest such intervention in history, which was swiftly endorsed by Washington.

Trump said the IEA decision would “substantially reduce oil prices as we end this threat to America and the world.”

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Trump had authorized the release of 172 million barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve from next week.

The rate at which countries can release strategic reserves will vary and the amount released would ⁠account for just a fraction of the supply through the Hormuz Strait.

Iranian officials made clear on Wednesday they intended to impose a prolonged economic shock.

“Get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which you have destabilised,” Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s military command, said in comments addressed to Washington.

After offices of a bank in Tehran were hit overnight, Zolfaqari said Iran would respond with attacks on banks that do business with the U.S. or Israel. People across the Middle East should stay 1,000 metres from banks, he added.

At sea, a Thai-flagged bulk carrier was set ablaze, forcing the evacuation of ⁠crew, with three people reported missing and believed trapped in the engine room.

Two other ships, a Japanese-flagged container ship and a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, were also reported to have sustained damage from projectiles, bringing the number of merchant ships that have been hit since the war began to 14.

IRANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS MOJTABA KHAMENEI LIGHTLY WOUNDED

In Iran, huge crowds took to the streets for funerals for top commanders killed in airstrikes. They carried caskets and brandished flags and portraits of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son and successor, Mojtaba.

An Iranian official told Reuters Mojtaba Khamenei had been lightly ⁠wounded early in the war, when airstrikes killed his father, mother, wife and a son. He has not appeared in public or issued any direct message since the war began.

Despite Trump’s calls for Iranians to rise up, U.S. and Israeli hopes that Iran’s system of clerical rule would be overthrown by popular protest have not been borne out.

Iran’s police chief, Ahmadreza Radan, said on Wednesday anyone taking to the streets would be treated “as an enemy, not a protester. All our security forces have their fingers on the trigger”.

Source: adaderana.lk

Oil prices surged past $100 per barrel again overnight, three days after it hit a four-year high, as the US and Israel’s war with Iran continues to have a historic impact on global fuel supplies.

The jump came despite the International Energy Agency’s member countries unanimously agreeing earlier on Wednesday to release a record 400 million barrels of oil into the global market.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, hovered around $100 a barrel late Wednesday, an 8.7% increase for the day. Meanwhile, WTI, the US benchmark, also soared 8.7% to $94.8.

Source:adaderana.lk

In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has permitted passive euthanasia for 32-year-old Harish Rana from Ghaziabad, who has been in a coma for the past 13 years after suffering severe brain injuries in a fall. The verdict marks the first instance in India where a court has explicitly allowed the withdrawal of life-sustaining medical support in such circumstances.

The decision was delivered by a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan, who described the case as emotionally challenging while emphasizing the need to uphold dignity and compassion in medical care for patients with irreversible conditions.

Case That Reached the Highest Court

Harish Rana had remained in a vegetative state since a tragic accident left him with critical brain damage. Medical experts consistently maintained that his condition was irreversible and that there was no possibility of recovery.

For years, Rana’s life had been sustained through feeding tubes at a hospital.

With no improvement in his condition and the prolonged suffering involved, his parents approached the courts seeking permission to withdraw medical treatment and allow him to pass away peacefully.

After the matter reached the Supreme Court, the bench allowed the withdrawal of medical support in a hospital setting, effectively permitting Rana to die with dignity.

Clarifying the 2018 Passive Euthanasia Guidelines

The ruling also expands on the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment that recognized passive euthanasia and the “right to die with dignity” under certain conditions.

While the 2018 guidelines allowed the withdrawal of life support such as ventilators for patients in irreversible states, they did not clearly address situations where a patient’s survival depended primarily on artificial feeding through medical tubes.

The court observed that this gap had created procedural difficulties for hospitals in implementing passive euthanasia in Rana’s case. By addressing this issue, the latest judgment clarifies that such forms of medical sustenance may also be withdrawn under appropriate legal and medical supervision.

How Passive Euthanasia Works in India

Under Indian law, passive euthanasia follows a strict review mechanism to ensure safeguards against misuse.

First, a primary medical board of three doctors evaluates the patient’s medical condition and determines whether it is irreversible. If the board recommends withholding or withdrawing treatment, the case is referred to a secondary medical board for an independent review.

Only after both boards agree can life-sustaining treatment be withdrawn, typically with judicial oversight to ensure transparency and ethical compliance.

A Step Forward in End-of-Life Rights

Legal experts say the Harish Rana case could become a reference point for future end-of-life decisions in India. By clarifying the scope of the 2018 ruling, the Supreme Court has addressed a critical grey area in the country’s legal framework on passive euthanasia.

For Rana’s family, the judgment brings closure after more than a decade of legal and emotional struggle, while for the legal and medical communities it sets a precedent in interpreting the right to die with dignity under the Indian Constitution.

Source:adaderana.lk

The UN Security Council on Wednesday called for Iran to halt its attacks on Gulf states, in a resolution that did not mention US or Israeli strikes on Iran, prompting Tehran’s ambassador to decry a “blatant misuse” of the international body.

The resolution, passed by 13 votes with two abstentions, “demands the immediate cessation of all attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.”

It also “condemns any actions or threats by the Islamic Republic of Iran aimed at closing, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Iran has repeatedly struck Gulf states in retaliation to US-Israeli attacks that killed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and continue to pummel Iranian sites.

The Islamic republic has also fired on commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial sea passage for the global fuel trade, in a bid to inflict pain on the global economy.

Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, the UN ambassador of Bahrain, which introduced the resolution sponsored by 135 countries, said its passing reflected the Gulf’s key role in the global economy.

“This is why ensuring the security of this region is not merely a regional matter, it is a common international responsibility that is closely linked to the stability of the global economy and energy security,” Alrowaiei told the Security Council.

Veto-holders China and Russia both abstained from the Security Council vote, angered that the resolution did not acknowledge US-Israeli hostility towards Iran.

Iranian ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said adoption of the text represented a “blatant misuse of the Security Council mandate in pursuit of the political agendas” of the United States and Israel.

“Let me make it clear, this resolution is a manifest injustice against my country, the main victim of a clear act of aggression,” he said.

The United States, which backed the text, said its adoption reflected a broad condemnation of Iranian strikes.

“Iran’s strategy of sowing chaos, of trying to hold their neighbors hostage, trying to shake the resolve of the region, has clearly backfired, as shown by this vote today,” said US ambassador Mike Waltz.

Source:adaderana.lk

Three people have been injured after two drones “fell in the vicinity” of Dubai International Airport, says the Dubai Media Office.

It says an Indian national sustained “moderate injuries” while two Ghanaian nationals and one Bangladeshi national suffered “minor injuries”.

It adds that air traffic is operating as normal.

Source:adaderana.lk

The head of Iraq’s ports company told CNN on Thursday that it had rescued 38 crew members of two foreign oil tankers left ablaze in the Persian Gulf after coming under attack in Iraq’s territorial waters – but at least one person has died.

Farhan al-Fartousi, the director general of the Iraqi Ports Company, told CNN that the 38 rescued crew were all of foreign nationalities but did not provide details on injuries or damage to the ships.

Iran claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying an underwater drone attack “blew up two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf tonight,” Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Earlier, an Iraqi-security source in Basra told CNN that an Iranian boat rigged with explosives is thought to have hit the two vessels and an investigation is ongoing.

Oil ports have stopped operations following the attack, al-Fartousi said.

The attack occurred within Iraqi territorial waters, according to the head of media at Iraq’s joint operation command, Lieutenant General Saad Maan. He called the attack a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and said the country reserves the right to take legal action.

Footage verified by CNN shows the two tankers ablaze, with flames spreading into the surrounding water – likely the result of an oil spill. Vessel tracking data indicates that they were anchored alongside each other when the fire began.

The ships on fire are the Maltese-flagged Zefyros and the Marshallese-flagged Safesea Vishnu.

The registered owner of the Safesea Vishnu is US-based company Safesea Transport Inc. while the Zefyros’ owner is based in Greece.

CNN has reached out to Safesea Transport Inc. for comment.

Iraqi authorities have not immediately released further information about the nationalities of those who were rescued.

Source:adaderana.lk

The research vessel R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, operating under the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is scheduled to reach Sri Lanka today (11) to begin a scientific survey within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The mission is being conducted at the invitation of the Sri Lankan government and will be carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources and the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA).

The survey will last for 32 days and aims to gather important scientific information related to marine living resources and ocean ecosystems. Data collected during the mission will help improve fisheries management and strengthen ocean governance in Sri Lanka.

Scientists aboard the vessel will conduct hydro-acoustic surveys to measure the abundance and distribution of key fish stocks in Sri Lankan waters. Additional research activities will include monitoring biodiversity and assessing pollution levels in the marine environment.

The mission will also facilitate collaboration between Sri Lankan researchers and international experts, creating opportunities for knowledge exchange and scientific cooperation.

Sri Lanka previously hosted the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen in 2018 for a major study of the country’s continental shelf and upper slope. Earlier surveys were also carried out between 1978 and 1980 as part of the long-running Nansen Programme.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Sri Lanka’s participation in the latest mission demonstrates its continued commitment to sustainable fisheries, marine conservation, and international scientific collaboration in the Indian Ocean region.

US President President Donald Trump claimed in remarks Wednesday that “we won” in the war with Iran, without providing substantial evidence of his claim.

“Let me say we’ve won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won, in the first hour it was over, but we won,” the president said.

Trump’s message on how long the war with Iran will last has been inconsistent, saying at times that the war was significantly ahead of schedule, that it would take four to six weeks, that we’ve “already won … but we haven’t won enough,” and that the strikes were “both” a war and a “short excursion.”

The president in his speech in Kentucky also told the crowd how he came up with the name Operation Epic Fury.

“They gave me, like, 20 names. And I’m like, falling asleep. I didn’t like any of them. Then I see Epic Fury. I said, ‘I like that name,’” the president said.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has claimed he questioned the decision to sink an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka last week.

Speaking at a rally in Hebron, Kentucky, Donald Trump said he had asked military officials why the vessel was destroyed rather than captured.

“I said, why the hell did we kill them? Why didn’t we just capture them and use them in our Navy?” he told supporters.

Trump added that one of his generals told him sinking the vessel was preferable, saying: “Sir, it’s a lot more fun.”

The Iranian navy frigate was torpedoed and sunk by a US submarine in international waters near Sri Lanka last week, with dozens of sailors killed in the attack.

Source:adaderana.lk

The UN Security Council is due to vote later today on competing draft resolutions over the war in Iran and its impact across the region.

The first measure - put forward by Gulf countries - condemns attacks on them and Jordan by Iran.

Russia - Iran’s ally on the council - has introduced a competing draft. Without naming Iran, Israel or the US, the text condemns all attacks against civilians and urges all parties to stop fighting and return to negotiations.

It’s the first action to be considered by the council since it held an emergency meeting shortly after the conflict erupted.

Addressing members then, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the Israeli-US airstrikes on Iran, and Iran’s retaliatory strikes on countries in the region were a violation of the UN charter.

Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani criticised the Gulf countries - accusing them of trying to reverse the roles of aggressor and victim through what he called a biased and politically motivated text.

The draft now has more than 90 sponsors - including the UK. It demands an immediate cessation of all attacks and threats by Iran against the six Gulf countries and Jordan, including through proxies. It also condemns any actions or threats by Tehran that would close or interfere with international navigation through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Source:adaderana.lk