News

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.

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.

EU leaders heaved a sigh of relief over Donald Trump’s U-turn on Greenland as they met for an emergency summit in Brussels late on Thursday.

The leaders said they want an EU-U.S. trade deal to be back on track after the European Parliament suspended its ratification in protest over U.S. pressure to acquire Greenland.

While saying they want to work on strengthening the transatlantic cooperation, the EU leaders warned that they were ready to act if Trump was to threaten them again.

The Thursday evening summit was convened after the U.S. threatened steep tariffs, and possibly even military action in Greenland, before pulling back from those threats, saying a deal over the Arctic island was in sight.

“We were successful by being firm,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said, referring to Trump dropping its threats against Europe over Greenland.

But Trump’s threats badly shook Europe’s confidence in its partner, EU officials and leaders said.

“Transatlantic relations have definitely taken a big blow over the last week,” the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said as she arrived at the meeting.

TRUMP’S U-TURN IS GOOD NEWS, BUT EUROPE VIGILANT

The emergency summit, convened to reassess the EU-U.S. relationship, did not take any concrete decision.

“Things are quietening down and we should welcome that,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.

“We remain extremely vigilant and ready to use the instruments at our disposal should we find ourselves the target of threats again,” Macron told reporters, referring to “bazooka” trade sanctions the bloc had considered using.

The EU “will defend itself, its member states, its citizens and its companies, against any form of coercion,” European Council chief Antonio Costa said.

Most leaders said the relationship with the United States remained key for the EU and it was one they were ready to work hard to maintain - while expecting hard work, and respect, from Washington as well.

“Europe is not willing to junk 80 years of good transatlantic relations because of disagreements ... we are willing ⁠to invest our time and energy in this,” Kallas said.

NO MORE THREATS

EU governments remain wary of another change of mind by a mercurial president increasingly seen as a bully whom Europe will have to stand up to.

“Trump crossed the Rubicon. He might do it again. There is no going back to what it was,” one EU diplomat said, adding that the bloc needed to move away from its heavy reliance on the U.S. in many areas.

“We need to try to keep him (Trump) close while working on becoming more independent from the U.S. It is a process, probably a long one.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was more than ready to discuss security cooperation in Greenland with the United States - as long as it fully respects their sovereignty.

“We have to work together respectfully without threatening each other,” she said.

THE US HAS SUBSTANTIAL LEVERAGE

After decades of relying on Washington for defence within the NATO alliance, the bloc lacks the needed intelligence, transport, ⁠missile defence and production capabilities to defend itself ⁠against a possible Russian attack.

This gives the U.S. substantial leverage.

The U.S. is also Europe’s biggest trading partner, making the EU vulnerable to Trump’s policies of imposing tariffs to reduce Washington’s trade deficit in goods, and, as in the case of Greenland, to achieve other goals.

One of the key questions will be how close Europeans want to remain to the United States, and how much trust remains. All said Europeans need to be united and have a common stance, but historical ties vary from one country to another.

“I still treat United States as our closest friend,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said.

Others were more cautious.

“It is important for ... our partners in Washington to understand the difference between domination and leadership. Leadership is OK,” Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. “Coercion is not a good method.”

EU-US TRADE DEAL

The EU had been ready to deploy a package of retaliatory tariffs on 93 billion euros ($108.74 billion) of U.S. imports and anti-coercive measures if Trump had gone ahead with his own tariffs that were to kick in on February 1, officials said.

European lawmakers are likely to resume their work on the ratification of the trade deal now that Trump has taken back his threats, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said.

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

Weather conditions across the island are expected to change from this evening (23), with intermittent showers forecast for the Northern, North-Central and Eastern provinces, as well as the Matale and Nuwara Eliya districts, the Department of Meteorology said.

Light showers are also likely in parts of the Uva and North-Western provinces, while isolated showers or thundershowers may develop in other areas during the evening or night. Early morning ground frost remains possible in certain locations within the Nuwara Eliya district.

Misty conditions are expected during the early hours in parts of the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-Western and Uva provinces, along with the Galle and Matara districts.

At sea, showers or thundershowers are predicted in several offshore areas from Mannar to Trincomalee via Kankasanthurai. Winds will blow from the north-east to north at speeds of 30–40 kmph, occasionally strengthening up to 45 kmph in sea areas from Mannar to Galle via Colombo.

The Meteorology Department cautioned that sea conditions along the western coastal stretch from Mannar to Galle via Colombo may be fairly rough at times, while other surrounding sea areas are expected to remain moderate.