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The U.S. military said on Thursday it has sunk over 30 Iranian ships so far during the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran, ⁠including an Iranian drone ship that is on fire.

Ballistic missile attacks by Iran have decreased by 90% since the first day of the war, ⁠U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. forces in the Middle East ⁠as the head of Central Command, told reporters.

Source:adaderana.lk

Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport has been reopened after it was shut down five days ago at the start of the joint Israeli and US military strikes on Iran.

A first repatriation flight from Athens landed at the airport this morning bringing home Israelis who were stranded abroad.

Israeli airlines are expected to help fly back an estimated 100,000 Israelis who have been unable to return since Israel closed its airspace on Saturday.

Israeli authorities approved a partial reopening of airspace in stages, subject to security developments.

Meanwhile, Iran launched missiles at Israel overnight as aerial attacks in the Middle East continued for a sixth day.

The US and Israel had intensified their bombing of Iran yesterday. Israel’s military also targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold after it issued a warning to residents.

Air raid sirens went off in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to warn of incoming rocket fire after an earlier lull.

Explosions could be heard as the missiles were intercepted by air defences.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties. Israel is easing some restrictions on the public due to a decline in the number of rockets being fired from Iran.

An Israeli military spokesman suggested efforts to target Iranian missile stocks and launch sites had paid off.

In Iran, blasts have again been reported in the capital Tehran while there have been more deadly Israeli air strikes in Lebanon.

Lebanese officials said more than 80,000 people have been displaced due to the new round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Source:Adaderana.lk

The Sri Lanka Navy has successfully carried out a rescue operation to evacuate 204 crew members from the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Bushehr located close to Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.

According to the Navy, the evacuation was conducted safely and efficiently by naval personnel. After being rescued, all crew members were transported to the Port of Colombo.

A Navy spokesperson confirmed that the operation was completed without incident, ensuring the safe transfer of the rescued individuals to Colombo following the evacuation mission.

Qatar Airways has just announced it will operate relief flights from the Middle East to several European cities on Thursday.

Flights from Muscat, Oman will depart for London Heathrow, Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam.

Another flight will leave from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for Frankfurt.

The airline’s main operations out of Doha remain temporarily suspended ‘‘due to the closure of Qatari airspace’’, it said in a statement on X.

It adds: ‘‘Passengers are kindly requested not to proceed to the airport unless they have received an official notification from Qatar Airways for these flights.’’

Source: adaderana.lk

Iran’s internet blackout has now passed 120 hours, with connectivity in the country flatlining at around 1% of its typical levels, according to independent watchdog organization NetBlocks.

Netblocks added that Iranian telecommunications companies are engaging in “Orwellian” behavior, threatening legal action against users attempting to access the global internet.

The move has made it difficult to obtain a full picture of what’s happening within Iran.

Meanwhile, explosions rocked Tehran again this morning leaving more residents unsure whether to leave or stay put, a man who fled the city told CNN.

Loud bangs were heard in the Iranian capital Thursday morning, the semi-official state news agency Tasnim reported.

“The bombing is everywhere - north, south, east, west. They seem to be going for anything and everything,” a resident told CNN, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals.

The man – who fled Tehran with his wife, a doctor, a few nights ago – described the uncertainty of living under continuing attacks. “You never know what or who is a target.”

Earlier this week, a TV and radio antenna near their home was hit, shaking the entire neighborhood.

Now they are settled in a small town near Damavand, Iran’s tallest peak, he said the nights are filled with the sound of fighter jets, though no impacts have reached their area.

“A lot of friends and family are staying put in Tehran for now, because the thinking is no matter where you go, something there will be targeted,” he said.

Heading south means fearing foreign forces at the borders, while going north risks getting trapped on the congested Chalus highway, he added. “Many people are thinking it’s better to just stay where you are.”

Source: adaderana.lk

India has rejected a report that claimed that the US was using its ports to strike Iran. 

The Ministry of External Affairs’s reaction came after former US Army Colonel Douglas Macgregor, during an interview with a US-based channel, One America News Network, suggested that the US was using Indian naval bases in its war against Iran.

“All of our bases have been destroyed. Our harbour installations are destroyed. We are actually having to fall back on India and Indian ports, which is less than ideal; that is what the navy says,” he can be heard saying in the interview.

The MEA’s FactCheck account said the claims being made on OAN are “fake and false”.

“We caution you against such baseless and fabricated comments,” it posted on X on Wednesday.

India has expressed “deep concern” at the conflict in the Middle East, urging all sides to “exercise restraint, avoid escalation, and prioritise the safety of civilians”.

US-Israel-Iran Tensions

The Middle East was plunged into chaos after the US and Israel carried out joint strikes on Iran on Saturday, killing 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In response, Iran launched missiles at Israel and at American military bases in Gulf countries.

A torpedo from an American submarine sank an Iranian warship on Tuesday night in the Indian Ocean, leaving 87 people dead. The IRIS Dena had been on a friendly visit to India when it was hit. It was the first time since World War II that an American submarine had attacked a surface vessel.

The war has entered its sixth day on Thursday, with no signs of easing tensions.

According to reports, more than 1,000 people have so far been killed in Iran and about a dozen in Israel. At least six US troops have also been killed in the war.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have claimed that they launched strikes on Iran as it posed an imminent threat.

“If we didn’t do it first, they would have done it to Israel and give us a shot, if that was possible,” Trump has said.

Source:adaderana.lk

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Thursday accused the United States of committing an “atrocity” after a US submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka. 

His remarks marked the first official acknowledgment by Tehran of the warship’s sinking amid the escalating conflict between Iran and the US.

‘US will come to bitterly regret’

Araghchi made the comment on X, saying “the US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores.”

“Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set,” he added.

Sri Lankan Navy recovers 87 bodies

A US submarine on Wednesday torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship in international waters off Sri Lanka’s coast when it was returning after participating in the Milan naval exercise, a multilateral wargame hosted by India. 

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, confirming the strike, said at a Pentagon media briefing that it was the first sinking of an enemy warship by a torpedo since World War II.

The Associated Press, quoting Sri Lankan Navy, reported that 87 bodies were recovered and that 32 people were rescued following the sinking of the warship IRIS Dena. “An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo,” Hegseth said.

The incident marks a major escalation of the conflict between the US and Iran outside of the Persian Gulf and throwing up questions relating to maritime security in the Indian Ocean.

The Pentagon has also released a short video of the sinking of the Iranian frigate.

The US and Israel launched the war Saturday, targeting Iran’s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear program while suggesting that toppling the government is a goal. But the exact aims and timelines have repeatedly shifted, signalling an open-ended conflict.

The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, more than 50 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. The United Nations says 100,000 people fled the Iranian capital in the war’s first two days alone.

Source: adaderana.lk

Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Nalinda Jayatissa informed Parliament today that 32 crew members rescued from the Iranian ship IRIS Dena have been admitted to the Galle National Hospital for medical treatment.

According to the Minister, one of the rescued individuals is currently being treated in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit due to serious injuries.

Meanwhile, he also confirmed that personnel of the Sri Lanka Navy have recovered a total of 87 bodies from the incident and brought them ashore as part of the ongoing rescue and recovery operation.

Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Nalinda Jayatissa stated that a second Iranian ship reportedly near Sri Lanka is currently located outside the country’s territorial waters.

Addressing Parliament on Thursday (05), the Minister explained that the vessel is positioned within Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), close to the island’s maritime boundary, rather than inside its territorial sea.

Earlier during the parliamentary session, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa claimed that another Iranian vessel had been sighted near the Port of Colombo.

Responding to the statement, Minister Jayatissa said the government has access to more comprehensive information about the situation than what has been publicly discussed. He emphasized that authorities are actively engaging with the matter to ensure minimal risk to human life while maintaining regional stability.

The Minister further noted that a detailed report regarding the developments will be presented to Parliament after the ongoing processes related to the situation are completed.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence has ruled out Iran as the source of the drone that struck RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on Sunday night, though it said the unmanned aircraft bore the hallmarks of Tehran’s signature Shahed design — the low-cost drones Russia has used extensively against Ukraine, as SkyNews reports.

Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters are set to deploy to Cyprus within days to bolster air defences at the base, the ministry said.

The strike comes amid an ongoing Iranian missile campaign targeting locations across the Middle East and Mediterranean, launched in retaliation for the US-Israeli attack.

The British base at Akrotiri remains on high alert as the United Kingdom accelerates the reinforcement of its forces in the region following the recent drone strike.

The arrival on Tuesday night of a large military transport aircraft, a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III, marked what officials describe as a new phase in strengthening the deterrent capabilities of British forces in the eastern Mediterranean.

(Source:Adaderana.lk)

The Colombo High Court on Thursday (05) sentenced a female lawyer to 12 years of imprisonment after she was found guilty of forging land deeds.

The verdict was delivered by High Court Judge Lanka Jayaratne following a prolonged trial, according to court proceedings reported by media.

The case was filed by the Attorney General’s Department, which had brought two charges against the accused, including preparing fraudulent deeds related to a property located in Borella.

During the ruling, the judge stated that the prosecution had successfully proven both charges beyond reasonable doubt. As a result, the court imposed a sentence of six years of rigorous imprisonment for each count, amounting to a total of 12 years.

However, the judgment specified that the combined sentence would be served within a period of six years.

Evidence presented during the trial also revealed that the convicted lawyer is a 61-year-old mother of two.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday (Mar 5) that he couldn’t rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East.

Carney’s visit to Australia this week has been overshadowed by the expanding war in the Middle East, sparked by a massive US-Israeli strike on Iran that killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Speaking alongside local counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Carney was asked whether there was a situation in which Canada would get involved.

‘‘One can never categorically rule out participation,’‘ he said, while stressing the question was a ‘‘hypothetical’‘ one.

‘‘We will stand by our allies,’‘ said Carney, adding that ‘‘we will always defend Canadians’‘.

Carney had said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were ‘‘inconsistent with international law’‘.

However, he supports the efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon - a position that Canada takes ‘‘with regret’‘ as it represented ‘‘another example of the failure of the international order’‘.

The Canadian leader reiterated on Thursday his call for a ‘‘de-escalation’‘ of the conflict.

Carney’s trip is part of a multi-country tour of the Asia-Pacific aimed at reducing reliance on the United States - a hedge against what he has described as a fading US-led global order.

The Australia leg of the tour is aimed at bringing in investment and deepening ties with a like-minded ‘‘middle power’‘ partner.

‘‘MIDDLE POWER’‘ RALLYING CRY

On Thursday morning, he issued a rallying cry in Australia’s parliament to ‘‘middle powers’‘, urging them to work together in an increasingly hegemonic world order.

Nations like Australia and Canada faced a stark choice - work together to help write the ‘‘new rules’‘ of the global order or have great powers do it for them, he said.

‘‘In this brave new world, middle powers cannot simply build higher walls and retreat behind them. We must work together,’‘ he said.

‘‘Great powers can compel, but compulsion comes with costs, both reputational and financial,’‘ the former central banker added.

‘‘Middle powers like Australia and Canada hold this rare convening power because others know we mean what we say and we will match our values with our actions.’‘

The Canadian leader also said the two countries would work together as ‘‘strategic collaborators’‘ to pool their vast combined rare earth mineral resources.

And he detailed renewed cooperation in areas from defence to artificial intelligence.

‘‘We know we must work with others who share our values to build solid capabilities,’‘ he told parliament.

Otherwise, he warned, they risked being ‘‘caught between the hyperscalers and the hegemons’‘.

The Canadian leader has frequently clashed with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and slapped swingeing tariffs on the country.

In a speech to political and financial elites at the World Economic Forum in January, Carney warned the US‑led global system of governance was enduring ‘‘a rupture’‘.

Source:adaderana.lk