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Fishing boat hijacking:
Australia repatriates 14 illegal immigrants
Fourteen Sri Lankan asylum seekers who travelled
to Australia on board a hijacked fishing trawler were deported by
the Australian Immigration Department yesterday. They were arrested
by the Sri Lankan Police on arrival at the Bandaranaike
International Airport (BIA) last afternoon and handed over to a
special police team in Matara for questioning,
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Rizana case: AG to visit Saudi Arabia
Foreign Employment and Welfare Minister Dilan
Perera said Attorney-General Palitha Fernando will visit Saudi
Arabia soon to meet Saudi Arabian authorities to see what more can
be done to obtain a pardon for Rizana Nafeek. ”When President
Mahinda Rajapaksa visited Kuwait for an international conference
recently, he spoke to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
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Issuing disaster warnings :
Changing weather patterns to be considered
With sudden changes in weather patterns during
the inter-monsoon season, long-term warnings on natural disasters
cannot be issued, authorities say. “The intensity of rain largely
varies in this climate. So it is difficult to give a long-term
prediction,”
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CBSL reserve management profits highest in world for 2011
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) realised a
massive profit of US$430 million from its reserve management
activities last year, CBSL financial statements reveal. This profit
on its portfolio had been made, even after providing for the losses
that it has suffered in the investment in Greek Government Bonds.
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‘Mano Ganeshan may be daydreaming’
Cabinet spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella
said the Government has no intention of re-demarcating provincial
boundaries to have five provinces, as alleged by DPF leader Mano
Ganeshan. “Ganeshan may be ‘daydreaming’,” the Minister said adding
that even the people whom he claims to represent will not believe
him on this issue because they know that the Government is committed
towards the rights and political representation of the minority
communities”.
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The condition of the self-immolated monk near the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy is known to be critical, hospital sources said.Director National Hospital Colombo Dr. Anil Jasinghe said the monk is currently being treated at the Intensive Care Unit and his condition is very serious.
At least 24 persons sustained minor injuries when an elephant went on rampage at Mutiyangala Raja Maha Vihara Perahera in Badulla last night. Among the injured 14 females, nine males and one child were admitted to Badulla Hospital. 
Adults and nine children were hospitalised due to food poisoning in Thirukkovil this morning, the police said. The group was part of the devotees who attended a religious festival at Manikka Pillair temple who had reportedly consumed a meal of gram distributed at the event. 
A Buddhist monk received severe burn injuries when he set himself on fire outside Dalada Maligawa in Kandy this morning in protest over cattle slaughter, police said. Eye witnesses told the police the monk poured petrol over his body and then lit himself.
A 60-year-old unidentified woman died when she was reportedly hit by a train in Navinna last evening, the police said. 
Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Prasanna Ranaweera has been hospitalised after he was reportedly assaulted by another party member in a brawl this morning, police said. 
Police Spokesman SSP P M H B Siriwardena said today that there is no intention to arrest any UNP parliamentarians regarding the on going inquiry into the activities of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Sri Lanka. 
Emergency workers in the US are continuing to search for survivors of the gigantic tornado that tore through a suburb of Oklahoma City today. Rescuers worked through the night and into the morning in the rubble in Moore, the worst-hit area. Entire neighbourhoods were flattened by winds of up to 200mph (320km/h). 
