By Ranjith Rajapakshe  Hatton, April 20 (Daily Mirror)- A 33-year-old pilgrim who climbed to Sri Pada went missing after he jumped off the protective fence at the Ratnapura-Sri Pada route at the Uda Maluwa. The victim was identified as a resident of Sooriyawewa, Hambantota. He had visited the Sri Pada with two other women yesterday (19) morning and as recorded on CCTV cameras at the Sri Pada Uda Maluwa, the man had suddenly ran down and jumpped off the protective fence while he was climbing […]

RIYADH, April 20 (Reuters) - Dubai's flagship carrier Emirates and sister airline flydubai have restored normal operations after heavy rains caused severe flooding across the United Arab Emirates earlier this week, the airlines said on Saturday. Emirates cancelled nearly 400 flights and delayed many more as a result of a record storm that hit the desert city of Dubai on Tuesday, said a statement released by the airline's president, Tim Clark. Due to the impact of the storm, the airline […]

By Ranjith Rajapaksa -Hatton The Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) fully supports the strike that the plantation workers are scheduled to launch from Monday (22), Nuwara Eliya District Member of Parliament Palani Digambaram said during a media conference held in Hatton today. Even though President Ranil Wickremesinghe has advised the tea plantation companies to increase the daily salary of plantation workers to Rs 1,700, they have refused to increase the salaries. "The plantation companies […]

Colombo, April 20 (Daily Mirror) - The Immigration and Emigration Department announced a forthcoming online visa system for travellers entering Sri Lanka by ship. The Department's Additional Controller General Nimal Gunawardena said that the online visa system will be introduced for four days. Accordingly, the charge to obtain an online visa is USD 25.  

Colombo, April 20 (Daily Mirror) - Two female passengers of the Republic of Guinea who tried to enter Sri Lanka by carrying Rs. 20 million worth of swallowed cocaine in their abdomens were intercepted by the Customs this morning.  Officials of the Customs Narcotic Control Unit stationed at the Arrival Terminal of the Bandaranaike International Airport questioned the foreigners on suspicion to realize that they had swallowed capsules containing cocaine.  Customs Spokesman, Senior Director […]

Colombo, April 20 (Daily Mirror)- Small nations like Sri Lanka will be adversely affected if the current conflict between Israel and Iran escalates, Presidential Advisor Ruwan Wijewardene said today. "Nations like Sri Lanka will be adversely affected if the conflict between Iran and Israel escalates as such a scenario could result in soaring fuel prices," Wijewardene told a New Year gathering in Biyagama today. "President Ranil Wickremesinghe will take this matter up with his Iranian […]

Nuwara Eliya, April 20 (Daily Mirror)- Two individuals including a British woman were arrested while in possession of Kush and hashish drugs at Toppass, Nuwara Eliya, Police said. The suspects were arrested by the Nuwara Eliya Crime Investigation Bureau after carrying out a search of the van they were travelling in. The officials recovered 18 grams and 920 milligrams of Kush in possession of the British woman while 2 grams and 600 milligrams of Hashish in the possession of the Sri Lankan […]

Colombo, April 20 (Daily Mirror) - President of the Vehicle Importers Association of Lanka (VIAL), Indika Sampath Merinchige urged the government to expand the allowance for importing used vehicles alongside new ones.  He emphasized the need to extend the timeframe for importing used vehicles from three years to seven years or beyond.  Merinchige highlighted that importing used vehicles can enable them to offer vehicles at lower prices compared to new ones. Additionally, he noted that […]

Geneva, April 20 (WHO) - A new oral vaccine for cholera has received prequalification by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 12 April. The inactivated oral vaccine Euvichol-S has a similar efficacy to existing vaccines but a simplified formulation, allowing opportunities to rapidly increase production capacity. “The new vaccine is the third product of the same family of vaccines we have for cholera in our WHO prequalification list,” said Dr Rogerio Gaspar, Director of the WHO Department […]