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The Irrigation Department says there is currently no risk of flooding in any part of the country as rainfall has continued to ease across Sri Lanka.

Director of the Hydrology and Disaster Management Division of the Irrigation Department, Engineer L.S. Sooriyabandara, said this morning (Aug. 11) that the highest rainfall recorded over the past 24 hours was reported in the upper catchment areas of the Kalu and Mahaweli rivers. He said the rainfall in those areas was close to 20 millimetres.

Rainfall was also recorded yesterday (10) in the districts of Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya, as well as in the Western, North Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces. However, rainfall recorded in these areas and other areas were below 10 millimetres.

The body of an unidentified man has been found in a coconut plantation in the Lunuwila area of Koswatta, according to reports.

Police said the deceased is believed to be around 70 years old and was wearing white shorts and a black long-sleeved shirt.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the man had died several days ago.

Further investigations are underway by the Koswatta Police.

The National Council for Road Safety has announced that wearing seat belts will be mandatory for all drivers and passengers travelling in vehicles on expressways from Sept. 19.

Chairman Manjula Kularatne said that implementation of the regulation, originally scheduled to come into effect in August 2025, had been postponed several times over the past year and would not be extended any further.

He said the grace period had been provided to allow owners of vehicles that do not have seat belts fitted to the middle and rear seats, as originally designed by the manufacturers, to have them properly installed.

Last week, Cabinet approval was granted to extend the deadline for installing seat belts in all passenger seats of vehicles travelling on expressways by a further three months, following requests from relevant stakeholders. 

This extended the deadline of the grace period until September 19, 2026 after the previous deadline expired on June

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is scheduled to hold a special discussion with the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) tomorrow (Aug. 12) regarding the government’s proposal to increase the retirement age of judges.

The Presidential Secretariat said the discussion is scheduled to be held at 1.00 p.m. tomorrow.

Under the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Draft Bill, published in the Government Gazette on Aug. 07, 2026, the mandatory retirement age of Supreme Court judges would be increased to 67, while the retirement age of Court of Appeal judges would be raised to 65.

The BASL recently conveyed its position on the proposal to extend the retirement age of judges to the President in writing.

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At least 132 killed in Colombia’s largest quake in years

2026-08-11 04:11:04

At least 132 people are dead and a state of emergency has been declared after Colombia was hit by one of its largest earthquakes in years.

The death toll is likely to rise, with more feared trapped under collapsed buildings.

The magnitude 7.4 quake struck at 07:34 (12:34 GMT) at a depth of 103km (64 miles) in Chocó province, the country’s geological service said. It was felt across an enormous area, stretching for hundreds of miles across western Colombia.

Many of the deaths have been concentrated in the city of Pereira, in Colombia’s coffee-growing region, with surrounding cities and the Valle del Cauca region also hit hard.

The epicentre of the quake was near the village of San José del Palmar, in Chocó province, but local mayor León Fabio Marín Moncada said that there had miraculously been no deaths or injuries – despite the roads in and out being damaged.

More than 480 people were injured in the quakes, Co

The issuance of passports was disrupted this morning (Aug. 11) due to a sudden failure of the Department of Immigration and Emigration’s computer system.

Controller General of Immigration and Emigration – Chaminda Pathiraja said measures are being taken to restore the system as soon as possible.

கொலம்பியாவில் பல ஆண்டுகளுக்குப் பிறகு ஏற்பட்ட மிகப் பெரிய நிலநடுக்கங்களில் ஒன்றில் குறைந்தது 132 பேர் உயிரிழந்துள்ளனர். இதையடுத்து அங்கு அவசரநிலை அறிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

பாகிஸ்தானின் கசூரில் காலங்கள் மாறினாலும், பாரம்பரிய மண்பாண்ட கலை தலைமுறை தலைமுறையாக தொடர்ந்து வருகிறது.

"பெரிய அளவில் புத்தகங்களை டிஜிட்டல் மயமாக்க வேண்டியிருப்பதால் நிறுவனங்கள் இந்த இரண்டாவது முறையைத் தேர்வு செய்கின்றன. இதன் மூலம் மில்லியன் கணக்கான பிரதிகளை விரைவாகவும் குறைந்த செலவிலும் டிஜிட்டல் மயமாக்க முடியும். ஆந்த்ரோபிக் தொடர்பான ஆவணப்படுத்தப்பட்ட விவகாரத்தில், பனாமா திட்டத்துக்காக இந்த முறையே பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டது" என்கிறார் ரோட்ரிகோ அல்வாரெஸ். பனாமா திட்டம�