Author: Buzzer Editorial

The Meteorology Department says showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara-Eliya, Galle and Matara districts.Fairly heavy showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle and Matara districts.Showers or thundershowers will occur at several places elsewhere over the island during the evening or night, it said.Fairly strong winds of about 30-40 kmph can be expected at times over Western slopes of the central hills and in Northern, North-central and North-western provinces.The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize…

Palestinian health officials on Friday reported the first case of polio in an unvaccinated 10-month-old child in the Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, the first case in years in the coastal enclave that has been engulfed in the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7.After discovering the child’s symptoms, tests were conducted in Jordan’s capital of Amman and the case was confirmed to be polio, the health officials said.The potentially fatal, paralyzing disease mostly strikes children under the age of 5 and typically spreads through contaminated water. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where the spread of polio has never been stopped.The World Health Organization…

National People’s Power (NPP) presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake met with Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith at the Archbishop’s official residence in Borella this afternoon (17th).During the meeting, the Archbishop, along with Assistant Bishop of Colombo Maxwell Silva, Father Anthony, and Father Cyril Gamini, discussed various matters with Dissanayake and offered their blessings for his success in the upcoming presidential election.NPP’s executive member MP Vijitha Herath also attended the meeting.

Government Printer Gangani Liyanage said that she will not be able to issue press statements in the near future due to the implementation of the election law.She mentioned that the printing of ballot papers will be started after a discussion with the Election Commission and that she is prohibited from issuing press statements according to the election law.She said that the leenth of this year’s official ballot paper is more than the 2019 presidential election ballot paper, and that the entire staff of her organization of around 1200 is working to complete the duties related to the election on time.

Sri Lanka began counting its elephants in the wild in an island-wide census on Saturday (17) with a focus on conservation efforts.The census is being conducted by the Department of Wildlife Conservation after a hiatus of 13 years. The last elephant census in 2011 showed that there were 5,879 wild elephants in Sri Lanka.Since then Sri Lanka has lost many elephants due to gun shot wounds, electrocution and being struck by trains. Government data show that the highest number of tuskers have been killed in the Anuradhapura District.1,310 officers will be involved in the Anuradhapura Wildlife Zone for the census, Deputy…

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Matara District Member of Parliament Karunadasa Kodithuwakku has decided to support opposition leader Sajith Premadasa in the upcoming presidential election.

The Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Ratnayake, has emphasized the need for stringent regulation of election finances, warning against the commercialization of the democratic process.Speaking at a conference held in Colombo yesterday (17), Mr. Ratnayake asserted that the choice of the country’s leadership should not be influenced by financial transactions.He stressed the importance of ensuring that voters remain participants in the democratic process rather than being reduced to mere consumers during elections.The Elections Commissioner General also expressed concerns that the expected outcomes from the laws regulating election expenses have not been fully realized as anticipated by the Election Commission.“You…

For the first time in Sri Lanka, six prominent Election Observation Organizations, namely, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), Hashtag Generation, and the Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) have established a Campaign Finance Observation Online Tool to observe the campaign expenditures of election candidates at the Presidential Election 2024.The tool named “Chanda Salli Meetare” aims to advocate for the effective implementation of the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act of 2023, empower citizens with vital information to make…

Thirty-four (34) Sri Lankans who have been victims of human trafficking remain to be rescued from Myanmar, State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya said.The minister revealed this during a media briefing held today on the recent release of 20 Sri Lankans from illegal camps in Myanmar, who are currently in Thailand.“The rescued students are in good health condition, although they will have to be sent for counselling,” Balasuriya said, adding that he has spoken to them over a video call.Sri Lankan authorities are working to repatriate this group to Sri Lanka as soon as possible, he said. Meanwhile, the Sri…

Prevailing showery condition are expected to continue in the south-western part of the island due to the low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka.Very heavy showers about 150 mm are likely at some places in Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces and in Galle,Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts.General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.