Alberta UCP members head to polls on final voting day to replace Kenney

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Heavy police presence was witnessed since morning on Wednesday (2) in Colombo ahead of the mass protest planned by multiple groups including political parties.Trade Unions, Students Movements, supported by political parties will march from Maradana to Fort, where a rally will take place against state suppression.The Samagi Jana Balavegaya, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Frontline Socialists Party, Tamil National Alliance, 43rd Brigade, Freedom People's Congress among 20 political parties, and over 150 trade unions and mass organizations will take part in the protest.Police says NO permission:Sri Lanka Police has issued a letter informing the various protest groups – including students, trade, and political bodies – who planned to protest in Colombo on Wednesday (2), stating that permission will not be granted to protest opposite the Fort Railway Station or in close proximity.The letter bears the signature of Colombo Central Division 1 Police Superintendent K. A.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A 33-year-old man was found dead inside a house in Medagoda, Ruwanwalla.Sri Lanka Police said stab wounds were visible on the victim's neck.It was revealed that the deceased had consumed alcohol with his brother, and another man and was killed following a heated exchange.The killer had fled the area and an investigation is underway to arrest him.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's National Water Supply and Drainage Board said that Rs. 6.5 Billion in unsettled bills are pending from consumers.Rs.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Police has issued a letter informing the various protest groups – including students, trade, and political bodies – who planned to protest in Colombo on Tuesday (2), stating that permission will not be granted to protest opposite the Fort Railway Station or in close proximity.The letter bears the signature of Colombo Central Division 1 Police Superintendent K. A.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Chinese Government donated 10.6 Million Liters of diesel to farmers and fishermen in remote areas of Sri Lanka to upgrade the agriculture and fisheries industries.Currently, the agriculture and fisheries industry is facing severe difficulty due to the shortage of diesel to operate machinery and boats.The shipment is scheduled to reach the country between November & December and will be distributed to the needy soon.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Navy's latest warship the P 627 reached Colombo on Tuesday (2).Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) formally took the delivery of the EX-United States Coast Guard Cutter, USCGC Douglas Munro, provided by the United States (U.S.) Coast Guard to SLN, at theU.S. Coast Guard Base Seattle of Washington in the United States on 26th October 2021.Since the acquisition, she was designated as P 627, attached to the SLN fleet.Aiming to strengthen and develop partnerships to overcome common challenges in the maritime domain, U.S.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka reiterates that the Police must NOT use the provisions of the Police Ordinance to violate the fundamental rights declared and recognized by the Constitution of Sri Lanka.The HRCSL made this statement in response to a letter submitted to the Commission by trade unions and mass organizations, informing that the Police had illegally notified them to obtain permission for the peaceful protest set to be held on Wednesday (2).The HRCSL highlights that peaceful protests are permitted according to Section 77 of the Police Ordinance.It warned the Police that the Constitution of Sri Lanka is in fact the supreme law of the country, adding that violating fundamental rights would result in serious consequences.The HRCSL also reminds the Police to pay attention to the recommendations made by the Commission to the Public Security Minister on the 28th of September.According to the statement, a team attached to the Human Rights Commission will also be deployed to monitor the peaceful protest march.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – An online discussion took place on Tuesday (1) between the representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the officials of the Ministry of Finance.Minister of State for Finance Ranjith Siyabalapitiya said that this discussion was held as a preparation for tomorrow's (3) discussions with the IMF.Minister of State for Finance Ranjith Siyabalapitiya said that during the negotiations between the representatives of the IMF and the representatives of the Ministry of Finance, an agreement will be reached on financial assurances expected by the IMF.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) approved power cuts of 2 hours from 02nd – 04th November as follows;Groups ABCDEFGHIJKLPQRSTUVW: 1 hour during daytime 1 hour during the night

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Trade Minister Nalin Fernando says that steps will be taken to give the people the benefit of the reduction in commodity prices.He further said that many businessmen do NOT give that benefit to the people.Accordingly, he added that he will discuss this with the representatives of food distribution associations, including supermarket chains, and provide necessary solutions.

EAMONN Holmes has suffered a fall at his Surrey home - leaving the star with a fractured shoulder and in "an awful lot of pain". The 62-year-old former This Morning star has been left "gutted" by his latest health setback, his rep said today. The tumble means Eamonn - who recently had spinal surgery to try and ease chronic pain in his back and legs - will remain off air.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Central Bank of Bangladesh last week issued a circular advising all authorized dealers, including banks, to refrain from transactions with Sri Lankan banks through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) system.The move has been made in response to the "self-motivated decision by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL)  to remain temporarily suspended from ACU mechanism with effect from October 14th".Accordingly, all authorized dealers have been advised not to do any trade and trade related transactions with Sri Lanka through the ACU mechanism.The Asian Clearing Union was created among the South Asian Nations in order to provide trading facilities among the South Asian Nations, plus Iran and Myanmar as members in 1974. Within the ACU, all eligible transactions between member countries are required to be settled through the Asian Clearing Union. The unit of settlement of ACU transactions is a common unit of account of ACU, which is equivalent to one USD.In case of importation of materials into a country, it would be debited to the account of that specific country at the Asian Secretariat, and the balance is settled every two months through the ACU in hard currency.With this new move, it would halt the possibility of conducting any transactions between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka through the ACU. However, when New1st inquired on the matter from former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Dr.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Department of Meteorology says that low-level atmospheric disturbance persists in the vicinity of Sri Lanka.Showers or thundershowers will occur over most parts of the island during the afternoon or night.Showers will occur in Northern, Western and North-western provinces and Galle and Matara districts during the morning.Heavy showers above 100mm can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, North-Western, Uva and Northern provinces and fairly heavy showers above 50mm can be expected elsewhere.The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.Condition of Rain:Showers or thundershowers will occur in several places in the sea areas around the island. Winds:Winds will be north-westerly to westerly in direction. Wind speed will be (20-30) kmph.

Dame Judi Dench, 87, has discussed how she had to get her partner David Mills to “cut up her food” for her due to her declining health.The star also revealed that she cannot read or write anymore due to suffering from advanced macular degeneration. The James Bond actress revealed that, while out for dinner recently with her partner David, he had to cut up her food as she couldn't see it on her plate.“He cut it up and handed something to me on a fork and that's the way I ate it,” she recalled.However, the legendary star has insisted that she will not be retiring from acting anytime soon despite her condition. Nonetheless, Judi admitted that her health was in a “bad” state as she opened up about the way her life has changed as a result. “I don't want to retire,” she said. “I'm not doing much at the moment because I can't see.

Out of these 8 LTTE prisoners who were pardoned, three of those were convicted of trying to assassinate former President Chandrika Kumaratunga who was wounded by the bomb attack.However the National Peace Council relying on the information supplied by the the Presidential Secretariat states that four of the eight prisoners had served longer prison terms than their court-ordered sentences. The statement further states “Three prisoners had been sentenced to 30 years in prison and had served 22 years, one prisoner who had been sentenced to 11 years and had served 14 years, one who has been sentenced to 10 years and had also served 14 years, two prisoners who were sentenced to five years but had served for 14 years, were among those who received a presidential pardon.”The council further emphasize that this is a serious violation of human rights in terms of international human rights covenants and an intolerable abuse of power by those who kept them incarcerated in this manner for a long period of time.The National Peace Council also warns the government that by keeping these detainees in prison, there will be a need to pay compensation considering the number of years lost to the victims.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A Red alert on landslides has been issued to the Divisional Secretariat Division of Passara, of the ​​Badulla District.Senior Geologist at the National Building Research Organization, Dr.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Cabinet has approved for the State-owned Enterprises Restructuring Unit to study and make recommendations on restructuring SriLankan Airlines.This Cabinet approval has been given taking into account a proposal presented by the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation  Nimal Siripala Silva.It has been determined that it is appropriate to restructure the airline and its managed companies by handing over significant shares of Sri Lanka Airlines and the management of the company to select investors filtered through a transparent procurement process.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Six major business chambers in Sri Lanka have called for the halting of anti-government protests that they say could undermine efforts taken to stabilize the economy. In a joint statement, the chambers added that negative publicity could seriously derail action that are being taken to revive the economy, particularly the efforts taken to revive tourism.'Any act of destabilization taking place at this time and any negative publicity arising from it would seriously derail actions that are being taken to revive the economy including the efforts being taken to promote tourism' the statement read.Pointing out that a few airlines have agreed to commence flights to Sri Lanka and given the high cost of energy in Europe during the winter, Sri Lanka will have an ideal opportunity to attract tourists which will support the Hospitality industry, the Chambers say that  any instability can affect the recovery process for exports and foreign investment too.'We appeal to all parties to divert their energies and resources towards encouraging positive reforms and focus on how we recover as a nation instead of engaging in acts that can further damage the economy and place more burdens on the people of this country' the statement mentioned.This statement has been issued by the following Chambers:

COLOMBO (News 1st) – President Ranil Wickremesinghe says that if the process to restructure debts with India and China is delayed, the process to reach an agreement with the IMF Executive Board could be further delayed till January. Speaking at the 32nd Annual General meeting of the Sri Lanka Tea Factory owners, the President said that Sri Lanka must first ensure that it can get out of bankruptancy, and negotiate with creditors."I went to the Paris Club first. Western countries and Japan are there. But we are in a special place.

The best way to deal with the new COVID variant is to keep the immunity quotient high throughout the year Even after nearly 3 years, COVID remains a threat to us mostly because the virus is still mutating. The latest variant of Omicron continues to be a threat to us as it is said to spreading faster than its predecessors and has immune escape properties. So even if you are vaccinated and also boosted, you still need to be careful.

(PMD) – A meeting was held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (31) to inform the President about the private member’s proposal presented by Parliamentarian Premanath C. Dolawatta, which will strengthen President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s policy of increasing the opportunities for the youth community in the decision-making process of the country.During the meeting, MP Dolawatta said that his private member’s proposal, which has been submitted as a bill to amend the 262nd Local Government Elections Ordinance, adds constitutional value to the President’s policy of providing more opportunities to the youth in elections, to strengthen the democratic representation system.The MP also said that the draft includes the necessary provisions to confirm the youth representation of at least 25% in the first and second nomination lists of the local government elections.He noted that according to the recommendations of the Special Commission appointed to look into youth unrest in 1990, the importance of ensuring greater opportunities for the youth in democratic representation systems was highlighted.Accordingly, in 1990, by adding an amendment to the Local Government Ordinance, provisions were introduced to confirm 40% of opportunities in the preparation of local government nomination lists by political parties and independent groups, according to Dolawatta.However, although a positive step was taken by confirming 25% representation of women in the local government bodies, the condition of mandatory youth representation was lost in the relevant amendment, noted Premanath C.

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Sri Lanka's energy and power minister Kanchana Wijesekera said on Tuesday his country was expecting a diesel shipment from China that will possibly arrive by the end of November, as his country faces a deep financial crisis.Wijesekera was answering reporters' questions on the sidelines of an industry conference in Abu Dhabi on whether Sri Lanka had received any support.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The following program proposed for the budget debate related to the financial year 2023 was presented by the Prime Minister for the approval of the Council of Ministers. The program received the consent of the Cabinet of Ministers.-Budget Speech (Second Reading of the Appropriation Bill): 14.11.2022-Budget Second Reading Debate: From 15.11.20 to 22.11.2022 (07 days)-Budget Committee Stage Debate: From 23.11.2022 to 08.12.2022-Budget Voting: 08.12.2022 

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) says that a vessel carrying 60,000 MT of coal is scheduled to reach the country on Tuesday (1).The relevant coal vessel is arriving from South Africa.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Cabinet of Ministers approved the Prime Minister's proposal that ministers should not travel abroad during the sitting days of parliament and the budget debate.However, in case of urgent medical needs or very urgent work of the government, ministers are allowed to travel abroad.

₹33 in the grey market today. The company's shares are expected to list on leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. “Global health had a better performance in FY22 than it had in the preceding years.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Instagram appears to be down right now, but the glitch many users are reporting is an odd one. It’s not just that users are having trouble accessing the popular photo- and video-sharing app, but they’re also having trouble accessing their accounts and have reported being hit with account suspension notices.On Monday morning, the apparent Instagram outage was reported by users on Twitter and Downdetector. Both sites included numerous reports saying that users suddenly lost access to their IG accounts and were given account suspension notices.Many of these user reports followed a similar pattern.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Department of Meteorology says due to a low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, the showery condition is expected to continue further.Showers or thundershowers will occur over most parts of the Island during the afternoon or night.Showers will occur in Northern, Western and North-western provinces and Galle and Matara districts during the morning.Heavy showers over 150mm can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, North-western, Uva and Northern provinces and Heavy showers about 100mm can be expected elsewhere.The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.Condition of Rain:Showers or thundershowers will occur in several places in the sea areas around the island.Winds:Winds will be north-westerly to westerly in direction. Wind speed will be (20-30) kmph. Wind speed may increase up to 50 kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Trincomalee via Kankasanturai and Mullaitivu.State of Sea:The sea areas off the coast extending from Puttalam to Trincomalee via Kankasanturai and Mullaitivu will be fairly rough at times.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Colombo International Maritime and Logistics Conference 2022 is scheduled to be held on 1st & 2nd November 2022 in Colombo.The event is expected to be a regional networking session, where different stakeholders of the maritime and the logistics industry will be gathering to develop partnerships and a greater understanding of the future plans of the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Investment opportunities, information, and data, and project development of the region will also be discussed.Watch comments by Rohan Masakorala CIMC Founder and Shippers’ Academy Colombo CEO here: 

COLOMBO (News 1st) – A Sri Lanka Police Sergeant died in hospital after being severely wounded during a unrest that broke out in Kebithigollewa on Monday (31) night.Tensions boiled over in the town located in Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka's North Central Province after a man was killed in a wild elephant attack.Crowds took to the streets demanding a solution to the Human-Elephant conflict and they became unruly.Reports said that Sri Lanka Police fired several rounds into the air to control the situation. A Sri Lanka Police Sergeant was seriously injured after he was mobbed by the crowd, and was admitted to a hospital where he died.

Health and social care managers in North Lanarkshire are calling for local people to get in touch with feedback to ensure services improve further.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka on Monday (31) introduced a cycle to work program to promote cycling among public sector employees as a solution to the transporation crisis.The Cycle to Work progrma to promote cycling among public sector employees was organized by the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing.The aim of this program is to encourage government employees to commute using bicycles as a solution to the transportation crisis. Kick starting the initiative, a group of public sector employees cycled from Battaramulla to Sethsiripaya on Monday (31) morning.Meanwhile, a tree planting program was organized at te Setshiripaya Premises in line with World Cities Day.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka has decided to launch a website to register passenger transport three-wheelers in the Western Province for the increased fuel quota.State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna said that taxi operators can access www.wptaxi.lk and register for the service to obtain 10 liters of petrol, instead of the 5 liters offered.On the 24th of October 2022, President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed to increase the weekly fuel quota of 5 litres issued for professional passenger transport three-wheelers to 10 litres.As the first phase, the registration of professional three-wheelers in the Western Province is scheduled to commence on November 1st.Accordingly, from November 6th, 10 litres of fuel per week will be issued to all three-wheeler passenger vehicles in the Western Province.Currently, there are 1.08 million three-wheelers in Sri Lanka, out of which 400,000 are passenger transport three-wheelers, according to the three-wheeler associations.Around 300,000 three-wheelers have been registered with the Sri Lanka Police, and if it is not possible to register the three-wheelers in the entire island by November 13, it was also decided to release the fuel quota for the three-wheelers registered with the police as an initial step.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka's Department of Census and Statistics reported that the Overall Rate of Inflation as measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index on a Year-on-Year basis is 66.0% in October 2022.It added that the Year-on-Year inflation calculated for the month of September 2022 was 69.8%.According to the Department of Census and Statistics Food Inflation dropped to 85.6% in October 2022 from 94.9% in September 2022 on a year-on-year basis. 

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lanka Police revealed that the two men who were gunned down on Monday (31) morning in Hikkaduwa were the main suspects in the brutal hacking to death of Kudu Roshan on the 20th of December 2020 in Milla, Hikkaduwa.Kudu Roshan was a resident of Meetiygoda, and was a close associate of the slain underworld don Makandure Madush who was killed in police fire.Kudu Roshan was also a suspect in the killing of another underworld leader known as Samayan in Ranala.Motorcycle gunmen opened fire at two men travelling on another motorcycle in Thiranagama, Hikkaduwa on Monday (31) morning.News 1st correspondents said that the targets of the shooting were ruled dead on the spot.Sri Lanka Police said that the gunmen had come from behind and opened fire using a T-56 Assault Rifle.Detectives recovered a total of 17 bullet casings from the crime scene.The victims were identified as 47-year-old Kapuwa Handi Prasanna Mendis, and 26-year-old Henda Hewage Isuru Prasanna, both from Kalupe Hikkaduwa.They were gunned down while en router to a case at the Galle Magistrate's Court.No arrests were made regarding Monday's (31) shooting, and seven police teams were deployed for investigations.

HONG KONG : Foxconn Technology Group is scrambling to contain a weekslong Covid-19 outbreak at an iPhone factory in central China, trying to appease frightened and frustrated workers during a crucial period for smartphone orders. In Foxconn’s main Zhengzhou facility, the world’s biggest assembly site for Apple Inc.’s iPhones, hundreds of thousands of workers have been placed under a closed-loop system for almost two weeks. They are largely shut off from the outside world, allowed only to move between their dorms or homes and the production lines.

prostate cancer as she revealed she knew deep down she "wasn't going to lose him".The 49-year-old struggled to fight back tears when she discussed just how much "her rock" meant to her and how his cancer battle made them stronger.In a new interview, the presenter was asked about her relationship with Kenny and finding out about his cancer.Her spouse was diagnosed after she urged him to get checked out, but the result was not what they expected.Speaking to Steven Bartlett, she spilled: "He was really upset as you can imagine and I just thought, 'Right no, this is going to be absolutely fine, what are we going to do? What are the answers here?'His neurologist was brilliant, he's a brilliant communicator and told us what the options were and I was like, (to Kenny) 'we've just to get a plan together, you need to know what you're doing and then we will keep being positive about it'.Karren Brady fears for royals 'shivering' over Prince Harry's book"That's what we did really, once we got over the initial shock, we just really kind of focused on it as a project we had to deal with and it's a b****y awful operation."Gabby explained that Kenny had to have six stab wounds in his torso, which was "really invasive"."It's horrible to see him in the pain he was afterwards, it's a horrible thing to go through but he's doing really really well now."The presenter was then swiftly in tears as she revealed just how much he meant to her.Seconds later after composing herself, she said: "He's just great, I'm very lucky."I knew I wasn't going to lose him."He's a great man and I couldn't ever wish for anybody to have shared my life with, who is better."Gabby and Kenny tied the knot two years after meeting.Strictly's Anton Du Beke 'heartbroken'

COLOMBO (News 1st) – In keeping with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Sri Lanka Air Force and the Ministry of Health, a persistent vegetative state patient who met with an accident was airlifted from a Bell- 412 helicopter converting to an air ambulance from Badulla General Hospital to Sri Lanka National Hospital Colombo on Monday (31 October 2022) to retrieve vital organs. It is expected to donate these vital organs to required recipients and also for the heart transplant surgery to be conducted by National Hospital, Colombo. The No.04 Squadron SLAF Base Ratmalana successfully accomplished this operation under the guidance of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana.

(Reuters) – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated President Jair Bolsonaro in a runoff election on Sunday that marked a stunning comeback for the leftist former president and the end of Brazil's most right-wing government in decades.Brazil's Supreme Electoral Court declared Lula the next president, with 50.9% of votes versus 49.1% for Bolsonaro. The 77-year-old Lula's inauguration is scheduled for Jan.

FORMER Towie star Frankie Essex revealed her five-month-old baby was rushed to hospital three times in the past week. Frankie, 34, gave birth to twins Logan and Luella in June and has since been through a "terrifying" ordeal with five-month-old Logan's shock health problems.

COLOMBO (News 1st)- The price of a 450g loaf of bread in Sri Lanka will be reduced by Rs. 10/- with effect from Monday (31).The All Ceylon Bakery Owners Association announced the decision was taken considering the situation in the country, as well as the prices of wheat flour.N.

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The family of a Surinamese woman arrested with cocaine in Sri Lanka have appointed a Surinamese lawyer to appear for her case.The government of Suriname has refuted media reports that a Surinamese woman arrested in Sri Lanka has been sentenced to death on suspicion of drug smuggling. The woman was arrested by the Customs Narcotics Control Bureau on October 18 for possession of over two kilograms of cocaine at the Katunayake Airport.The 25-year-old woman, who had arrived at the Katunayake Bandaranaike Airport through Doha, Qatar from Brazil, was questioned by the Sri Lanka Customs Narcotics Control Bureau officers, due to her suspicious behavior.During the investigation, the officers discovered 2,553 grams of cocaine, in tins, labeled as containing food.The suspect was subsequently detained and charged with the offense of drug smuggling.The Suriname Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation has become involved in the matter on the basis of the Vienna Convention on Consular Traffic’ (Arts 5 and 36 paragraph 1c) and ‘the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Traffic’, adding that information is requested from Sri Lanka.The Surinamese government has taken steps in accordance with these preconditions and the embassy in New Delhi, India, immediately contacted the authorities in Sri Lanka.After confirming the suspect’s arrest, the Surinamese embassy in New Delhi immediately requested permission from the Sri Lankan authorities for consular access to the person concerned, either virtually or physically.In the meantime, a Surinamese lawyer has been appointed by the suspect’s family as a contact person, and information is exchanged with the family via this communication

COLOMBO (News 1st) – Twenty-first amendment to the constitution will effect from Monday (31).Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena endorsed the certificate on the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution Bill passed by a special majority in Parliament recently.The 22 Amendment to the Constitution Bill was presented to the Parliament on August 10, 2022, by Minister Dr Wijedasa Rajapaksa. Then, according to the Supreme Court determination related to the petitions against the bill, amendments were made at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Judicial Affairs and approval was obtained.On October 20 and 21, the debate on the second reading of the twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution Bill was held.At the end of the second reading, there were 179 votes in favour and 1 vote against. After that, in the voting held for the third reading of the bill, 174 votes were in favour and one vote was against.Accordingly, the twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution Bill will come into force as the twenty-first amendment to the constitution from today (31).

Colombo (News 1st) – The Sri Lanka Air Force under the guidance of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana together with the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Peradeniya and Central Environment Authority launched the seventh wave of seed bombing at Wattegama Kebilitta Government Forest Reserve in the Siyamblanduwa Divisional Secretariat.The Command Agro Unit at SLAF Base Katunayake under the leadership of Group Captain PE Gunawardena and the Department of Forest Conservation organized this mission to achieve the aim of improving the forest density of Sri Lanka to reach the sustainable development goals of the country by increasing the forest cover from 27% to 32% by the year 2030.The first wave of the mission was executed at the Ranorawa government forest in a five acres land area and approximately 5,000 seed bombs were released. During the second wave, 67,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 60 acres area inside the forest of Lahugala in Ampara. The third wave which was conducted in December 2020 saw the dropping of approximately 30,000 seed bombs over 25 acres of land area within the Lahugala National Park. The fourth wave was carried out in the Lahugala National Park where 70,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 60-acre area. The fifth wave was carried out in the Kebilitta Government Forest Reserve where 80,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 75 acres area. Through the sixth wave, 65,000 seed bombs were dropped on over 70 acres of area inside the same forestry at Siyambalanduwa Divisional Secretariat.

Danielle Smith, sworn in Tuesday as Alberta’s new premier, said she will shake up the top tier of the health system within three months and amend provincial human rights law to protect those who choose not to get vaccinated.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre needs to steer away from “fringe issues” if he aims to lead not only the party but the country.“He understands that to become prime minister, he needs to speak to the aspirations of regular Canadians, not to fringe issues.” Alberta’s premier-designate wants ‘greater’ provincial autonomy, but is it her 1st priority? Kenney also believes that Poilievre is “wise beyond his years.”“He’s a brilliant young man,” he said.According to a recent poll from the end of last month, Poilievre overtook Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the best leader for the country.“Since the moment he was elected leader, he’s demonstrated great discipline in focusing on the kitchen-table issues that matter to ordinary Canadian families,” said Kenney.However, Poilievre has had a number of interactions with fringe movements in Canada.Most recently, a Global News analysis of 50 of Polievre’s official YouTube videos showed that they included a hidden tag appealing to a misogynistic online movement that Canada’s intelligence agencies view as a danger.The tag, #mgtow, is an acronym for “Men Going Their Own Way” — a mostly-online movement consisting of anti-feminists who cut women completely out of their lives.The Conservative leader has also drawn criticism for his support of the convoy protest that paralyzed downtown Ottawa and blockaded border crossings in February.Poilievre chose to walk with James Topp, an activist with connections to convoy figures who have marched across the nation to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates.After posing for a photograph with Jeremy Mackenzie — the de-facto leader of a far-right group called Diagalon who was arrested on a Canada-wide warrant for

Jason Kenney says he concerned about certain elements that appear to be taking over along the right of the political spectrum.Pointing to the works of traditional conservative philosopher Roger Scruton, Kenney said an important tenet of conservative politics is recognizing the “prosperous and free society” handed down by past generations and being a custodian for future generations.“Conservatism, therefore, means protecting what’s best about what we’ve inherited. Not being opposed to thoughtful reform, but being opposed to radical overnight change and the destruction of institutions,” Kenney told The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson in an interview airing in full on Sunday..“And so some of what I see now, what I call ‘populism with a snarl,’ is not conservatism.

The race to become Alberta’s next premier may be damaging to the governing United Conservative Party’s brand, a longtime pollster says, casting doubt on how long the winner will be able to hold on to the top job.