Latest News
Six whales die after mass stranding on remote New Zealand beach
Six whales have died on a remote beach in New Zealand’s South Island following a mass stranding and volunteers are racing against time to get 15 others that are still alive back to the sea.
Some 55 pilot whales washed up on Farewell Spit on Thursday. While most managed to make their way back out to sea, 15 have re-stranded and are now spread along about 1km (0.6mi) of the beach.
A video from Project Jonah, a non-profit working with marine mammals, showed volunteers pouring buckets of water on the whales to keep them cool.
“When the tide comes in, we’re going to have to move really quickly to bring these whales together, then move them out to deeper waters,” said Louisa Hawkes from Project Jonah.
Pilot whales are highly social animals and have a natural instinct to look out for one another.
Volunteers hope to bring the 15 stranded whales together in a “nice tight group” to help them re-familiarise with one another and swim out together, Hawkes said.
They will attempt to refloat the whales this afternoon, but time is tight. “We have to do all of that before the tide turns and drops again,” Hawkes said.
The group is calling for volunteers to help with the refloating.
New Zealand’s conservation department has deployed rangers, a boat and a drone to Farewell Spit to monitor any further strandings.
Mass strandings regularly occur at Farewell Spit, located on the northern-most tip of the South Island.
The conservation department describes it as a “naturally occurring ‘whale trap'” located along a migratory route for long-finned whales.
“Whales may be easily deceived and caught out by the gently sloping tidal flats and a rapidly falling tide,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
In February 2017, more than 400 long-finned pilot whales washed up there – the largest stranding in New Zealand for more than 100 years.
[BBC]
The Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Panel has named the following squads for the upcoming Tri-Nation ‘A’ Series and the Four-Day Series.
The Tri-Nation One-Day Series, featuring Sri Lanka ‘A’, India ‘A’, and Afghanistan ‘A’, will be played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium (RDICS), Dambulla, commencing on 9 June 2026.
The Four-Day Series between Sri Lanka ‘A’ and India ‘A’ will be played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium (GICS), Galle, with the first match scheduled to begin on 25 June 2026.
The Sri Lanka Cricket Selection Panel has selected the following squads to play in the West Indies Emerging Tour of Sri Lanka 2026.
The West Indies and Sri Lanka emerging teams will play two four-day games and three one-day games during the bilateral contest.
The tour will begin on the 8th of June with the first four-day game at MRICS, Hambantota, while the second four-day game will start on the 15th of June at the same venue.
One-day games will be played on the 22nd, 24th, and 26th of June.
The first two one-day games will be played at the SSC, and the final at the NCC.
A two-member ICC delegation that visited Dhaka earlier this week will report its findings and observations to the governing body. According to an ICC media release, directors Dr Mohammed Moosajee and Tavengwa Mukuhlani engaged with “a range of stakeholders to review developments linked to the BCB”.
Moosajee and Mukuhlani arrived in Dhaka on June 1, after which they met BCB’s ad-hoc committee members, including president Tamim Iqbal. The pair also met with members of the BCB’s election commission, with the polls scheduled to be held on June 7.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that the delegation also met with BCB directors who had resigned from the previous board. Among the directors who didn’t resign, Asif Akbar and Ahsan Iqbal Chowdhury were in the group that also met the ICC delegation in a separate meeting on June 2.
Afterwards, Aminul Islam, the former Bangladesh captain who was the BCB president until April, claimed that they urged the ICC to not recognise any election conducted by or under the authority of the ad-hoc committee on June 7 or at any other time. Aminul, who still considers himself the BCB president, said that the BCB’s ad-hoc committee should correct their May 31 press release regarding the ICC delegations’ visit to Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s High Court rejected a writ petition that challenged the legality of the election schedule and voter list for the upcoming BCB elections on June 7.
The bench of Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice Md Ashif Hasan passed the rejection order stating that the petition was not presented properly before it. The petition was filed on May 18, a month and a bit after the country’s sports ministry dissolved the BCB’s board of directors on April 7. They appointed an 11-member ad-hoc committee led by Tamim, the former Bangladesh captain, on the same day.
[Cricinfo]
SLC name squads for Tri-Nation ‘A’ series and Four-Day series
SLC name squads for West Indies Emerging Tour of Sri Lanka 2026
ICC delegation visits Bangladesh to ‘review developments linked to the BCB’
Indonesia’s rupiah falls to record low against US dollar
INS Airavat makes port call in Colombo
Netanyahu downplays US-Israel rift after Trump confirms criticism
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News5 days agoIMF urges Lanka not to meddle with exchange rate
-
News2 days agoLankan duo emerge winners in Latin dance championship held in Blackpool, UK
-
Business6 days agoSri Lanka’s construction industry losing ground while no one watches
-
Business3 days agoIMF’s unstated rate:Sri Lanka’s $695m loan costs about 5.33% per annum
-
News5 days agoState of emergency extended
-
Features6 days agoThe Division Bell Mystery
-
Features4 days agoAre threats to Buddha Sasana external or from within?
-
News3 days agoUNP challenges NPP move to amend Vihara – Devalagam Act