Connect with us

Latest News

Calm returns to Los Angeles after hundreds arrested

Published

on

[pic BBC]

An uneasy calm has descended over Los Angeles after the first night of a curfew lifted on Wednesday, as cities across the US brace for more protests.

In Los Angeles, nearly 400 people have so far been arrested, including 330 undocumented migrants and 157 people arrested for assault and obstruction, including one for the attempted murder of a police officer.

Federal prosecutors have so far charged two men for throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers in two separate incidents.

A total of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines have been deployed to help quell the unrest. Some of those National Guard troops are now authorised to detain people until police can arrest them.

Speaking alongside 30 regional mayors at a news conference on Wednesday, LA Mayor Karen Bass blamed the protests on US President Donald Trump’s immigration raids, which she said “provoked” residents by causing “fear” and “panic”.

“A week ago, everything was peaceful,” she said. “Things began to be difficult on Friday when raids took place.”

Bass suggested Los Angeles was “part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go in taking over power from a local government, from a local jurisdiction”.

She has previously called on the administration to end the raids.

Overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday, Los Angeles police said they made “mass arrests” after a fifth day of protests over the immigration action.

In a series of statements, the city’s police department said that those detained included 203 people arrested for failure to disperse, 17 for curfew violations, three for possession of a firearm, and one for assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer.

Two officers were injured in the skirmishes, the statement added.

On Tuesday, Bass declared an overnight curfew within a relatively small area of the city’s downtown district, saying businesses were being vandalised and looted.

After the LA curfew came into force at 20:00 local time on Tuesday (03:00 GMT on Wednesday), police moved through downtown areas, firing rubber bullets to try to disperse crowds.

Explaining the curfew on Tuesday, Bass said she wanted “to stop the vandalism, to stop the looting”, saying the city had reached a “tipping point”.

The curfew order affects an area of about one square mile in the second-largest city in the US.

Police chief Jim McDonnell said: “Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance as though this is a city-wide crisis, and it is not.”

Pam Bondi, the US Attorney General, told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that the curfew “helped a bit”.

Elsewhere, the immigration raids have continued, alongside the National Guard troops.

The National Guard and Marine forces deployed to Los Angeles do not have the authority to make arrests, only to detain protesters.

“They are strictly used for the protection of the federal personnel as they conduct their operations and to protect them to allow them to do their federal mission,” said Maj Gen Scott Sherman, who is leading the deployment, on Wednesday.

Some 500 National Guard troops have already been trained to accompany agents on immigration raids and some troops have already temporarily detained people in LA protests, Sherman told US media outlets.

Those troops are authorised to detain people until police are able to arrest them, he said.

Trump’s row with state officials ramped up after he deployed troops to LA. The president has now vowed to “liberate” the city, but he has been accused by California Governor Gavin Newsom of an “assault” on democracy.

Trump earlier this week defended his decision to send troops, saying it was to prevent the city being “conquered by a foreign enemy”.

Newsom hit back at the president: “He again chose escalation; he chose more force.”

The California governor, who is seen as a potential presidential contender for the Democratic Party, warned that “other states are next”.

On Wednesday, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth backed Trump’s move, telling a Senate hearing that sending the troops to Los Angeles was “lawful and constitutional”.

A BBC map shows the area of approximately one square mile in which a curfew has been declared from 20:00 to 06:00 local time in Los Angeles. This shows that the affected area is a relatively small part of the sprawling city
[BBC]


Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Heat Index at ‘Caution Level’ in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Eastern, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala district

Published

on

By

Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 30 March 2026, valid for 31 March 2026.

The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Eastern, North-western, Northern and North-central provinces and in Monaragala district.

The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.


Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.

ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.

Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Electricity tariffs to be increased from 1st April

Published

on

By

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has granted approval to increase electricity tariffs with effect from 1st  April .

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) requested a 13.56% electricity tariff revision  for the second quarter of this year.

The revision announced by the PUCSL for  domestic consumers:

0–30 units category, electricity tariffs will rise by 4.3%, 

31–60 units category, tariffs will rise by 6.9%, 

61–90 units category, tariffs will rise by 6.9%, 

91–120 units category, tariffs will rise by 7.2%, 

Above 180 units, electricity tariffs will rise by  25.3% 

The PUCSL has decided not to increase electricity tariffs for religious and charitable institutions that consume below 180 units monthly and a  9.6% increase for institutions that consume above 180 units.

Ectricity tariffs for the general and household consumer categories has been increased by 8%, while the electricity tariff increase for the industrial sector is 8.7%,  the increase in tariff for government institutions is 14.4%.

 

Continue Reading

Latest News

Rickelton, Rohit, Shardul break Mumbai’s first-game jinx

Published

on

By

Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma added 148 for the first wicket [Cricinfo]

Before Sunday, Mumbai Indians had never chased down a 220-plus target in their previous seven attempts. MI had never won their opening game of the IPL since 2012. On day two of IPL 2026,  MI broke two jinxes as they chased down 221 in 19.1 overs to begin their season with a comfortable six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders. Rohit Sharma  wound back the clock, smashing 78 off 38 balls, while Ryan Rickelton thumped 81 off 43, the duo adding 148 runs for the opening wicket off 71 balls.

That KKR were coming into this opening game severely depleted on the bowling front was known. The extent of it was visible on Sunday night with Vaibhav Arora and Blessing Muzarabani toothless, Varun Chakravarthy ineffective and Sunil Narine a shadow of his former self.

At the halfway mark, KKR might have been happy reaching 220 for 4, their second-highest score against MI in the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane,  who at the toss said that he had “never seen so much of grass at Wankhede”, scored 67 off 40 balls while Angkrish Raghuvanshi, another Mumbai lad, made 51 off 29 as KKR breached the 220 mark. But against a KKR unit missing several of their frontline seamers, MI barely had any hiccups, completing the highest-successful IPL chase at the Wankhede with five balls to spare.

It was a typical Rohit innings that Wankhede has witnessed so many times, laced with some of the most pristine shots. He was on 12 off eight at one stage, but once in, he lit up Mumbai like only he can. Coming into the game, he had a strike rate of less than 100 against Varun in T20s. So, what did he do? He lofted the spinner inside-out over covers first ball and then lifted him for six the next ball. By the time the powerplay was done, Rohit had raced to a 23-ball fifty, his fastest in the IPL and MI’s chase was on course.

They raced to 80 in the first six, past 100 in 8.1 overs and by the time Rohit fell, thanks to a lovely catch by Anukul Roy running back from mid-off, MI’s required rate had gone below nine, which at the start of the innings was above 11 an over.

There were a few raised eyebrows when Rickelton was picked over the more experienced Quinton de Kock , but the former justified his selection. Rickelton needed just the first couple of overs to get a hang of the surface and once he did, there was no stopping him. He deposited Arora for back-to-back sixes, one over extra cover and then over deep midwicket, and that kickstarted a brutal takedown of the KKR bowlers.

While he saw Rohit do his thing in the powerplay, Rickelton took on Narine after the six-over mark. He slog swept him over deep midwicket in his first over and then launched him over the ropes twice in three balls in the next to raise a 24-ball fifty.

He didn’t stop there and only fell courtesy a stunning direct hit from the deep by Anukul. Suryakumar Yadav, the Impact Sub, came and went, but Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma took MI closer. Hardik finished on an unbeaten 18 off 11 balls, while Naman Dhir hit the winning runs off Anukul as MI started their IPL 2026 in style.

Finn Allen brought his stellar form international cricket to the IPL. After facing five dot balls against Hardik, he went after MI debutant AM Ghazanfar, pumping him to the deep square fence and then spanking him for an 86-metre six over wide long-on. Another six capped off Ghazanfar’s opening over. Rahane then went after Hardik, thumping him for back-to-back sixes and Allen then got on strike and went 4, 4, 4. A monster 26-run over against Hardik helped KKR race past fifty in 3.5 overs, their fastest against MI in the IPL.

Shardul Thqkur, on MI debut, then brought his experience into play and sent back Allen who shoveled a slower length ball to long-off but Rahane carried on. He struck two fours off Thakur as KKR finished on 78 for 1 in six overs.

Two Mumbai boys on opposite ends were critical to their team’s cause. After removing Allen, Thakur sent back Cameron Green, whose innings lasted just ten balls and he then dismissed Rahane with a hard length delivery outside off that was mistimed to extra cover. At this point, KKR were still going at over ten an over but had lost steam, thanks to some terrific bowling from Bumrah, Trent Boult and Thakur.

Enter the other Mumbai boy, Raghuvanshi. He was on 17 off 14 at one stage but found a new lease of life after being dropped by Rohit at long-on. He closed out the 15th over with a four and six against Ghazanfar and then launched Thakur over long-on. Raghuvanshi added 60 off 30 balls with Rinku Singh for the fourth wicket, reaching his fifty off 28 balls as KKR raced past 200 in the 19th over.

Rinku struck unbeaten on 33 off 21 as KKR finished on 220 for 4 but it wasn’t enough.

Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 221 for 4 in 19.1 overs (Ryan Rickelton 81, Rohit Sharma 78, Suryakumar Yadav 16, Tilak Varma 20, HardikPandya 18*; Vaibhav Arora 1-52, Kartik Tyagi 1-43, Sunil Narine 1-30) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 220 for 4 in 20 overs  (Ajinkya Rahane 67, Finn Allen 37, Cameron Green 18, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 51, Rinku Singh 33*; Hardik Pandya 1-39, Shardul Thakur 3-39)  by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

Continue Reading

Trending