WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 SEPTEMBER 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 September 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

The Deep Depression over the West-central and adjoining Northwest Bay of Bengal is moving west-northwestwards and is currently crossing the North Andhra Pradesh and adjoining South Odisha coasts of India.

Although this system will not have a direct impact on Sri Lanka, the prevailing rainy conditions in the southwestern part of the island are expected to continue due to the wind flow towards the system.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at times in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces and in Galle and Matara Districts. Heavy showerss above 100 mm are likely at some places in the above areas.

A few showers will occur in North-central province and in Mannar district.

Strong winds of about (40-50) kmph can be expected at times over the Western slopes of the Central hills, the North-central and North-western provinces and in Trincomalee, Hambantota and Matale Districts.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

North Korean weightlifter Ri Song Gum has broken three world records en route to winning gold in the women’s 49kg (108lbs) competition, which saw India’s Mirabai Chanu win an elusive Asian Games medal by finishing second.

Ri gave North Korea its first gold of the games in Nagoya, Japan, on Wednesday, joining an elite club of four weightlifters who have won three Asian Games gold medals.

The 28-year-old hauled 94kg above her head in the opening snatch discipline – the first official segment of the competition where athletes lift a barbell from the floor to an overhead position in a single motion. The lift was 1kg heavier than the previous world record of 93kg.

Ri followed it up by breaking the world record twice in the 115kg clean and jerk – a two-part movement where a barbell is lifted from the floor to the shoulders and then pushed overhead. The 4ft-7in (139.7cm) weightlifter hoisted 116kg and 121kg above her head.

Ri’s total lift of 215kg obliterated the old world record total by 7kg.

She is the fourth lifter, and first woman, to win three Asian Games weightlifting golds and joined Iran’s Mohammad Nassiri (1966-74), South Korea’s Kim Tae-hyun (1990-98) and Iran’s Behdad Salimi (2010-18), who all won three gold medals. No athlete has won four weightlifting gold medals.

In the same category, India’s Chanu finally won an Asian Games medal at the third time of asking. She won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

The 32-year-old is India’s most decorated weightlifter, with three Commonwealth gold medals and a silver to her name, along with multiple global titles.

She lifted a total of 198kg after a snatch of 87kg and a clean and jerk of 111kg, while Indonesia’s Diana Tri Wijayana took bronze with a total of 191kg, comprising 88kg and 103kg.

Chanu’s silver also ended India’s 28-year wait for a weightlifting medal at the games since Karnam Malleswari won silver in 1998.

United States President Donald Trump has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping as he arrived in the US for a three-day trip focused on issues such as security, trade and technology.

Trump took the rare step of meeting the Chinese leader in person at Joint Base Andrews in the state of Maryland on Wednesday, the first president to do so in recent memory.

The US president and First Lady Melania Trump greeted Xi and his wife on the tarmac during a welcoming ceremony, where a red carpet was rolled out and the couples exchanged handshakes. Trump  and Xi then walked side by side, flanked by US soldiers, before standing for a gunfire salute and the US national anthem

The in-person greeting is a sign of the significance that Washington ascribes to its relationship with Beijing,  whose meteoric economic rise over the last several decades has transformed it into a global superpower capable of rivalling the United States.

Despite tense relations that worsened after the Trump administration placed high tariffs on Chinese goods – a move that was met with retaliatory measures from Beijing – Trump has expressed personal affinity for Xi and his desire for strong ties with China.

The Chinese president’s trip to the US will include a state dinner, attended by leaders of the country’s powerful tech industry,  a military ceremony at the White House, and a visit to the National Archives, home to documents of historical and cultural significance such as the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence

But both countries remain wary of the other as they compete for political and economic influence. The trip is likely to include discussion of issues such as the US war on Iran, trade, technology,  rare-earth minerals and US ties to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory

(Aljazeera)