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Sabry urged to rein in foreign envoys interfering in domestic affairs

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A Foreign Ministry official accepts a letter addressed to Minister Ali Sabry, PC from Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera at the entrance to the Ministry yesterday (31).

The Federation of National Organisations (FNO) has, in a letter addressed to Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, PC, requested him to take up with US Ambassador Julie Chung her continuous interventions in Sri Lanka’s domestic affairs. The letter was handed over to the Foreign Ministry on yesterday (31).

Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera has signed the letter on behalf of the FNO. A senior spokesperson for the group told The Island that they had raised several issues including the flouting of diplomatic protocols and Vienna diplomatic conventions and also controversial declarations made in various parts of the country meant to cause further turmoil.

Referring to Ambassador Chung’s tweets issued following such visits, the letter brought to Minister Sabry’s attention a book written by National Literary Award winner Sena Thoradeniya titled “Galle Face Protest: Systems Change or Anarchy”, which deals with the external elements influencing domestic factors that overthrew the former President in July 2022. The book exposed the role the US and India played in that plot, the letter has pointed out.

“The US interference in Sri Lanka is increasing. Prof Levin of Carnegie Mellon University claims US interfered in at least 4 elections in Sri Lanka (1956-1970). Former US Secretary of State Jihn Kerry admitted to making a regime change here in 2015 too.

The petitioners who earlier moved the Supreme Court against the midnight Yugadanavi power plant deal, accused the former US ambassador Alaina Teplitz of unethically interfering by sending a letter to the Presidential Secretariat on 22 June 2020 in that regard.

The present ambassador recently met with military officials and requested them to build trust towards the minority communities. The ambassador also visited the Thirukketheeswaram (Koneswaram) Kovil, which was built on top of Gokanna Viharaya but claimed it had a history of 2500 years in her official tweet. She must prove this with documentary archaeological evidence or retract her statement & tender an apology.”

The letter alleges that immense sacrifices made by the armed forces in their war against terrorism have been compromised by the political and it was the responsibility of Ali Sabry as the current foreign minister to take tangible measures to prevent Colombo based foreign envoys from violating diplomatic norms.



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One dead in US after being struck by taking off Frontier Airlines plane

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A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado [Aljazeera]

A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.

Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.

It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.

A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.

It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.

The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.

It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.

“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.

Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.

Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.

While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.

In March, two pilots were  killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.

[Aljazeera]

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Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

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WEATHER FORECAST FOR 10 MAY 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 10 May 2026 by the Department of Meteorology

The low-level atmospheric disturbance in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is likely to develop into a low-pressure area around 11th of May. Therefore, the prevailing showery conditions over the island are expected to continue during the next few days.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places over the island, and cloudy skies are expected over the island. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in the  Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Southern, Uva, North-western and Northern provinces and in Anuradhapura district.

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

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Lanka Port City officials to meet investors in Dubai

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ECONOMYNEXT –Colombo Port City (CPC) officials will head to Dubai to meet with investors on June 11, as Sri Lanka’s most ambitious economic zone looks for further foreign investments.

“We are meeting people in Dubai and the Middle East in order to demonstrate that Colombo Port City can be a supplementary zone of investment,” Harsha Amarasekara, Chairman, Colombo Port City Economic Commission (CPCEC), told Economynext.

The meeting will be organised by CPCEC, China Harbour Engineering Company, Consulate General of Sri Lanka – Dubai, and the Embassy of Sri Lanka – Abu Dhabi.

Foreign investor meetings have been a consistent factor in marketing CPC, and identifying potential markets has been a priority for CHEC and CPCEC.

“We have shortlisted and identified primary markets and we have combed the globe in that to say have a rationale behind why you would want to do certain things, a road show in a particular country,” Thulci Aluwihare, Deputy Managing Director, CHEC Port City Colombo, told Echelon Media.

“Once we kind of shortlist on that, then we aggressively go and market Port City, first Sri Lanka I should say, then Port City.”

“Sri Lanka is known in the world as a tourist destination, not essentially for a doing business capital. That is the narrative that we are trying to change,” he added.

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