News
Aussie of Lankan descent to be new Archbishop of Sydney
Kanishka Raffel, an Anglican priest of Sri Lankan descent, born in London to Lankan parents and raised as a Buddhist will be the next Archbishop of Sydney winning overwhelming support from both houses of laity and clergy at an election held by the Synod of the Diocese, a report published nn its website said last week
His enthronement now is a formality. He became a Christian while studying law at Sydney University. A friend gave him a copy of The Gospel according to John and he subsequently became a Christian, the report said.
Prior to becoming Dean in 2016, Kanishka served as Rector of St Matthew’s in Perth. He is married to Cailey and they have two daughters.
“He loves curry, cricket and having gelato at the beach with his family but knows no pleasure so great as sharing the news about Jesus with people who have no idea who Jesus is or how much he loves them,” a report said.
Raffel was widely regarded as the most popular nominee going into last week’s synod and his election already seemed certain after the first night’s vote where he was the only candidate to get a large majority in both house (clergy and lay) in the first round.
He will be the tenth Archbishop and thirteenth Ordinary of Sydney replacing Glenn Davies who retired earlier this year.
He is the son of Lorenz Raffel and Lilamani (nee de Silva).
BBC reported that at least 17 people have been killed in an explosion at a mosque in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
The blast happened when the mosque was packed with worshippers and more than 90 people were injured.
A section of the building was destroyed, and officials say people are buried under the rubble. Several others are being taken to local hospitals.
The cause of the explosion is unclear.
BBC reported that residents in flood-hit northern New Zealand are bracing for more heavy rains as officials issued severe weather alerts.
At least four people have died and a state of emergency was declared in Auckland, which on Friday experienced its worst downpour on record.
by Priyan de Silva
Chairman of the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, Nimal Punchihewa, asked to comment on a special news release, purportedly issued by the Director General of the Department of Government Information, on Sunday (29), told The Island that preparations for the 09 March local government elections were going ahead, as planned, and that the media statement at issue was misleading.
The media statement says: “The gazette notice with signatures of the Chairman and other members of the Election Commission required for the commencement of the Local Government election process has not been sent to the Government Press for printing.”
Punchihewa requested the public not to be misled by any misinformation being spread in an attempt to create doubts in their minds.He also reiterated that the EC would not be deterred by any acts of intimidation.
Three of the EC members have been threatened with death by an unidentified caller to resign from their posts. They are S. B. Divaratne, M. M. Mohamed and K. P. P. Pathirana. The Opposition has accused the government of trying to sabotage the LG polls.
At least 17 killed after explosion in Peshawar mosque
More heavy rain ahead for New Zealand’s largest city
Very heavy showers (150mm) likely in Northern, Eastern, Uva, North Central and Central Provinces
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