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Cabinet sub-committee appointed to review National Water Resource Policy

Published

6 months ago

2025/06/25

Priyan

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Prime Minister to appoint a cabinet subcommittee comprising the following ministers to review the currently empowered National Water Resource Policy again in such a way consistent with the present government policy and submit the appropriate recommendations.

• K.D.Lal Kantha, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation

• Sunil Hadunhetti, the Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development

• Anura Karunathilake, the Minister of Urban Development, Construction, and Housing

• Kumara Jayakody, the Minister of Energy

• Dhammika Patabadi, Minister of Environment

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Donald Trump pauses US tariff hike on furniture, cabinets for one year

Published

24 seconds ago

2026/01/2

Priyan

[pic Aljazeera]

United States President Donald Trump has said that he will delay the implementation of tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for one year, amid growing concerns over cost-of-living issues.

Trump signed an order on Wednesday night, during the New Year’s Eve holiday, pausing a planned 50 percent tariff on cabinets and vanities and a 30 percent tariff on upholstered furniture.

But the order maintained the 25 percent tariff he put in place for those products in September.

The US president had previously described the furniture tariffs as a step to “bolster American industry and protect national security”.

Polls indicate that rising prices and the cost of living are major concerns for people in the US as the country approaches its 2026 midterm elections, scheduled for November.

Voters hold President Trump’s policies, and tariffs in particular, at least partly responsible for their economic woes. A Politico poll released in December found that 30 percent of respondents cited tariffs as the primary reason prices were high, and 32 percent said that Trump bears “full responsibility” for the state of the economy.

A majority of respondents cited the cost of living as a top issue facing the country, while 32 percent cited the state of the economy. Democratic politicians have sought to hammer Trump and his Republican Party on affordability concerns, which Trump has waved away as a “hoax” perpetuated by his political rivals.

The Italian foreign ministry said on Thursday that the US had also agreed to slash proposed import duties on pasta products from 13 companies.

Previously, the Trump administration had threatened the pasta companies with additional tariffs of 92 percent, in addition to import taxes on European Union products.

Italy’s foreign ministry said that the US Commerce Department had agreed to bring that rate down to 2.26 percent for La Molisana and 13.98 percent for Garofalo, two Italian food companies the administration had accused of undercutting other pasta producers through unfairly low prices.

The other companies will face a rate of 9.09 percent.

“The recalculation of the duties is a sign that US authorities recognise our companies’ constructive willingness to cooperate,” the foreign ministry said.

[Aljazeera]

Latest News

Usman Khawaja to retire after fifth Ashes Test

Published

16 mins ago

2026/01/2

Priyan

Usman Khawaja has played 22 Ashes Tests [BBC]

Australia batter Usman Khawaja will retire from international cricket following the fifth Ashes Test against England in Sydney this week.

The 39-year-old will play his 88th and final Test on the ground where he made his debut against the same opponents in January 2011.

Khawaja was born in Pakistan and became the first Muslim to play for Australia when he took the place of Ricky Ponting at the end of England’s 3-1 series win 15 years ago.

The left-hander has made 6,206 Test runs at an average of 43.39, with 16 hundreds.

He has played in six Ashes series – winning two, losing two and drawing two.

He was also part of the Australia team that won the World Test Championship in 2023.

The final Test at the SCG starts on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday).

Alongside Steve Smith, Khawaja is one of two remaining members of the Australia team beaten by England in their most recent series win in this country in 2010-11.

He needs 30 runs in his final Test to go above Mike Hussey and into 14th on Australia’s all-time run-scorers list, behind the great Donald Bradman in 13th.

Khawaja played the last of his 40 one-day internationals in 2019, having scored 1,554 runs at 42. He played in nine T20 internationals, scoring 241 runs at 26.77.

Now playing domestically for Queensland, Khawaja will end his career on the ground that was his home when he first played professional cricket for New South Wales in 2008.

Often in and out of the Australia team during his Test career, he found a home at the top of the order during the previous home Ashes in 2021-22.

However, his place has come under scrutiny during this series after he suffered back spasms in the first Test that prevented him from opening.

Travis Head took Khawaja’s place in the second innings and made a swashbuckling century to lead Australia to an eight-wicket win.

Khawaja subsequently missed the second Test with the back problem and was due to be left out of the third, only to receive a late call-up when Steve Smith fell ill.

He made 82 and 40 in Adelaide to retain his place for the fourth Test. Australia lead the series 3-1.

After the Ashes Australia will not play another Test until August, by which time Khawaja will be almost 40.

[BBC]

Foreign News

Around 40 dead in Swiss ski resort bar fire, police say

Published

46 mins ago

2026/01/2

Priyan

A vigil was held on Thursday evening outside Le Constellation bar (BBC)

Around 40 people have died after a fire ripped through a bar in a ski resort in southern Switzerland, police have said. A further 115 people are injured, many of them “severely”.

The fire broke out at around 01:30 (00:30 GMT) during new year celebrations in a bar called Le Constellation in Crans-Montana.

Officials investigating the incident have not confirmed any cause, but categorically ruled out an attack.

People from multiple countries have been affected. Regional police commander Frédéric Gisler has said the priority in the coming days is to identify those who have died “so that their bodies can be returned rapidly” to their families.

Thirteen helicopters, 42 ambulances and 150 emergency responders were sent overnight to the scene of the fire in the Valais region, which is popular with tourists.

Most of the injured experienced severe burns and 60 people were sent to Sion hospital in Valais, with a “significant number” in a critical condition, Regional governor Mathias Reynard said.

Its intensive care unit was at full capacity and Reynard said the local community must take extra care to avoid needing hospital treatment unnecessarily.

“We are painfully aware that identifying the bodies, as well as the injured, may still take a terribly long time for the families involved,” Reynard added.

Some people have been taken to hospitals in other Swiss cities including Lausanne and Zurich which have specialist burns units.

A spokesperson for Lausanne University Hospital said they were treating 22 patients with burn injuries, while Zurich University Hospital said it was treating 12 patients for burns.

The Italian Foreign Ministry has told the BBC that 16 Italian nationals are currently missing, and between 12 and 15 others are receiving treatment in hospital.

The French foreign ministry said eight of its citizens were missing and that it could not rule out that French nationals were among the dead.

French media has reported that at least two of the injured are French nationals.

Three Italian nationals are being evacuated to Milan’s Niguarda hospital where there is a major burns unit, Italian councillor Guido Bertolaso has said.

They have burns across “30-40% of their bodies”, he told reporters, and they remain intubated, but “the fact they could be moved is a good sign”.

The precise number of dead and injured is not yet known, nor their nationalities but officials have confirmed that several nationalities were involved.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday evening, officials said they did not know how many people were in the bar when the fire broke out.

State councillor Stéphane Ganzer described the bar as having a “young festive population” during the New Year’s Eve party.

Attorney General Beatrice Pilloud has said an investigation was under way “to identify the circumstances which caused this dramatic situation to occur”.

She was asked by journalists at the press conference about rumours that bottles of champagne carrying flares might have been the cause of the blaze, and whether the staircases were “very narrow”.

She replied that she could not confirm anything while the investigation is ongoing.

Ms Pilloud said the staircases did appear to be narrow, but investigations would assess whether they were in line with requirements.

She said “several hypotheses” for the cause of the blaze have been put forward, and the favoured theory was a “general fire which caused conflagration” – a large fire that causes a lot of damage, rather than an explosion.

Several witnesses have been interviewed, she said, and phones have also been recovered for analysis.

“At no time is there question of any attack”, she said.

Work is ongoing to identify the victims and return bodies to families as quickly as possible, Ms Pilloud said, adding: “To do that there is significant work which needs to be carried out. And this significant work will require the closure of the district.”

The Italian ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, said that it would take weeks to identify the dead.

A helpline has been set up for families: +41 848 112 117

The fire was “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced,” Swiss President Guy Parmelin told reporters.

Local people gathered to pay tribute to the dead and injured at a vigil at Montana Station Church on Thursday evening, and floral tributes were laid near the scene of the fire.

Crans-Montana is a luxury ski resort, famous in the 1980s for hosting the World Cup skiing.

Le Constellation, which has been around for decades, has an upstairs with TV screens where people go and watch football matches, and a large bar downstairs for drinking and dancing.

The UK Foreign Office said its “thoughts are with all those injured and killed in the terrible tragedy” and consular staff were on standby to provide support to any British nationals affected.

King Charles said he and his wife Queen Camilla were “greatly saddened” to learn of the fire, and that it was “utterly heartbreaking that a night of celebration for young people and families instead turned to such nightmarish tragedy”.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France was welcoming the injured from Crans-Montana to its hospitals.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was working with Swiss authorities to get medical help to victims through the EU’s civil protection mechanism.