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Gampaha district: NPP 16, SJB 3
The National People’s Power clinched 16 of the 19 seats in parliament allocated to the Gampaha district. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) won three seats.
The annual special Christmas carol concert, collaboratively organized by the Presidential Secretariat, the Tri-Forces, and the Police, commenced on Sunday (22) under the patronage of the Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando.
The event was inaugurated with the illumination of the Presidential Secretariat premises and surrounding areas. The Christmas carols on the opening day were performed by the choir and band of the Sri Lanka Army while the choir and band of the Sri Lanka Air Force performed on Monday (23).
This Christmas carol concert will continue daily until December 25, from 7:00 PM, at the Presidential Secretariat premises.
India will play their Champions Trophy 2025 matches in the UAE. The decision, though widely expected, was finalised after Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chairman, met with Sheikh Nahyan Al Mubarak in Pakistan. Sheikh Nahyan is a senior UAE minister and also the head of the Emirates Cricket Board.
“The PCB has picked the UAE as a neutral venue for the Champions Trophy,” PCB spokesperson Amir Mir said.
The Pakistan vs India league match will be played on February 23, a Sunday. Apart from Pakistan, the other two teams in India’s group are Bangladesh and New Zealand. India will face Bangladesh on February 20, and New Zealand on March 2. All these games are likely to be held in Dubai.
Pakistan, the defending champions, will kick off the tournament on February 19, against New Zealand in Karachi. Pakistan’s last league match, against Bangladesh, will be played in Rawalpindi on February 27.
The second group has Afghanistan, Australia, England and South Africa. The matches for both groups – apart from the India games – will be played across Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
The two semi-finals are scheduled for March 4 (without a reserve day) and March 5 (with a reserve day). The final on March 9 also has a reserve day. The first semi-final, if India make it to that stage, will be played in the UAE. If India don’t qualify, the game will be held in Pakistan. The final is slotted for Lahore, with the provision of holding it in the UAE if India make it that far.
The hybrid model was finalised after the parties involved agreed that, in return, Pakistan’s matches at ICC events hosted by India till 2027 will also be at a neutral venue. In all instances, knockout games such as the semi-final and the final will also be held at neutral venues.
The agreement begins with the Champions Trophy, and will apply to the 2025 women’s ODI World Cup in India, and the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. It will also apply to the 2028 Women’s T20 World Cup, the first tournament of the next events cycle that has now been awarded to Pakistan.
[Cricinfo]
United States President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to demand control of the Panama Canal after accusing Panama of charging excessive rates on US ships passing through one of the busiest waterways in the world.
“Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
He later doubled down during a speech in Arizona on Sunday, saying the US was “being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else”.
The US largely built the canal in 1914 and administrated territory surrounding the passage for decades. But Washington fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration.
Trump also hinted at China’s growing influence around the canal, which connects the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans.
“It was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else,” he said in the original post. “We would and will NEVER let it fall into the wrong hands!”
“It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the moral and legal principles of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” Trump said.
Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino firmly responded to Trump on Sunday.
“Every square meter of the Panama canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue belonging so,” Mulino said in a recorded message posted on social media.
He further denied that China or any other country has direct or indirect influence over the canal. He added that fees were not decided on a “whim”.
The canal is key to Panama’s economy and generates about one-fifth of the government’s annual revenue.
[Aljazeera]
Christmas Carolat Presidential Secretariat until December 25
Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Uva province and in Hambantota, Rathnapura and Ampara districts during the evening or night
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