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President instructs officials to provide immediate relief for those affected by adverse weather
President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed officials to provide immediate relief to those affected by the recent inclement weather and to continue these efforts until the situation improves.
According to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), eight deaths have been reported across the island as of Monday (27). Seven people died in accidents caused by strong winds, and one person died in a boat capsizing.
The President also directed that compensation be provided to the families of the deceased. The Disaster Management Centre will provide Rs. 250,000 for each victim, with an advance payment of Rs. 25,000 already arranged.
As of Monday (27), 42,640 people belonging to 11,326 families have been affected by the inclement weather.
The President instructed the Disaster Management Centre to ensure all necessary facilities are provided, with special attention to health and hygiene.
Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney has moved to dissolve Parliament and trigger a snap election on April 28.
The widely anticipated decision on Sunday kicks off an election race less than two weeks after Carney took up his post, succeeding Justin Trudeau at a time of soaring tensions with the United States.
“We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Donald Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty,” the Liberal Party leader told reporters in Ottawa after he met with the governor general to request parliament’s dissolution.
“I’m asking Canadians for a strong, positive mandate to deal with President Trump and to build a new Canadian economy that works for everyone because I know we need change – big change, positive change.”
The election had to be held by October 20, but experts say Carney is hoping that an early vote will benefit his Liberal Party, which is riding a wave of momentum.
The party, which has been in government since 2015, has seen a surge in support since Trudeau’s January announcement that he planned to step down and amid repeated threats from Trump.
[Aljazeera]
Three people were killed and 15 others injured in a mass shooting between two rival groups at an unsanctioned car show on Friday in the US state of New Mexico, according to local authorities.
The shooting took place at Young Park in the city of Las Cruces, about 22:00 local time.
Four people have been charged with in relation to the three murders, Las Cruces Police Department said on Sunday, including a 15-year-old boy.
Two 19-year-old men and one 16-year-old boy died in the shooting, police said.
In a statement on X, Las Cruces police said those arrested and charged were two 17-year-old boys, a 15-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man.
Police chief Jeremy Story said there had been “an altercation between two groups of people and that altercation escalated to gunfire between both groups”. “Several other people were also injured in the crossfire.”
Mr Story said there had been “ill will” between the two groups prior to the car show.
About 50 to 60 bullet shell casings from handguns were found at the scene, police said, adding that the crime scene was huge and about 200 people had been at the park.
Police have asked any witnesses to come forward with information or video.
Those injured in the shooting ranged from ages 16 to 36. Authorities have not yet named any of the victims.
Seven patients were sent to nearby El Paso, Texas, which is just over the New Mexico border, for further medical treatment, said fire chief Michael Daniels.
Four other victims had been treated and released, Mr Daniels said.
[BBC]
The main rival to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been formally arrested and charged with corruption.
Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, is expected to be selected as the opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2028 presidential nominee in a ballot on Sunday.
He has denied the allegations and said they are politically motivated. “I will never bow,” he wrote on X before he was remanded in custody.
His detention sparked some of Turkey’s largest protests in more than a decade. Erdogan has condemned the demonstrations and accused the CHP of trying to “disturb the peace and polarise our people”.
Imamoglu was one of more than 100 people, including other politicians, journalists and businessmen, detained as part of an investigation on Wednesday, triggering four consecutive nights of demonstrations.
On Sunday, he was formally arrested and charged with “establishing and managing a criminal organisation, taking bribes, extortion, unlawfully recording personal data and rigging a tender”. He was remanded in custody pending trial. AFP and local media reported he had been taken to a prison in Silivri.
In social media posts, Imamoglu criticised his arrest as a “black stain on our democracy”, and said judicial procedure was not being followed. He urged people across the country to join protests and to take part in Sunday’s vote.
Imamoglu is the only person running in the CHP’s presidential candidate selection.
The arrest does not prevent Imamoglu’s candidacy and election as president, but if he is convicted of any of the charges against him, he will not be able to run.
The party’s chairman said nearly 15 million people had cast a ballot in the vote, which was extended for three hours due to heavy turnout. The party said some 1.6m votes came from its members. The rest were cast by non-members at separate ballot boxes for those who wished to show solidarity with Imamoglu. [The BBC cannot independently verify these figures.]
Imamoglu’s arrest sparked a fifth night of protests. Crowds had gathered near Istanbul’s city hall by early evening, and could be seen waving Turkish flags and chanting in front of a row of riot police.
As night began to fall, officers were seen firing water cannons at some protesters.
The jailed politician is seen as one of the most formidable rivals of Erdogan, who has held office in Turkey for 22 years as both prime minister and president.
However, due to term limits, Erdogan cannot run for office again in 2028 unless he changes the constitution.
Opposition figures say the arrests are politically motivated.
But the Ministry of Justice has criticised those connecting Erdogan to the arrests, and insist on its judicial independence.
In a message shared on X through his lawyers late on Sunday, Imamoglu said he sent his greetings to those protesting and that voters had showed Turkey had had “enough” of Erdogan.
Also that evening, X’s Global Government Affairs department said it objected to “multiple court orders” from Turkey’s communications regulator to block over 700 accounts on the platform, including those of Turkish political figures and journalists.
It said the move was “not only lawful, it hinders millions of Turkish users from news and political discourse in their country”.
Imamoglu has meanwhile been suspended from his post as Instanbul’s mayor, Turkey’s interior ministry said in a statement.
Prosecutors also want to charge Imamoglu with “aiding an armed terrorist organisation”, but the Turkish court said it was not currently necessary.
The CHP had a de facto alliance with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) in connection with last year’s local elections.
DEM has been accused of being affiliated with the PKK – or Kurdistan Workers’ Party – which it denies.
The PKK declared a ceasefire early this month, after waging an insurgency against Turkey for more than 40 years. It is proscribed as a terrorist group in Turkey, the EU, UK and US.
Meanwhile, Istanbul University announced on Tuesday it was revoking Imamoglu’s degree due to alleged irregularities.
If upheld, this would put his ability to run as president into doubt, since the Turkish constitution says presidents must have completed higher education to hold office.
Imamoglu’s lawyers said they would appeal the decision to revoke his degree to the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
The Supreme Election Council will decide whether Imamoglu is qualified to be a candidate.
[BBC]
Canada’s PM Carney triggers snap election, vote set for April 28
Three killed and 15 injured in New Mexico mass shooting
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