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Xi calls for fostering new highlights in China-Sri Lanka cooperation

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Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 15, 2025. Xi held talks with Dissanayake, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Wednesday [Xinhua]

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — China will actively support Sri Lanka in focusing on economic development and the two countries should jointly foster new highlights in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, as well as cooperation in modern agriculture, digital economy and marine economy, Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Wednesday.

China’s efforts in further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization will bring new opportunities for Sri Lanka’s development, Xi said when holding talks with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is in China for a state visit.

Noting that China and Sri Lanka enjoy a traditional friendship, Xi said bilateral relations have maintained healthy and stable development over the past 68 years, setting an example of friendly coexistence and mutually beneficial cooperation between different countries.

With joint efforts, China and Sri Lanka have continuously promoted strategic cooperative partnership featuring mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship. High-quality Belt and Road cooperation and cooperation in various fields have achieved fruitful results, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples, Xi said.

The two countries should have a keen grasp of bilateral relations from a strategic perspective and jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future, he said.



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ECSL launch Election Dispute Resolution (EDR) Mobile App

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The Election Commission of Sri Lnka [ECSL] taking another step forward in ensuring free and fair elections, launched a Mobile Application for the speedy resolution of disputes arising during elections.

The  Election Disputes Resolution (EDR) App  a simple and efficient way to report election issues instantly will be put to test during the forthcoming Local Authorities Election

It can be downloaded on Appstore and Google Play

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Foreign News

Trump revokes security clearance for Harris, Clinton and others

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Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election [BBC]

US President Donald Trump has revoked security clearances from his previously defeated Democratic election rivals, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton, as well as a number of other top former officials.

The move comes after Trump said in February he was revoking security clearance for his predecessor Joe Biden. He confirmed that move in the latest announcement, adding that he was also revoking the security clearance of “any other member” of the Biden family.

“I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information,” Trump’s memorandum read.

Former US presidents and top security officials usually keep their security clearance as a courtesy.

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former Republican lawmakers Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were also on the list of those who lost their security clearances – as well as Fiona Hill, a former Russian affairs adviser in the first Trump administration.

The other names were: Jake Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann and Alexander Vindman.

Trump had earlier pulled security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials whom he accused of meddling in the 2020 election in Biden’s favour without providing evidence.

In 2021, Biden – serving president at the time – barred his defeated rival Trump from having access to intelligence briefings citing his “erratic behaviour”.

[BBC]

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Foreign News

London Heathrow Airport restarts flights after closure causes travel chaos

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People wait at the Paddington railway station near a monitor with a notice about a power outage at Heathrow Airport after a fire at a nearby electrical substation wiped out power at the airport in London [Aljazeera]

Flights at the United Kingdom’s Heathrow Airport have resumed after a fire knocked out its power supply and shut Europe’s busiest airport for the day, throwing the plans of tens of thousands of travellers into chaos.

London’s main airport said late on Friday that its teams had worked tirelessly to reopen after it suffered a power failure due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the facility.

The flight-tracking website FlightRadar24 earlier said the closure would affect at least 1,351 flights.

Heathrow said there would be a limited number of flights on Friday, mostly focused on relocating aircraft and bringing planes into London.

“Tomorrow morning, we expect to be back in full operation, to 100 percent operation as a normal day,” Heathrow Chief Executive Thomas Woldbye said. “What I’d like to do is to apologise to the many people who have had their travel affected. … We are very sorry about all the inconvenience.”

Counterterrorism officers from the Metropolitan Police are leading the investigation into the cause of Thursday night’s fire. The force said there was “no indication of foul play” but “we retain an open mind at this time.”

The London Fire Brigade later said police believed the fire to be nonsuspicious.

Heathrow is one of the most globally connected airports and regularly ranks among the top five busiest gateways worldwide.

The airport serves more than 200 destinations in nearly 90 countries and territories and last year handled about 84 million passengers, the largest number on record.

Geoffrey Thomas, an aviation analyst, told Al Jazeera that about a quarter of a million passengers were expected to be diverted across Europe and the United Kingdom because of Friday’s shutdown.

“There’s going to be mayhem for 24 hours, or probably more like 48 or 72 hours. There are other airports around the United Kingdom that do handle the diverted flights, but their ability to handle this number would be very problematic,” he said.

“So a lot of these flights would divert into Europe. But there again, the problem for airlines is, all of a sudden, you’ve got a flight in Frankfurt where it’s supposed to be in Heathrow, you’ve got crew that are in the wrong place. It’s a chaotic situation,” Thomas added.

Ellen, a traveller from the British county of Surrey, was planning to fly to Venice on Friday on British Airways but had to change her trip due to the shutdown.

“We were supposed to fly to Venice this morning from Heathrow for a day trip for my 30th birthday present. It was a surprise booked by my cousin for the two of us. We have been offered a full refund by the airline so won’t be travelling now this weekend but will try to rearrange for another weekend soon,” she told Al Jazeera.

Lloyd, 34, said he was planning to travel from the Scottish city of Glasgow to the United States via Heathrow to visit his partner but he received an email while he was still en route to Glasgow Airport on Friday morning informing him that his 6:35am flight had been rebooked to a later time and to a different US airport.

By the time he got to the airport, his flight had been cancelled and he was advised not to travel to Heathrow. While disappointing, he said, it was better than being stuck at the London airport.

London fire brigade
A firefighter helps extinguish a fire that broke out at a substation supplying power to Heathrow Airport in Hayes, west London, on March 21, 2025 [Aljazeera]

Footage shared on social media showed an inferno several storeys high, lighting up the night sky and emitting huge plumes of black smoke.

The London Fire Brigade said it had deployed 10 engines and about 70 firefighters to a fire at an electrical substation near the airport in Hayes, west London, and brought the blaze under control.

“This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said. “Thanks to their efforts and coordinated multiagency response, we successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread.”

Interactive_Heathrow Fire_March21_2025

[Aljazeera]

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