A car bombing at a police post in northwestern Pakistan followed by an ambush on police personnel rushing to the scene has killed at least 14 officers, police said on Sunday (May 10). Images from after the attack on Saturday showed the structure had been reduced to rubble, with bricks, charred wreckage and mangled vehicles scattered around the area. Police official Sajjad Khan said in a statement that the bodies of 14 officers had been recovered from the collapsed outpost and three other personnel were found alive and rushed to hospital. A police official who asked not to be identified because he is not authorised to speak to the media said militants first rammed into the post with an explosive-filled car and then entered the premises and began firing on any remaining officers. “Other law enforcement personnel were sent to help the police, but the terrorists ambushed them and caused some casualties,” he said. Police sources said the militants also used drones in the attack. Ambulances from rescue agencies and civil hospitals rushed to the scene, with officials saying a state of emergency had been declared in government hospitals in Bannu. A militant alliance known as the Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack. Militant attacks have the potential to reignite fighting along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. The worst fighting in years erupted between the allies-turned-foes in February, with Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds. Fighting has since eased, with occasional skirmishes breaking out along the border, but no official ceasefire has been brokered. Islamabad blames Kabul for harbouring militants who use Afghan soil to plot attacks in Pakistan. The Taliban has denied the allegations and said militancy in Pakistan is an internal problem. Source: Reuters

Car bombing and shootout kills 14 Pakistani police officers

The Department of Meteorology has forecast a significant increase in rainfall across Sri Lanka over the next few days. Meteorologist Malith Fernando noted that the atmospheric disturbance currently affecting the island could develop into a low-pressure area by tomorrow (11). He further stated that the prevailing rainy conditions are expected to continue, with monsoon conditions likely to establish around May 20. The Meteorology Department noted that the current weather pattern is still in the pre-monsoon stage.

Met Department forecasts increase in rainfall across Sri Lanka

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C. Joseph Vijay was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on Sunday (May 10, 2026), putting an end to almost six decades of alternating rule by the State’s two dominant Dravidian parties — DMK and AIADMK. Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Saturday (May 9, 2026) appointed Vijay Chief Minister-designate after he secured the support of 120 MLAs-elect in the 234-member House. Vijay took the oath at Nehru Stadium in Chennai at 10 a.m on Sunday (May 10, 2026). Nine other Ministers, including some senior TVK leaders, will also be sworn in. Mr. Vijay will head a coalition government with the Congress as a partner. The Governor has also directed Vijay to seek a vote of confidence in the Assembly on or before May 13. The nail-biting political uncertainty that prevailed over the last few days ended on Saturday (May 9) evening, when the VCK and the IUML extended their support, taking the TVK’s tally to 120.&nbsp; Later, Vijay called on the Governor at Lok Bhavan in Chennai, and handed over letters of support from the Congress, CPI, CPI (M), VCK and IUML. Source: The Hindu

Vijay sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

Thirty-nine people have been killed in another day of intense Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the country’s health ministry said. One Israeli strike on the southern town of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven people, including a child, the ministry said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had been targeting Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and was “aware of reports regarding harm to uninvolved civilians”. Israeli forces and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire since US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire deal between the governments of Israel and Lebanon on 16 April. Most of Israel’s air strikes have hit southern Lebanon, with the military saying it is striking infrastructure and people linked to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political party. On Saturday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes across the south, including in Saksakiyeh. The health ministry said that raid “resulted in an initial toll of seven martyrs, including a girl, and 15 wounded, including three children”. The IDF said it struck “Hezbollah terrorists operating from within a structure used for military purposes” in the area.“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians as much as possible, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” it said. Details of the incident are under review, it added. The Lebanese health ministry reported that another Israeli strike on a motorbike in Nabatieh hit “a Syrian national and his 12-year-old daughter”. “After they managed to move away from the site of the first strike, the drone attacked a second time,” killing the father, the ministry said, adding the drone then targeted the girl “directly for a third time”. The girl was undergoing life-saving surgery, it added. Meanwhile Hezbollah targeted northern Israel with a drone, which the Israeli military said wounded three soldiers.According to Lebanon’s health ministry, Israeli attacks have killed more than 120 people across the country in the last week, including women and children. The ministry does not distinguish combatants from civilians. The Israeli military also occupies a strip of Lebanese land along the border, and officials say the aim is to create what they describe as a Hezbollah-free security zone to protect Israel’s northern communities. In those areas, entire villages have been destroyed, in actions similar to the ones deployed by the Israeli military in Gaza. Rights groups say some cases could amount to war crimes. Hezbollah, meanwhile, has carried out attacks on Israeli troops in Lebanon and northern Israel with rockets and drones. The group said it targeted northern Israel with a drone on Saturday in response to continued Israeli attacks. The Israeli military said it had identified “an explosive drone launched by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation” near the border in the north. It said three army reservists were injured in the attack, one of them seriously. Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire ending a previous conflict in November 2024, after which Israel carried out near-daily attacks on targets and people it said were linked to Hezbollah. After the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February and killed Iran’s supreme leader, Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel in retaliation on 2 March. In response, Israel bombarded Lebanon with air strikes. Israeli forces re-entered southern Lebanon in early March, where they have destroyed villages and remained occupying 10km (6.2 miles) of Lebanese territory. A total of 2,795 people have been killed in Lebanon since 2 March, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Israeli authorities have said that 17 soldiers and one civilian have been killed in southern Lebanon, along with two civilians in northern Israel. Source: BBC

Israeli strikes kill 39 in Lebanon

Spain has started evacuating passengers from a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship anchored near Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Health Minister Mónica García said the operation was “proceeding normally” and that all passengers on board the MS Hondius were still asymptomatic. They will be divided into groups by nationality and ferried to the coast in small boats. Charter planes will be on the tarmac at the local airport, ready to repatriate them to their home countries. Fourteen Spanish nationals will be the first to disembark, then those flown out by the Netherlands, including Dutch, Greek and German passengers, and part of the crew. Other flights are poised to leave after that, including to the UK and US. The last evacuation flight is expected to leave on Monday to Australia. With a long camera lens, passengers could be seen wandering around on the deck of the ship, or at the windows, all in white medical face masks, as the first evacuation took place. Several sat socially distanced on the small evacuation boat, filming and taking photos as they approached land, where they were met by officials in white protective suits. The Hondius pulled into the port of Granadilla before dawn on Sunday, a month after the first passenger died on board. The sun then rose to reveal it anchored offshore, with military police boats on patrol and a major operation unfolding on land to help more than 100 passengers and crew disembark. At about 07:00 (06:00 GMT) on Sunday, medical teams went on board to check everyone for signs of the virus.There have been meticulous preparations to receive the ship, which won’t be permitted to reach shore: a security perimeter of one nautical mile was enforced around it as it approached the island. Dozens of intensive care specialists are on stand-by at the Candelaria hospital in Tenerife in case anyone from the Hondius becomes seriously ill during the transfer. A strict isolation facility has one bed fully equipped to deal with infectious diseases, complete with testing kit and a ventilator. “We are absolutely ready,” chief intensive care doctor Mar Martin told me the unit, where large numbers of protective suits, masks and gloves are already piled up for staff. “We’ve never seen [hantavirus] before – but it’s a virus, with some complications, just like we manage every day. We are fully trained for that.” The complex operation to prevent the rare Andes strain of this virus spreading is described by Spain’s health minister as “unprecedented”. On Saturday, she stressed that the risk of contagion for the general population was low. “We believe that alarmism, misinformation and confusion are contrary to the basic principles of preserving public health.” Security measures in the port, an industrial facility in the south of Tenerife, increased notably on Saturday. Spain’s military police and disaster response teams have both set up large reception tents and access to the waterfront is restricted. Spanish nationals leaving the ship will be flown to Madrid, where they face a mandatory quarantine in the Gomez Ulla military hospital. Complete isolation would be gruelling - the virus has an incubation period of up to nine weeks - and it is not clear how long people in Spain or elsewhere will be quarantined. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, now in Tenerife to oversee the disembarking, has praised the authorities for their “solid and effective response” to this outbreak. It has been linked to a landfill site in the southernmost tip of Argentina, popular with birdwatchers. The virus is carried there by rodents, and it’s rare for it to pass between people, but three cruise passengers have died. The WHO boss has urged nervous Spaniards to trust those in charge of the evacuation. “Your concern is legitimate, because of the experience of Covid: that trauma is still in our minds,” he acknowledged. But he added that the risk of wider contagion now was low “because of how the virus works, and because of how the Spanish government has prepared to avoid any problem”. There was some anger here when people learned the Hondius was being diverted to their island. On Friday, a group of port workers gathered outside the local parliament in noisy protest, concerned that safety measures were not strong enough. Then very late last night, all the carefully laid plans were briefly thrown into chaos when the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, said he would refuse to permit the ship into port as the disembarkation could not be done in a day. The central government in Madrid had to intervene. Clavijo then claimed on TV that a rat carrying the hantavirus might “get off the ship in the middle of the night and endanger the people of the Canary Islands”. The health secretary had to come out and insist that such a scenario was “not a risk”. In general, people on the island seem reassured that the risk is low. “The virus is dangerous, of course. But they say you need to have very close contact to get it,” a woman named Jennifer told me, out walking with her child in Tenerife’s capital Santa Cruz. “If we’re careful, we hope it’s not too serious.” Not everyone will disembark in Tenerife from the Hondius: some 30 crew members will stay on board to take the cruise ship back to the Netherlands. But for most, there is at last an end in sight to weeks of fear and uncertainty at sea.Now come the long weeks of quarantine. Source: BBC

Spain starts evacuating virus-hit cruise ship in Tenerife

The government has approved a new mechanism to strengthen coordination of healthcare services at district level across Sri Lanka. Under the Cabinet-approved proposal presented by Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa, Members of Parliament will be appointed as District Health Coordination Officers for all districts. The Health Ministry noted the initiative aims to improve coordination between central government and provincial health institutions, while addressing gaps in resource allocation and service delivery. The appointed coordinators will identify district-level health needs, support project implementation and monitor ongoing healthcare development projects.

MPs appointed as district health coordinators under new Cabinet-approved healthcare reform

The Teachers Training College final examination for the 2023/2024 academic years will commence tomorrow (11), the Department of Examinations noted. The examination, including practical assessments, will continue until 17 May at three examination centres. Admission cards have already been sent to Teachers’ Colleges by post. Candidates can also download their admission cards through the Department of Examinations website.

Teachers Training College final exam to begin tomorrow

The European Union has launched a new initiative to support the development of a Net-Zero Roadmap for Sri Lanka’s textile and apparel sector. The project, funded through a EUR 7.56 million programme implemented by United Nations Industrial Development Organization, was officially launched at an inception workshop in Colombo on Friday. Sri Lanka’s textile and apparel sector generated over USD 5 billion in export earnings in 2025, with around 31.3% of exports directed to the EU market. Officials noted the roadmap will focus on reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency and strengthening the sector’s global competitiveness.

EU backs net-zero roadmap for Sri Lanka apparel sector

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa claimed that the government’s decision to increase electricity tariffs by 18% for consumers using over 180 units is an attempt to place the burden on the public. In a special statement, he alleged that the tariff increase was linked to the import of substandard coal and noted that requests not to pass the cost onto consumers had been ignored. Premadasa further stated that the new tariffs have severely affected the upper middle-class, businessmen, industrialists and entrepreneurs.

Car bombing and shootout kills 14 Pakistani police officers

Met Department forecasts increase in rainfall across Sri Lanka

Met Department forecasts incre ...

Vijay sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

Vijay sworn in as Tamil Nadu C ...

Israeli strikes kill 39 in Lebanon

Israeli strikes kill 39 in Leb ...

Spain starts evacuating virus-hit cruise ship in Tenerife

Spain starts evacuating virus- ...

MPs appointed as district health coordinators under new Cabinet-approv ...

MPs appointed as district heal ...

Teachers Training College final exam to begin tomorrow

Teachers Training College fina ...

EU backs net-zero roadmap for Sri Lanka apparel sector

EU backs net-zero roadmap for ...

18% electricity tariff hike is ‘extortion’ - Opposition Leader

18% electricity tariff hike is ...

Met Department forecasts increase in rainfall across Sri Lanka

Met Department forecasts incre ...

Vijay sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

Vijay sworn in as Tamil Nadu C ...

Israeli strikes kill 39 in Lebanon

Israeli strikes kill 39 in Leb ...

Spain starts evacuating virus-hit cruise ship in Tenerife

Spain starts evacuating virus- ...

MPs appointed as district health coordinators under new Cabinet-approv ...

MPs appointed as district heal ...

Teachers Training College final exam to begin tomorrow

Teachers Training College fina ...

EU backs net-zero roadmap for Sri Lanka apparel sector

EU backs net-zero roadmap for ...

18% electricity tariff hike is ‘extortion’ - Opposition Leader

18% electricity tariff hike is ...

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Vijay sworn in as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

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Teachers Training College final exam to begin tomorrow

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