A mahout and his assistant have died after being attacked by an elephant brought for the 78th Poson procession at the Sri Ubhayatilakārāma Temple in Rakwana, it was reported.

The Police said two elephants had been tied near the temple following the procession yesterday. 

On Monday morning, the mahout’s assistant led one of the elephants to the Rakwana River to provide water, when the animal suddenly turned aggressive and fatally attacked him.

Hearing the cries, the mahout rushed to the scene but was also attacked by the elephant and died on the spot.

After the incident, the elephant is reported to have run into a nearby paddy field. 

It is reported that Wildlife officers have since arrived at the location and are taking steps to tranquilize and capture the animal. (Newswire)

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Powerful explosions were reported across central, southern and eastern Tehran, with Iranian air defence systems activated throughout the capital, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The blasts come amid ongoing attacks targeting multiple locations in Iran.

In Khorramabad, west of Tehran, footage showed residents searching through debris of a destroyed building following an air attack.

The strike appeared to trigger a blackout in the area, with people using torches amid the damage. (Middle East Eye)

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A Myanmar military strike on a festival event and protest killed 40 people, including children, an attendee, and a local committee member said on October 7.

Myanmar has been reeling from civil war since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, prompting pro-democracy rebels to take up arms and ally with ethnic armed groups against the junta.

Hundreds of people were gathered in central Myanmar’s Chaung U township for the Thadingyut full moon festival on Oct. 6 evening when the military dropped bombs on the crowd, according to a member of the committee that organized the event.

The woman, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said people were gathering for the festival and an anti-junta demonstration at around 7:00 pm when the bombs killed more than 40 people and wounded about 80 others.

“The committee alerted people and one-third of the crowd managed to flee,” she said. “But immediately, one motor-powered paraglider flew right over the crowd, dropping two bombs on the centre of the gathering.

“Children were completely torn apart,” said the woman, who was not at the scene but attended funerals on October 7.

When another motorized paraglider flying overhead left the area, she said people rushed to help the wounded.

“As of this morning, we were still collecting body parts from the ground — pieces of flesh, limbs, parts of bodies that were blown apart,” she added.

A resident of Chaung U who attended the event confirmed the estimated toll, saying people attempted to run when they realized the paramotor was flying overhead.

“While I was saying to people, ‘please don’t run,’ the paramotor dropped two bombs,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Two of my comrades were killed just in front of me. There were even more who died in front of me.”

He said he attended funerals on October 7 for nine friends who were killed.

A local media outlet also said 40 people were killed in the attack.

A junta spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment late on October 7.

‘Brutal campaign’

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said in a statement that the nighttime attack “should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection.”

The attack showed the military was “intensifying an already brutal campaign against pockets of resistance,” the London-based organization said.

“The international community may have forgotten about the conflict in Myanmar, but the Myanmar military is taking advantage of reduced scrutiny to carry out war crimes with impunity,” said Joe Freeman, Amnesty’s Myanmar researcher.

He called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc to increase pressure on the Myanmar junta as ASEAN officials prepare for a meeting later this month.

The junta has touted elections beginning on December 28 as a path to reconciliation.

But a UN expert has dismissed the vote as a “fraud” to disguise continuing military rule, and rebels have vowed to block it.

The military is now besieging rebel enclaves, aiming to expand territorial control ahead of the polls. (AFP)

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Sri Lanka Police says a complaint has been received with regard to a video circulating on social media showing a dog being subjected to distress after hot water was thrown at it.

According to the Police, a complaint had been filed with the Bagawanthalawa Police Station.

The incident is reported to have taken place in the Bridgewell Watta area in Bagawanthalawa on Monday evening (15). 

Per the complaint, the dog’s owner has alleged that a neighbour had thrown hot water at the animal.

Although the distressed dog has not yet been located, the Bagawanthalawa Police have launched an investigation and begun recording statements related to the incident. (Newswire)

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An individual has been attacked by two armed men in broad daylight in the Bellanwila area in Colombo. 

CCTV footage of the incident shows the victim being chased and attacked with swords by the two suspects, whose faces were covered with masks.

The victim is seen escaping with injuries, while the two assailants are also seen running away in the opposite direction. 

It is reported that the assailants who had arrived in a three-wheeler had carried out the attack on the victim who was travelling in another three-wheeler on 21st August.

The Police have arrested six suspects in connection with the attack. The suspects are aged between 19 and 23 years, and are residents of Moratuwa, Thelewala, and Soysapura. 

The Police have also seized the three-wheeler and three swords that were used in the attack. 

The suspects have confessed that the attack had been carried out on the orders of underworld figure “Badowita Asanka”. (Newswire)

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A woman has died and another person was critically injured following a wild elephant attack in Thirappane, Anuradhapura.

CCTV footage captured the moment two elephants charged at villagers after residents attempted to chase the animals away by firing at them.

The elephants had reportedly strayed from the forest and remained near a reservoir close to Mahawewa, on July 25. 

When a group of residents attempted to drive them back into the wild, one of the elephants charged, fatally injuring a 24-year-old woman and seriously wounding another individual who is currently receiving treatment at a hospital.

A spokesperson for the Department of Wildlife Conservation said the incident occurred without the assistance of wildlife officers. 

CCTV footage shows an individual, not affiliated with the department, opening fire at one of the elephants during the attempt to chase them away.

Legal action will be taken against the person involved in the shooting, authorities said. (Newswire)

Viewer discretion advised: A woman has succumbed to injuries after a wild elephant attack reported in Thirappane, Anuradhapura. The elephants charged at the villagers, following attempts to shoot at the animals and chase them back into the wild. Another individual has been… pic.twitter.com/T1jCszWE6H

— NewsWire (@NewsWireLK) August 1, 2025

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Election monitoring body, the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), has condemned the alleged attack on Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) United National Party (UNP) member Uduwaduge Sandamali by an unidentified group. 

Issuing a statement, PAFFREL said that the incident had occurred on Monday when the CMC Councillor was waiting near her office.

PAFFREL pointed out that no one has the right to act against any person for sharing their political views in any area, which is a right under the Constitution of Sri Lanka. 

The election monitoring body noted that this was an unfortunate incident which counters efforts to promote female participation in governance. 

As such, PAFFREL called on the authorities to immediately arrest the suspects involved in the incident, irrespective of their status, and to initiate legal action. (Newswire)

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Six days after Pakistan decided to shut its airspace to all flights owned and operated by Indian carriers, New Delhi has announced a reciprocal move by shutting down its airspace to all Pakistan-owned and operated planes.

Both India and Pakistan have now blocked each other’s airlines over their airspace till 11:59 pm UTC on May 23 (5:29 am IST on May 24). These may be revised closer to that date. 

A NOTAM or Notice to Air Missions was released by New Delhi, which read, “Indian airspace not available to Pakistan-registered aircraft and aircraft operated or leased by Pakistan airlines. These include military flights.”

The move comes amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the horrific terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which 26 tourists were gunned down by terrorists with links to Pakistan. The terror attack was religiously motivated and came days after an inflammatory speech by Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir.

With its already-strained ties deteriorating further and at a time when Pakistan is fearing military action by India, flights from Pakistan were in any case avoiding Indian airspace. But with an official announcement by India, its flights shall not be permitted even if they wish to. 

Flights from Pakistan, which are scheduled for destinations in Southeast Asia and Oceania, will now have to circumnavigate India. This will put an immense burden on the already cash-strapped Pakistani carriers, while also increasing travel time considerably.

While India has taken a number of diplomatically-punitive measures, including putting the Indus Waters Treaty in “abeyance”, declaring Pakistani military diplomatic staff at its High Commission as “persona non grata”, closing all its border posts, and cancelling all visas given to Pakistani nationals, Islamabad too has taken some measures, like suspending all trade, closing its airspace to Indian airlines, and citing rights to suspend “all bilateral pacts, including the Simla Agreement”.

Pakistan is worried about an imminent military offensive by India, which has vowed to take action against those responsible for the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam. India has pledged to go to the “ends of the Earth” to find terrorists and their backers and punish them “beyond their imagination”. (NDTV)

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Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Altaf Lalli was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora, days after the 22 April terror attack in Pahalgam, India that left 26 people dead, India Today reported.

The action is part of a wider security operation targeting LeT operatives suspected to be linked to the attack.

Acting on specific intelligence, the Indian Army and J&K Police launched a joint operation in Bandipora on Friday (25 April) morning.

Contact was established with terrorists, resulting in an exchange of fire.

Earlier, it was reported that one of the terrorists was injured in the initial phase of the encounter. Two police personnel, part of a senior officer’s security detail, also sustained injuries during the operation.

Meanwhile, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi also arrived in Srinagar and was briefed on the Bandipora encounter.

He is set to conduct a security review and assess the ongoing operations against LeT terrorists linked to the Pahalgam terror attack.

Earlier in the day, security forces and J&K authorities demolished the homes of two terrorists suspected to be linked to the Pahalgam attack.

While the residence of Lashkar terrorist Adil Hussain Thoker in Bijbehara was blown up using IEDs, the house of Asif Sheikh in Tral was demolished with a bulldozer. (Swarajya/ India Today)

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At least seven people have been killed after Pakistan launched airstrikes on Iranian territory early this morning.

The target of the attack is not known but the Pakistanis called the operation “Marg Bar Sarmachar”.

In Iranian Farsi, “marg bar” means “death to” and in the local Baluch language, “sarmachar” means guerrilla and is used by the militants operating in the cross-border region between the two countries.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry described the operation as “a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes”.

It said in a statement: “This morning’s action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities.”

The incident follows Iran’s attack on Tuesday on Pakistani soil that killed two children in the southwestern Baluchistan province.

At least seven people, including four children and three women, were killed in Thursday’s raids by Pakistan, Ali Reza Marhamati, a deputy governor of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, told Iranian state television.

Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over border attacks, each side blaming the other for turning a blind eye to the militants.

HalVash, an advocacy group for the Baluch people, shared images online that appeared to show the remains of the munitions used in the attack. It said a number of homes had been struck in Saravan, a city in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan.

But while the seeming tit-for-tat exchange has stoked local tensions and spread fears of a wider regional conflict breaking out from Israel’s war in Gaza, both sides have targeted the same group of insurgents, located on either side of their mutual border.

On Tuesday, Iran targeted Jaish al Adl, or the Army of Justice, an outlawed Sunni Muslim separatist group, which is anti-Iranian and seeks independence for Iran’s eastern Sistan and Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan provinces, making it a common target for both governments.

There has been a low-level insurgency by nationalists for more than two decades, and like other Baluchi separatist active groups in the area, Jaish al Adl has a common goal of an independent Baluchistan for ethnic Baluch areas in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

It came to prominence in 2012 and is mostly made up of members of the Sunni militant Jundullah group, which was weakened after Iran arrested most of its members.

The Pakistani strikes are the latest in a number of attacks on foreign soil in the last week or so.

Overnight, the US attacked Houthi positions in Yemen for a fourth time in less than a week, after another American-owned vessel was attacked near the Red Sea.

Fourteen missile sites were targeted at around 11.59pm local time on Wednesday, said US Central Command.

On Monday, Iranian strikes on Iraq and Syria targeted what it called an Israeli “spy headquarters” in the city of Irbil and the Islamic State terror group respectively. It led to Iraq recalling its ambassador from Iran. (Sky News)

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A fuel station in Badulla has faced damages due to an attack by a wild elephant.

According to CCTV footage from the fuel station, the wild elephant is reported to have walked into the fuel station at around midnight.

The elephant is seen attacking vehicles, including a parked three-wheeler, and other items that were placed at the fuel station. (NewsWire)

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Three youths have been arrested for attacking a Police Jeep with stones in the Dayagama area on May 25, 2023.

The Police stated that a team from the Dayagama Police Station had conducted a raid in the Negenahirawatte 3 division area in Dayagama.

They had apprehended five suspects on charges of having brewed illicit liquor, while also taking into custody 34 litres of illicit liquor. 

The Police stated, however, the jeep transporting the suspects came under attack with a group having pelted stones at the vehicle with the aim of releasing the suspects.

Officers from the Dayagama Police had launched an investigation into the incident, leading to the arrest of three suspects on Thursday night (08).

The suspects are aged between 22 and 25 years and are residents of the Negenahirawatte 3 division area in Dayagama.

They have been remanded until June 16 after being produced before the Nuwara Eliya Magistrate’s Court yesterday. (NewsWire)

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Six students from a prominent school in Kandy have been arrested for allegedly attacking a fellow student, the Police stated. 

Police spokesman SSP Nihal Thalduwa stated that the group had attacked a fellow student with cricket wicket stumps.

SSP Thalduwa further stated that the incident had taken place in between exams of the GCE Ordinary Level Examinations on Tuesday (June 06). (NewsWire)

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