Minimum age of sale for tobacco products to be raised to 24.

The minimum age of sale, purchasing and promotion of tobacco products will be increased from 21 to 24 next year, Chairman of National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA), Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa said. He told the media that the relevant changes would come into effect as th…

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Ross Taylor announces international retirement.

Ross Taylor has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the current home season with the upcoming series against Bangladesh being his last Test cricket before he finishes with the ODIs against Australia and Netherlands. Taylor, 37, currently has 110…

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Quinton de Kock announces retirement from Test Cricket.

Quinton de Kock has announced a sudden retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect "to spend more time with his growing family". de Kock was due to miss the second and third Tests against India on paternity leave but has decided to step away from the longes…

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Japan introduced the world’s 1st Dual-Mode Vehicle.

Japan has introduced a minibus lookalike world’s first dual-mode vehicle (DMV) in its town of Kaiyo. The vehicle can run on normal rubber tyres on the road but its steel wheels, which are in its underbelly, descend when it hits the rail tracks. The DMV can carry up to 21 pa…

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J.D. Crowe, Influential Bluegrass Musician, Dies at 84.

Grammy-winning bluegrass musician J.D. Crowe, whose influential career spanned more than 50 years, has died. He was 84. His son, David, confirmed the death on Saturday (Dec. 25) to The Associated Press. Born James Dee Crowe in 1937, his career included stints with Jimmy Marti…

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Harbhajan Singh announces retirement from all forms of cricket.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday announced retirement from all forms of competitive cricket. The 41-year-old from Punjab took 417 wickets in 103 Tests, 269 wickets in 236 ODIs and 25 scalps in 28 T20Is in his illustrious career. In the IPL across 13 seasons for Mumbai I…

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Pakistan conducts successful test launch of Babur cruise missile 1B.

Pakistan conducted a successful test of an enhanced range version of the indigenously developed Babur Cruise Missile 1B. The test launch was witnessed by Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj, Director General Strategic Plans Division Dr Raza Samar, Chairman NESCOM Lieutenant …

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Russia launches third and final Angara A5 demonstration mission.

Russia has launched its third and final demonstration flight of the Angara A5 rocket on Monday, December 27. Angara is being developed and built by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and is intended to replace several existing launch vehicles. Angara a…

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Joan Didion, American journalist and author, dies at age 87.

Joan Didion, the eminent journalist, author and anthropologist of contemporary American politics and culture – a singularly clear, precise voice across a multitude of subjects for more than 60 years – has died at her home in Manhattan, New York. She was 87. The cause of deat…

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Japan launches Inmarsat-6 F1 Communications Satellite.

Japan has launched Inmarsat-6 F1, a communication satellite, through a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-IIA204 rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center that will enter geostationary orbit, about 22,240 miles (35,790 kilometres) above the earth. It is developed by the…

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Former England Test Captain Ray Illingworth passes away.

Former England captain, Ray Illingworth has passed away. He played 61 Tests for England between 1958 and 1973 and captained the country 31 times, winning 12 matches and an Ashes series in Australia in 1970. He was an all-rounder who scored 1,836 Test runs at an average of 2…

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86.7 km long Bibile-Chenkaladi road vested with the public.

The Bibile-Chenkaladi Road, stretching over 86.7 kilometers on the A5 Road, was vested with the public on December 28, under the patronage of Highways Minister Johnston Fernando. This stretch of road is part of the Badulla-Chenkaladi Road Improvement Project (BCRIP). The BCRI…

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Suresh Subramaniam re-elected National Olympic Committee president.

Suresh Subramaniam has been re-elected as the President of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) for the period of 2022 to 2026. The NOCSL election to select new office bearers was held at the Olympic House in Colombo on December 28. Subramaniam and President of…

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Sri Lanka crowned champions of Central Asian Volleyball Challenge.

Sri Lanka clinched the Bangabandhu Asian Central Zone Men’s Volleyball Challenge Cup beating hosts Bangladesh in straight sets in the final at the Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday 28 December 2021.  Sri Lanka thus emerged champions winning 28-2…

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Bhutan confers its highest civilian award on Indian Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been conferred with the highest civilian award of Bhutan, Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo, on the occasion of the country’s National Day. Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering shared on social media that he was overjoyed to hear His Majesty pronounce Pri…

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Elon Musk says SpaceX will land humans on Mars within 5 to 10 years.

Elon Musk during a recent interview with podcaster Lex Fridman said that in the worst case scenario, it’ll be roughly a decade before SpaceX is able to land a human being on Mars. A key limiting factor today, however, is money: it's simply too expensive to send anyone t…

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Somalia's President suspends PM Mohamed Hussein Roble.

Somalian Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has been suspended. President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has suspended the Prime Minister, who is facing allegations of involvement in the theft of land. Mohamed Roble accused the President of trying to stage a coup and said, he …

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‘He-Man’ artist and toy designer Mark Taylor passes away.

Mark Taylor, artist and toy designer for the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, passed away.  Taylor began his career with Mattel in 1976 as a packaging designer. He-man was the muscled frontman for toy manufacturer …

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Former Greek President Karolos Papoulias passes away.

Veteran Greek politician Karolos Papoulias, who served as president at the height of the economic crisis of the 2010s, died. Papoulias, a longtime socialist lawmaker and minister, was close to Andreas Papandreou, the founder of the Socialist PASOK party. He served two terms…

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UK court orders Dubai’s ruler to pay record divorce settlement.

The ruler of Dubai was on Tuesday ordered to pay his former wife and children around £550 million ($730 million) in what is thought to be the highest divorce settlement set by an English court. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum was told he must pay Princess Haya Bint Al …

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China launches new camera satellite with 5m resolution.

China has launched a new satellite with a camera capable of taking photos of the ground with a resolution of five meters, according to the National Space Administration of China (CNSA). The satellite, called “Ziyuan-1 02E” or “Five Meter 02 Optical Satellite”. Beijing time …

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E.O. Wilson, Known as 'Father of Biodiversity,' passes away.

E.O. Wilson, the former Harvard University biologist and Pulitzer Prize winner whose study of ants and human behaviour made him one of the world’s most influential scientists and prompted his calls for action to protect millions of species on the planet, has passed away. He…

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Iran nuclear talks resume with Tehran focused on sanctions relief.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal resumed on Monday with Tehran focused on one side of the original bargain, lifting sanctions against it, despite scant progress on reining in its atomic activities. The seventh round of…

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PM officially declares 2022 as ’Navalar Year’ for Tamils.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, today declared 2022 as the 'Navalar Year' after the 'Letter of Authorization for the Declaration' was handed over by him to senior Hindu officials from the Department of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs. Prime Minister…

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UNSC adopts resolution to provide aid to Afghanistan.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by the United States that facilitates humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which is on the verge of economic collapse, while keeping funds out of the Taliban hands. Such assistance supports “basic …

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Israel plans to give fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

A government panel of experts in Israel has recommended a fourth dose of a Covid-19 vaccine for all people aged over 60 and healthcare workers. The move was welcomed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who said it would help the country get through a potential wave of the Omi…

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FDA Approves First Injectable Treatment for HIV Pre-Exposure Prevention.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first ever injectable drug for HIV prevention on Dec. 20. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Apretude (cabotegravir extended-release injectable suspension) for use in at-risk adults and adolescents weighing a…

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Ecuador becomes first country to mandate Covid vaccines for children from age of 05.

Ecuador has become the first country to make Covid vaccines mandatory for children as young as five years. "In Ecuador, vaccination against Covid-19 is declared compulsory," the health ministry said in a statement. This comes in amid growing fears of the Omicron v…

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The Human Freedom Index (HFI) - 2021.

The Human Freedom Index presents the state of human freedom in the world based on a broad measure that encompasses personal, civil, and economic freedom. Human freedom is a social concept that recognizes the dignity of individuals and is defined here as negative liberty or …

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Global Health Security Index - 2021.

The 2021 GHS Index measures the capacities of 195 countries to prepare for epidemics and pandemics. All countries remain dangerously unprepared for future epidemic and pandemic threats, including threats potentially more devastating than COVID-19.  Sri Lanka ranked at 105th …

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COVID vaccine card mandatory from January to enter public places.

The government of Sri Lanka has made the COVID-19 vaccination card mandatory to visit public places from January 01, 2022. Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella announced this in a tweet posted today (Dec. 21). Earlier this month, the Special Committee on COVID-19 Control deci…

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India refuses to renew foreign-funding licence for Mother Teresa’s charity.

The Indian government has rejected a request from Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity to renew its licence to receive foreign donations under the country’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The charity was founded by Mother Teresa in 1950 in the Indian city of …

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Russia fines Google over illegal content breach

A Moscow court has fined Google 7.2bn roubles ($98m; £73m) for repeated failure to delete content deemed illegal in Russia. Details of the offending content were not specified in the announcement by the court's press service. This is the first time in Russia that a techno…

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Vikum Kaluarachchi sworn in as new Court of Appeal Judge.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday 24th December 2021,  swore in Vikum Kaluarachchi as a new Judge of the Court of Appeal (CA). He will fill the vacancy created by the recent retirement of CA Justice Devika Abeyratne. A past pupil of Royal College, Colombo, Justice Vikum …

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Canadian Filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée dies.

Jean-Marc Vallée, the director of the Oscar-winning Dallas Buyers Club and HBO hit show Big Little Lies, died at his home in Quebec City, Canada at the age of 58.  Vallée helmed numerous short films before his critically-acclaimed 1995 debut feature Liste Noir (Black List). …

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World economy to top $100 trillion in 2022 for first time.

The world's economic output will exceed $100 trillion for the first time next year and it will take China a little longer than previously thought to overtake the United States as the No.1 economy, a report showed. British consultancy Cebr predicted China will become the …

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International Day of Epidemic Preparedness - 27 December.

Battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, humans have learned about epidemic preparedness the hard way. In a bid to prepare for future outbreaks and sensitise people about epidemics on all levels, the United Nations and World Health Organization marked December 27 as the Internati…

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A Japanese professor has created a lickable TV screen.

Japanese Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita has created a lickable TV screen that can imitate the flavors of the food it displays. A Japanese professor has developed a prototype of a lickable TV screen, that allows for the flavor profiles of food to be created. With …

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South Africa anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu dies.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace prize laureate who helped end apartheid in South Africa, has died aged 90. President Cyril Ramaphosa said the churchman's death marked "another chapter of bereavement in our nation's farewell to a generation of outstandin…

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WHO approves India’s ‘Kovovax’.

The World Health Organization (WHO) added Kovovax, an anti-Covid vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under license from US pharmaceutical company Novavax, to its emergency use list. In this way the number of vaccines approved by the global health body…

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Jaffna Kings lift LPL title for second consecutive time.

The Jaffna Kings who topped the group phase of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2021, went on to win the title as they beat the Galle Gladiators in the final by 23 runs. The Kings were also the defending champions coming into the tournament but went down to the Gladiators on …

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Philippines hit by strongest strom of 2021 - Typhoon Rai.

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year surpassed 300 on Tuesday (21) as humanitarian agencies warned the true scale of destruction remains unknown, partly because rescue workers are unable to access some disaster-hit areas. Super Typhoon R…

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Largest ever millipede fossil found on Northumberland Beach.

Scientists say they found the largest giant fossil in history on a beach in Northumberland - and did so by accident. It is believed that the centipede, known as arthropleura, was more than 2.5 m long and weighed about 50 kg. Some of the fossils were first noticed in 2018, whe…

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Exquisitely preserved embryo found inside fossilized dinosaur egg.

A 72- to 66-million-year-old embryo found inside a fossilized dinosaur egg sheds new light on the link between the behavior of modern birds and dinosaurs, according to a new study. The embryo, dubbed Baby Yingliang, was discovered in the Late Cretaceous rocks of Ganzhou, sou…

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Tennis player Emma Raducanu voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Tennis player Emma Raducanu was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday 19 December 2021, receiving British sport's annual individual accolade as a reward for h er beating Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the final at Flushing Meadow s. The 19-year-old was als…

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