Massive Protest in Colombo; Socialist Youth protest against govt decisions

FILE IMAGE - A health worker prepares a COVID-19 vaccine for children. (Photo by Teera Noisakran/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) Pfizer said Thursday it wants to expand its COVID-19 booster shots to healthy elementary-age kids.U.S.

Frank James, the man suspected in Tuesday’s Brooklyn subway shooting, appears to have uploaded videos to social media that show him ranting about violence, criticizing New York Mayor Eric Adams and sharing bigoted views.James, 62, was identified as a suspect Wednesday in the morning rush-hour attack that left 10 people with gunshot wounds and at least a dozen others injured.Frank Robert James is WANTED in connection with firing numerous gunshots inside of a subway car causing serious injuries to 10 victims. There's a reward up to $50,000 for info leading to the arrest & indictment of this person.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Drop boxes for depositing mail-in and absentee ballots would be banned and donations to run elections would no longer be permitted from groups outside government under bills approved Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Senate.Senators voted 37-12, a potentially veto-proof margin, to prohibit the types of grants issued during the 2020 election. The vote against drop boxes was on party lines, 29-20.

PHILADELPHIA - Authorities are investigating a serious crash that occurred in Philadelphia’s Somerton neighborhood early Thursday morning. The crash occurred before 6 a.m. near the Bustleton Avenue and Byberry Road intersection.The collision caused a vehicle to split in half after it appeared to have struck a pole near a gas station.

RCMP in Fort St. John, B.C., have issued an Amber Alert for two abducted children, possibly travelling with their mother and father.

Ukraine is developing into a prolonged stalemate, which experts predict will be devastating to the forces on both sides of the conflict as well as to the Ukrainian people.Russia’s unexpected failures on the battlefield have led to a downward spiral in morale amongst its troops that stands in stark contrast to the Ukrainians, according to the latest assessments, who have managed to hold back Russian advances and have even managed to regain territory in recent days.“The Russian commanders have really set their troops up for failure by designing a very stupid invasion and executing it very badly,” said Fred Kagan, a senior fellow and director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.“The ineffectiveness of the campaign is so clear, and the ferociousness of the Ukrainian defence is so obvious … (that) it’s created an equalizer where neither side can move much from where they are now.” How the war in Ukraine stands a month after Russia’s invasion — and what may be next In both his remarks to Global News and an assessment published this week by the Institute for the Study of War, Kagan makes clear a stalemate does not mean the war is over, or that its outcome is certain. Either side could still win, he says — though victory will come at a very high cost.“The damage and devastation to Ukrainian cities is likely to increase even in a period of stalemate,” he said.But he also echoed comments from U.S.

PTI. The government is currently mulling if such people should pay for the precaution doses and if these doses should be made available at private vaccination centres.

Taylor Hawkins, the longtime drummer for rock band Foo Fighters, has died, the band announced late Friday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Nine people were arrested and charged for allegedly organizing a retail theft ring throughout California, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday.The suspects are charged with stealing items from major retail stores. According to the attorney general, the criminal organization operated in Los Angeles, Alameda, Fresno, Kern, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Ventura counties.FOX 11's Elex Michaelson spoke one-on-one with the governor about vaccinations, business relief and the plan to tackle local crime.(July 21, 2021)The arrests come following a three-month investigation by the California Highway Patrol into an organization known as the South American Theft Group.

TAKOMA PARK, Md. - It’s something you read about in books or see on television, but for friends Holly Harper and Herrin Hopper, it’s a reality.The two single moms found themselves in challenging times at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in 2020. Needing support, the two took a daydream and made it a reality when they bought a house and moved in together with their children in June 2020. They then started renting out other spaces in the house to other women, eventually forming the Siren House.The Siren House, located outside Washington, D.C., contains four separate apartments.  (Holly Harper)RELATED: Identical twin brothers each receive heart transplants: 'Quite unique'The Siren House is a four-unit home located in Takoma Park, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C. "We are here for emotional support, friendships, sharing bottles of ketchup," Hopper told FOX Television Stations. "What I think Siren House is...is a safe place for people to be while they figure out things that are hard," Harper added. The massive home offers communal-style living space with each woman able to have their own living quarters with their own bedrooms and bathrooms. "We are here for emotional support, friendships, sharing bottles of ketchup," Herrin Hopper said.  (Holly Harper)Harper and Hopper said they have been friends for more than six years, but hard times fell on both of them.Harper said between 2018 and 2020, she went through a divorce, health scares and deaths in the family, including her father who died from COVID-19. Hopper was also going through her own ordeals, including a divorce.The ladies often talked, sometimes about finding new places to live.

NATO Secretary-General Jen Stoltenberg said Thursday that the military alliance would provide Ukraine with equipment and training to protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.

Ontario police deemed the so-called “Freedom Convoy” a threat to national security one week before the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: U.S. President Joe Biden walks towards members of the press prior to a Marine One departure from the White House on March 23, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

Kyiv mere minutes after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine exactly one month ago.The attacks from Russian forces — by air, by sea and on the ground — have barely stopped since Feb. 24, becoming more intense and brutal by the day.

WASHINGTON - Legal experts and interest groups will weigh in on Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up four days of hearings on her historic nomination to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.Jackson faced down a barrage of Republican questioning over two days about her sentencing of criminal defendants, her bid to join the Supreme Court veering from lofty constitutional questions to attacks on her motivations on the bench.On Thursday, the last day of hearings, interest groups including the American Bar Association and civil rights organizations will testify about Jackson's suitability for the court. Witnesses chosen by Republican senators will also speak.The American Bar Association, which evaluates judicial nominees, last week gave Jackson its highest rating, unanimously "well qualified."On Wednesday, her final day of Senate questioning, Jackson declared she would rule "without any agendas" as the high court's first Black female justice and rejected Republican efforts to paint her as soft on crime in her decade on the federal bench.Ketanji Brown Jackson, associate justice of the U.S.

Surveillance of wastewater data is suggesting that COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in Canada as provinces have eased public health restrictions.

Led mainly by surges in Asian hot spots, COVID-19 cases last week increased for the second straight week, though deaths continued to fall, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its weekly pandemic update.

PHILADELPHIA - For Rex, biking is a lifestyle and it's one that has changed his life. "I got bullied a lot in school," he said. "I started riding bikes and felt better.

won’t look different: There’s no automatic months-long extension on the due date like we saw for the past two years. (Though you do get a three-day grace period: Taxes are due April 18, since the IRS is closed on April 15 for Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C.) Which means it’s time to tear off a chunk of sourdough and get down to business.While this was waived for 2020 thanks to the American Rescue Plan—no needed to be paid that year on unemployment benefits of up to $10,200—that temporary relief period has ended.

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson returned to the Senate for a third day of hearings Wednesday as Republicans try to paint her as soft on crime and Democrats herald the historic nature of her nomination to become the first Black woman on the high court."America is ready for the Supreme Court glass ceiling to shatter," Sen. Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee chairman, said as Jackson's second and last day answering senators questions began.In Tuesday's marathon hearing, Republicans aggressively questioned her on the sentences she has handed down to sex offenders in her nine years as a federal judge, her advocacy on behalf of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, her thoughts on critical race theory and even her religious views.

KYIV, Ukraine - Nearly one month has passed since the biggest land invasion in Europe since World War II, and there have been no major breakthroughs on the battlefield or the negotiating table.Russian forces appeared bogged down outside major cities in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance. Strikes on cities continued to wreak destruction across the country.Ukraine's capital Kyiv shook early Wednesday with Russian shelling that sparked fires in high-rise buildings, injuring four people.

COVID containment measures. Accordingly, after the expiry of the existing MHA Order No. 40-3/2020-DM-1 (A) dated 25 February, 2022, no further Order may be issued by MHA. However, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MDHFW) advisories on COVID containment measures. including on the use of face mask and hand hygiene will continue to guide the overall national response to the pandemic.National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs revokes the provisions of the Disaster Management Act for Covid containment measures. Advisories on Covid containment measures, including the use of face masks will continue, reads the official order pic.twitter.com/nC4rJB8L9a

COLOMBO (News 1st); The ‘Jana Bala Virodaya’ protest march and rally organized by the National People’s Power will be held in Nugegoda on Wednesday (23) afternoon.This protest is held against the Government for its failure to control the rising cost of living and demanding to solve the economic crisis.The protest march will start from Delkanda Town at 3 PM and will proceed to Nugegoda.

aviation market in India is currently recovering after the Omicron variant suppressed the demand in January. Around 76.96 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in February, approximately 20 per cent more than in January.

Footage shared on social media and on CCTV showed what appeared to be Russian troops firing on protesters in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Monday. The posts, which Global News has not been able to independently verify, shows hundreds of protesters approaching a city square before being forced to run away after automatic gunfire breaks out.

WASHINGTON - Historic confirmation hearings begin on Monday for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would be the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. Jackson, a 51-year-old who has served as a federal judge for the past nine years, will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee, beginning at 11 a.m.

Scots may be given different covid vaccines if new variants emerge in the future, according to a leading health expert.

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 21: Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speaks at the Heritage Foundation on October 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. Clarence Thomas has now served on the Supreme Court for 30 years.

COLOMBO (News 1st); Urban Sri Lankans have once again stepped out to the streets to protest against the government’s failure to secure the ailing economy of the country.What started off as a small vigil-like protest in the town of Kohuwala, not far from the Administrative Capital of Sri Jayewardenepura, has now spread to almost all urban areas surrounding the capita.On Saturday (19), anti-government protests took place in Kohuwala, Rajagiriya, Ja-Ela, Mount Lavinia and several other seas.

Ukraine becomes increasingly brutal, with Russian attacks killing and displacing civilians, experts say the international community is shifting its focus from sanctions to helping the Ukrainian military.That’s partly because the few remaining options that could have a significant impact on Russia’s economy — namely, a European ban on Russian oil and gas — are not feasible in the short term. It’s also becoming clearer that the sanctions, while devastating, are not swaying Russian President Vladimir Putin.“It’s not hurting (Russia) enough to make them stop,” said James Brander, a professor in international business and public policy at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.“It’s hard to get to that level, whereas what’s really hurting the Russians right now is on the ground in Ukraine, where they’re running into a lot of military trouble.

PHILADELPHIA - A decision is expected very soon on who will be the next Superintendent of Philadelphia Public Schools, but one decision is already clear: it will be a man.The School District of Philadelphia named John L. Davis Jr., Krish Mohip, and Tony B. Watlington Sr.

A pair of new studies that sized up how COVID-19 vaccines affected hospitalizations, including during the Omicron variant surge, found that mRNA vaccines were highly effective against severe illness and that unvaccinated people were 12 times more likely to be hospitalized compared with those who had received a booster, with the risk especially high in Black patients.

FILE-A Dairy Queen employee displays an ice cream cone at a DQ restaurant in New York. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images) WASHINGTON - With spring days away, Dairy Queen is giving customers a special treat with the return of their popular Free Cone Day giveaway.On Monday, March 21, customers can get a free, small vanilla ice cream cone at Dairy Queen locations nationwide — except locations inside malls. The free cones are limited to one per person while supplies last and may not be valid for delivery or mobile orders. RELATED: Dairy Queen giving away free ice cream on March 20Dairy Queen was among several companies in 2021 that changed or canceled their giveaway events based on the pandemic.

REDLANDS, Calif. - A Redlands youth soccer coach is behind bars after police found him with a 14-year-old girl in the back of his vehicle, officials said.Redlands police officers made contact with Jonathan Jeremy Ledesma during a vehicle check near Fairway Drive and Country Club Drive a little after 4 a.m. Thursday where he claimed that the victim was his girlfriend.While searching Ledesma's car and phone, officers located sexual text messages in between and "evidence of sex acts inside of the vehicle," according to a Redlands PD news release."Detectives interviewed the victim who disclosed that since she turned 14, she has had sex with Ledesma multiple times," the release says.Are you or someone you know a recent survivor of sexual assault? Help is available. Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) provides a 24/7 national sexual assault hotline, which can be reached at 1-800-656-4673.The San Bernardino County judge has authorized a search warrant on the suspect’s vehicle, suspect’s phone, victim’s phone, suspect’s person and the victim’s person.

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping are set to speak on Friday as the White House warns Beijing that providing military or economic assistance for Russia's invasion of Ukraine will trigger severe consequences from Washington and beyond.Planning for the call has been in the works since Biden and Xi held a virtual summit in November, but differences between Washington and Beijing over Russian President Vladimir Putin's prosecution of his three-week-old war against Ukraine are expected to be at the center of the call.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would question Xi about Beijing's "rhetorical support" of Putin and an "absence of denunciation" of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine."This is an opportunity to assess where President Xi stands," Psaki said.China on Friday again sought to highlight its calls for negotiations and donations of humanitarian aid, while accusing the U.S. of provoking Russia and fueling the conflict by shipping arms to Ukraine."China has called for every effort to avoid civilian casualties all the time," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing.

PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia organization dedicated to guiding the city's youth away from crime through unique educational opportunities recently brought dozens of children to the National Space Museum in Virginia. Vanessa Young and Teisha Brown run Power of Paint Art Academy and, with the help of sponsors, helped 36 children get an all expense paid trip to the NASA Space Museum to explore the field of aviation. "A lot of the kids we service otherwise may not get exposed to those career paths or even getting exposed to being outside the city of Philadelphia," Young said. Young and Brown hope their programs and mentorship save young lives that are far too often cut short in Philadelphia. "School age kids are getting hurt on their porch and on their way to school so just providing that outlet," Young said. It took less than three months for Philadelphia to exceed 100 homicides on the year, outpacing a historically bloody 2021. Pennsylvania State Representative Stephen Kinsey led a group canvassing East Germantown on Thursday to call attention to the continued rise in deadly crime. "People are concerned, people are afraid, and they want to take back their community," Kinsey said. Hassan and Angela Bolger joined the walk to offer resources to residents dealing with gun violence."Our youngest son is 17. I want to protect him.

A bottle of Budweiser Supreme. (Handout Photo Courtesy of Anheuser-Busch) NEW YORK - The brewing giant Anheuser-Busch this week introduced a new beer to New York and a handful of other markets.

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine approved for kids 6-11 in Canada Of the 27 inpatients with COVID-19, 12 are being treated for COVID-19 while 15 are being treated for something other than COVID-19 but were found to have an incidental infection.At least 167 staff cases are currently active at LHSC, up from 155 the day before. At St.

World Health Organisation (WHO) said that coronavirus infections will occur where measures are lifted despite high vaccination coverage. Noting that 99.9% of cases reported recently was Omicron, officials further asserted that the variant (including BA.1 and BA.2) is dominant globally and it is highly transmissible. The warning comes as new infections jumped by 8% globally last week, compared to the previous week. As per WHO, the number of new coronavirus deaths reported worldwide fell by 17% in the last week while COVID-19 infections rose, reversing a decline in cases that first began in January. 

Former President Donald Trump appeared to rule out former Vice President Mike Pence as his running mate should he opt to mount a third bid for the White House in 2024. "I don’t think the people would accept it," Trump told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday of the pair running together again. Trump cited friction stemming from the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, in which he lost to President Joe Biden yet repeated a false claim that the election had been stolen from him, and suggested their differences are too stark to overcome heading into 2024, according to the conservative news website. "Mike and I had a great relationship except for the very important factor that took place at the end. We had a very good relationship," Trump told the website.

World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asserted after several weeks of declines, reported cases of COVID19 are once again increasing globally, esp. in parts of Asia.

Meteorologist Yvonne Schalle has the Tuesday, March 15, 2022 forecast for Metro Vancouver and British Columbia.

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There’s some hopeful news from across the border for Canadians tired of switching their clocks back and forth twice a year.

COVID-19 climbed slightly Tuesday as the province reported 1,001 people were in the province’s hospitals with the disease.Of that number, 70 are receiving care in the ICU.That’s compared to 986 people in hospital with COVID-19 on Monday with 73 in the ICU. ‘Year of the condo’: Waning pandemic could see migration back to big cities Over the past 24 hours, an additional four coronavirus deaths were reported to Alberta Health, bringing the province’s death toll to 4,025.Over the same period of time, 1,831 COVID-19 tests were performed and 459 new lab-confirmed cases were reported.

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COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa leading a protest opposite the President’s Office in Colombo on Tuesday (15) said that the government that promised relief, has only brought about the burden to the people.Sajith Premadasa was clear in his message to the government “Go home or allow the people to decide at a Presidential Election.”“The government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa must leave if they cannot do what they were elected to do, and let us carry on with governance,” he told the protestors.“We cannot bear this suffering anymore,” Premadasa told a gathering of thousands of protestors in Colombo, adding that the Rajapaksa Government, the Rajapaksa Family are responsible for the suffering and the time is now to send them home.“We are here to tell the government that ruined this country, to go home,” he said.Heavy security was experienced around the President’s Office when the protest was taking place, with protestors also making attempts to break through the police cordon to make their way into the premises.He said the Samagi Jana Balavegaya led government will bring back the Sri Lankan identity that was lost as a result of the actions of the present government.Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa told the protestors that it is time to be prepared to save the country from the brink of destruction.“Thousands have come here with no fear of bullets, tear gas, bombs, water cannons, and even baton charges,” he said in a message aimed at the government.Commenting on the fuel crisis, Premadasa said that three middle-eastern governments have promised to supply fuel for two years with no up-front payment to a Samagi Jana Balavegaya led government.He said

Covovax in the national vaccination programme, reported PTI.