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Sri Lanka Deploys Troops as Weather Toll Climbs to 56

Sri Lanka is currently experiencing the northeast monsoon season but rainfall has intensified due to a cyclone. AFP
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing the northeast monsoon season but rainfall has intensified due to a cyclone. AFP
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Sri Lanka Deploys Troops as Weather Toll Climbs to 56

Sri Lanka is currently experiencing the northeast monsoon season but rainfall has intensified due to a cyclone. AFP
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing the northeast monsoon season but rainfall has intensified due to a cyclone. AFP

Sri Lankan authorities deployed the military for relief and rescue operations Friday as the death toll from floods and landslides rose to 56, with another 21 people listed as missing.

Helicopters, navy boats and armored personnel carriers are being used to evacuate marooned villagers in several parts of the country, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said, as the rain continued.

The island's entire 65,000-square-kilometer (25,000-square-mile) area is experiencing rainfall, with some regions seeing 360 millimeters in the past 24 hours, the DMC said.

Of the 56 people confirmed dead, 26 were buried alive in mudslides in the tea-growing Badulla district in the central region of the island, it added.

Twenty-one people were listed as missing, while another 14 were hospitalized.

The DMC said a cyclonic storm named "Ditwah" was moving across the island's eastern region, resulting in heavy rains across the country.

The system is expected to move northwards towards neighboring Tamil Nadu state in India by Sunday.

"Due to the influence of this system, the prevailing heavy showers and strong winds over the island are expected to continue," the DMC said.

Nearly 700 homes were damaged in mudslides and floods, with almost 1,800 families moved to temporary shelters.

The DMC said river levels were rising across Sri Lanka and warned residents in low-lying areas to move to higher ground.

Sri Lanka is currently experiencing the northeast monsoon season, but rainfall has intensified due to the cyclone, it added.

The government suspended final-year school examinations nationwide for two days because of the weather. Civil servants were given a day off.

Sri Lanka's parliament also suspended its budget debate so that legislators could return to their constituencies to deal with the damage.

This week's weather-related toll is the highest since June last year, when 26 people were killed following heavy rains. In December, 17 people were killed by flooding and landslides.

The worst flooding this century occurred in June 2003, when 254 people were killed.

Sri Lanka depends on seasonal monsoon rains for irrigation and hydroelectricity, but experts have warned that the country faces more frequent floods due to climate change.

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World

Iran Says Missile Program Defensive, Non-Negotiable 

Iranian ballistic missiles are on display during a military parade in Tehran. (Reuters file)
Iranian ballistic missiles are on display during a military parade in Tehran. (Reuters file)
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Iran Says Missile Program Defensive, Non-Negotiable 

Iranian ballistic missiles are on display during a military parade in Tehran. (Reuters file)
Iranian ballistic missiles are on display during a military parade in Tehran. (Reuters file)

Iran insisted on Monday that its missile program was defensive in nature and designed to dissuade attack, while adding the existence of its arsenal was not up for debate.

Israel had presented Iran's ballistic missiles, along with its nuclear program, as the two main threats it sought to neutralize during the 12-day war the foes fought in June.

"Iran's missile program was developed to defend Iran's territory, not for negotiation," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press conference.

"Therefore, Iran's defense capabilities, designed to deter aggressors from any thought of attacking Iran, are not a matter that could be talked about."

Iran's ballistic capabilities put Israel within striking distance, and after Israel's unprecedented attacks that sparked the war in June, Tehran responded with waves of missiles and drones launched at Israeli cities.

According to US broadcaster NBC, Israel is growing increasingly concerned that Iran is seeking to rebuild and expand its missile production following the war and may seek to attack it again to curtail those efforts.

During a planned visit to the US later this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "is expected to present (President Donald) Trump with options for the US to join or assist in any new military operations", NBC reported, citing an unnamed source with direct knowledge of the plans and former US officials briefed on them.

Over the course of the recent war, Israel struck military sites, nuclear facilities and residential areas, killing more than 1,000 people.

Israel reported more than 50 Iranian missile strikes inside its territory that killed 28 people.

The US briefly joined its ally in striking Iran's nuclear facilities before declaring a ceasefire.

Iran once procured much of its weaponry from the United States, but following the break in diplomatic relations after its 1979 revolution, it had to develop its own domestic arms industry.

World

Trump Names Louisiana Governor as Greenland Special Envoy, Prompting Danish Alarm 

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks to reporters at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., Sept. 3, 2025. (AP)
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks to reporters at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., Sept. 3, 2025. (AP)
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Trump Names Louisiana Governor as Greenland Special Envoy, Prompting Danish Alarm 

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks to reporters at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., Sept. 3, 2025. (AP)
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks to reporters at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., Sept. 3, 2025. (AP)

US President Donald Trump named Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry on Sunday as his special envoy to Greenland, reigniting Danish and Greenlandic alarm over Washington's plans for the vast, mineral-rich Arctic island. 

Trump has said several times over the years that Greenland, a Danish territory that is now largely self-governing, should become part of the US, citing security reasons and an interest in the island's mineral resources. Landry has praised the idea. 

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Monday he would summon the US ambassador to Copenhagen, saying he had been particularly upset by Landry's support for Trump's aim of making Greenland part of the United States. Greenland's prime minister reiterated ‌that the island ‌would decide its own future. 

"Jeff understands how essential Greenland is ‌to ⁠our National Security, and ‌will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Sunday. 

The White House did not respond immediately to requests for comment. 

Landry, who took office as Louisiana governor in January 2024, thanked Trump on X, saying: "It’s an honor to serve ... in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US. This in no way affects my position as Governor of Louisiana!" 

DANISH CONSTERNATION 

Greenland ⁠and Denmark have consistently rejected that idea. 

Lokke Rasmussen told Denmark's TV 2: "I am deeply upset by this appointment of a ‌special envoy. And I am particularly upset by his statements, ‍which we find completely unacceptable." 

Earlier, in ‍an emailed statement to Reuters, Lokke Rasmussen said: "We insist that everyone – including the US – must show ‍respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark." 

Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a post on Facebook: "We have woken up again to a new announcement from the US president. This may sound big, but it does not change anything for us. We decide our own future." 

Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic member of the Danish parliament, said the appointment of a US envoy was not in itself a problem. 

"The problem is that he's been given the ⁠task of taking over Greenland or making Greenland part of the United States, and there's no desire for that in Greenland," Chemnitz told Reuters. 

"There is a desire to respect the future that a majority in Greenland wants, namely to remain their own country and develop their independence over time." 

Seeking to mitigate tensions with the Trump administration over the past year, Denmark, a NATO ally of the United States, has focused on strengthening Greenland's defense to address US criticisms about inadequate security. 

Greenland, a former Danish colony and home to only around 57,000 people, has held the right to declare independence from Denmark since 2009. 

Its economy relies heavily on fishing and subsidies from Copenhagen, and the island sits strategically along the shortest route between Europe and North America, a vital location for the US ‌ballistic missile defense system. 

World

Israeli FM Urges Jews to Move to Israel a Week After Sydney Attack 

10 July 2025, Austria, Vienna: Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar takes part in a press conference at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria. (dpa)
10 July 2025, Austria, Vienna: Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar takes part in a press conference at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria. (dpa)
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Israeli FM Urges Jews to Move to Israel a Week After Sydney Attack 

10 July 2025, Austria, Vienna: Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar takes part in a press conference at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria. (dpa)
10 July 2025, Austria, Vienna: Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar takes part in a press conference at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria. (dpa)

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney.

"Jews have the right to live in safety everywhere. But we see and fully understand what is happening, and we have a certain historical experience. Today, Jews are being hunted across the world," Saar said at a public candle lighting marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

"Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!" Saar said at the ceremony, held with leaders of Jewish communities and organizations worldwide.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced a surge in antisemitism in Western countries and accused their governments of failing to curb it.

Australian authorities have said the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah event on Sydney's Bondi Beach was inspired by the ideology of the ISIS extremist group.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Western governments to better protect their Jewish citizens.

"I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide," Netanyahu said in a video address.

In October, Saar accused British authorities of failing to take action to curb a "toxic wave of antisemitism" following an attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in which two people were killed and four wounded.

According to Israel's 1950 "Law of Return", any Jewish person in the world is entitled to settle in Israel (a process known in Hebrew as aliyah, or "ascent") and acquire Israeli citizenship. The law also applies to individuals who have at least one Jewish grandparent.