Sri Lanka has named a veteran officer with experience fighting separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas to replace the nation's third-highest-ranking general, who was killed this week in a suspected rebel suicide attack, officials said yesterday.
The appointment comes as the nation edges closer to full-scale civil war. One soldier was killed yesterday in an ambush by suspected separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, while three civilians were found shot dead in troubled eastern Sri Lanka.
Major General Shaman Kulatunga, who has led an armored division and has wide experience fighting the separatists during his 33-year carrier, has taken over the post of deputy chief of staff, the Sri Lankan military said in their Web site.
He replaces Major General Parami Kulatunga, who was killed on Monday in a suicide bombing blamed on the Tamil Tigers.
In the latest violence, Tiger rebels ambushed an army patrol, killing one soldier and wounding three others in Welioya, about 255km northeast of Colombo, said an official at the media center for national security, speaking on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Separately, three civilians were found shot dead in eastern town of Eravur in the Batticaloa district, 225km east of Colombo.
"We found three bodies of youths with gun shot injuries. Their bodies and the motorbike they were traveling have been set on fire," local police chief Maxi Procter said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number