House buried by landslide in Polpitiya

A house in Polpitiya overlooking the Polpitiya - Bowatenna tunnel coming up under the CEB’s Broadlands Project got buried and completely disappeared in a landslide on August 7 around 8.00 a.m., causing fear and anguish among residents.

The occupants of the house were away as they had been temporarily moved out and relocated by project officials along with the occupants of 12 other houses which had suffered cracks in the walls.

A 50 foot coconut tree and a mango tree beside the house had also disappeared in the landslide. There are 18 more houses in the area and Ginigathena Police have requested the residents to leave their houses for safety as temporary measure. Officials of the Chinese Company handling the project visited the scene on an inspection yesterday.

AG files indictments on Hirunika, 8 others

Parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra and eight others were today indicted in the Colombo High Court by the Attorney General over the alleged abduction of a youth in the Dematagoda area. 

The Attorney General had filed the indictments on 29 counts against the suspects. Earlier, the suspects had been produced in the Colombo Chief Magistrate's Court at a non summary trial and they are now out on bail. 

The victim, Amila Priyanga, was alleged to have been abducted by the suspects. The entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras, and the footage was later used by the police to arrest the suspects. (Shehan Chamilka Silva)

Darren Sammy sacked as West Indies T20 captain

Darren Sammy, who led West Indies team to World To glory, posted an emotional video on his social media handle to share that his captaincy had been taken away from the selectors.

In his post, he said that the selectors had “reviewed” his captaincy and later informed that Sammy won’t be part of the West Indies team anymore.

“I got a call yesterday morning, it was probably 30 seconds, from the chairman of selectors telling me that they’ve reviewed the captaincy of T20 and I won’t be captain anymore of the T20 team, [and] my performances have not merited selection in the squad,” Sammy said in the video.

“That’s okay, I’ve always believed West Indies cricket is not about Darren Sammy. They are looking to the future and I wanna wish the new captain – I don’t know if it’s out yet so I won’t call any names – all the best as he looks to lead West Indies cricket and take it forward.

“Obviously, throughout my captaincy, winning the two T20 World Cups has been the highlight. And these memories I will cherish for a long time. This is not me retiring from one-day or T20, it’s just me thanking the fans and my players and the coaches I’ve worked with and WICB for…yeah, letting me lead the side for the last six years. But for now the captaincy has come to an end and thank you people.

“I just know I played with my heart and soul whenever I stepped out on the cricket field.”

In the recently concluded CPL tournament on the Caribbean soil, his team St Lucia Zouks lost to Trinbago Knight Riders in the finals. He also stated that he wanted his players to know that he was proud of their performance and should always hold their head high.

“Six years ago I was asked to captain West Indies, a task which I fought [and] would be the biggest challenge in my career, in my life,” Sammy said. “A task which I know would be so difficult but guess what…I took it head on. I embraced the challenge, I embraced the difficulty. I turn up at the office which is my playground, the cricket field, every day and put in the work.

The exclusion of Sammy from the team comes just few days before India takes on West Indies in a two match T20 series in Florida at the end of August. (Indian Express)

Hantana Training Centre head remanded Over Sexual abuse

A private youth-training centre head who was arrested on charges of abducting and sexually abusing ten female trainees at Hantana was remanded till August 11 by Kandy Chief Magistrate Buddhika C. Ragala. 

The 39-year-old suspect Chandimal Gamage, a resident of Wariyapola was arrested during investigations into complaints made by the victims to the Women and Children’s Bureau of the Kandy Police Headquarters. The victims had made individual statements regarding the incident to the police.

French gymnast breaks leg during Olympics

A French gymnast Samir Ait Said's leg snapped as he tried to complete his vault during team preliminaries yesterday, with the sound of the injury echoing through the arena. 

As he crumpled to the floor, Said writhed in agony while medical officials tended to him in front of a shocked crowd. After a delay of several minutes, he was eventually wheeled out and raised one arm to acknowledge the loud ovation he received from the crowd.

Several viewers watching on television took to social media to express their shock after the incident was broadcast live, with many detailing the loudness of the 'crack'. (Daily Mail – UK)

Australian Women Break Swimming World Records

Hungaria's "Iron Lady", 27-year-old Katinka Hosszu, smashed the 400m Individual Medly World Record to win gold at the event in Rio de Janeiro on the first day of games at the 2016 Olympics.

This was the second world record broken on the first day of swimming.

She finished the race at a time of 4:26.36 minutes. USA's Madeline Dirado finished second five seconds later at 4:31.15 and Spain's Mireia Belmonte won Bronze.

Meanwhile Australians set a world record to claim gold over the U.S. in the 4x100m freestyle relay with a time of three minutes, 30.65 seconds. Emma McKeon, Brittany Elmslie, Bronte Campbell and 100m freestyle world record holder Cate Campbell topped the American quartet of Simone Manuel, Abbey Weitzeil, Dana Vollmer and Katie Ledecky, who raced to 3:31.89.Canada won bronze.

Man dies after jumping from Hospital building

A 52 year-old man was killed after he jumped from the third floor of the Hambantota Hospital early this morning, Police said. 

They said the deceased, K.D. Pushpakumara, a resident of Ruhunu Ridiyagama had been treated for a mental disorder. The post mortem was to be conducted today. Hambantota police are investigating.

Chandrika requests President To Remove Prasanna

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has requested Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) President Maithripala Sirisena that the Convenor of the Joint Opposition and Gampaha District Parliamentarian Prasanna Ranatunga be removed forthwith from the Party.

CBK has made this request when the SLFP Central Committee convened at the official residence of President last Thursday (04).

When SLFP General Secretary Duminda Dissanayake and Vijithamuni Soysa has suggested that the party membership of SLFP – JO MP Sanath Nishantha be suspended, the ex President had queried “Why what about Prasanna Ranatunga? He too is too much. He too should be removed from the Party and his seat should be taken away.”.

As neither President Sirisena nor any other party stalwart did not respond positively, CBK is to have repeatedly announced that MP Ranatunga should be removed.

After repeated queries from CBK, President Sirisena had stated that the issue would be looked into in the future, to which the former President had replied saying immediate steps should be taken against the MP in question.

It is also reported that party membership of six SLFP – JO MPs are to be suspended before the SLFP Party Convention.