At least 56 dead as severe floods hit Sri Lanka
At least 56 people have been killed and 21 are missing in Sri Lanka after floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains wreaked havoc this week, in one of its worst weather related disasters the country has seen in recent years, BBC reported.
Twenty-one people were killed in the central tea-growing district of Badulla when a landslide crashed onto their homes overnight, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said in a statement.
Videos uploaded to social media show houses being washed away as flood waters cascade through towns, while most train services have been cancelled across the country, according to BBC.
US suspends immigration requests for Afghans after National Guard shooting
The US has suspended processing all immigration requests from Afghans, after an Afghan man was identified as the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers near the White House, BBC reported.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said the decision was made pending a review of "security and vetting protocols".
The suspect of Wednesday's shooting, which left two National Guard members critically injured, is said to have arrived in the US from Afghanistan in September 2021, according to BBC.
UK's Reeves raises tax burden to post-war high to shore up finances
British finance minister Rachel Reeves announced a big tax-raising budget on Wednesday that will take more money from workers, people saving for a pension and investors to give herself greater room to meet her deficit-reduction targets, Reuters reported.
Britain's fiscal watchdog cut its forecasts for economic growth for the coming years - a setback for struggling Prime Minister Keir Starmer who promised voters last year he would speed up the economy.
But the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the government will now have more than double its previous buffer for meeting its fiscal targets, something closely watched by investors assessing Britain's borrowing risks, according to Reuters.
Trump urged Japan PM to avoid escalation in China dispute, sources say
U.S. President Donald Trump asked Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi avoid further escalation in a dispute with China during a call this week, two Japanese government sources with knowledge of the matter said, Reuters reported.
Takaichi sparked the biggest diplomatic bust-up with Beijing in years when she told parliament earlier this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger Japanese military action.
That drew a furious response from Beijing, which claims democratically governed Taiwan, and a demand for Takaichi to retract her remarks - which has not been forthcoming, according to Reuters.
