Author: uslanka

The Central American migrants moving their way through Mexico Tuesday as part of a controversial caravan — one President Donald Trump is pushing hard as a midterms election issue — is forging ahead in its long journey to the U.S.-Mexico border.

The first waves of migrants — who U.N. officials estimate may be as high as 7,200 and growing — began arriving late Monday to the small southern Mexican town of Huixtla after an exhausting eight-hour trek.

Many staked out grassy spots in the town square to sleep outdoors overnight before continuing their grueling trip north on Tuesday.

They were at least 1,100 miles from McAllen, Texas, the nearest U.S.-Mexico border entry

Source: USA Today

Two elephants were killed and another critically injured on Sunday (Oct 21) crossing railway tracks in Sri Lanka, officials said, in yet another tragic collision involving the protected animals and speeding trains.

A Jaffna-bound night train rammed into two elephants at Ambanpola, 150km north of Colombo, killing one and injuring the other.

In a separate accident, a passenger train derailed after hitting and killing an elephant near Palugaswewa, 160 kmnorth-east of Colombo.

No passengers were injured in either accident.

“Train services have been disrupted, but we are working to remove the carcass and repair the track on the eastern line,” an official said by telephone.

Speed restrictions are imposed on trains passing through elephant habitats but these are difficult to enforce.  Only 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s trains are believed to be equipped with speedometers, local media reported Sunday.

Two weeks ago, a passenger train struck and killed three elephants. A fortnight before that, a mother elephant and her two calves were hit and killed in the east of the country.

Sri Lanka considers elephants a national treasure and they are protected by law.

Source: AFP

Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, C.J.P. Siriwardana has been appointed as the Commissioner General of the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) on the recommendation of Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera today.