At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Get ready for a wild week of weather right across Australia, with two strong cold fronts set to roll through the country, bringing widespread rain, damaging winds, thunderstorms, and even snow in some areas. Here’s what’s coming: The first system will sweep through from Monday to Wednesday, and the second one will follow hot on its heels, moving through between Wednesday and Sunday. Together, they’ll cover a lot of ground — from southern and central Australia to the eastern states — and they're strong enough to trigger severe weather in multiple states and territories. So, what does that mean for you? Pretty much every state and territory will see some rain this week. And for places that have been dealing with drought and long-term dry spells, like parts of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, and Western Australia, this is really good news. Many of those areas — especially in the Murray-Darling Basin and on the western side of the Great Dividing Range — are set to get a solid drenching. Some of the rain will hit regions that have seen record-breaking rainfall shortages over the past 18 months. While this won’t completely fix those long-term deficits, it will definitely help, soaking parched soils and giving farmers a much-needed boost. And it’s not just rain — those cold fronts will also bring blustery winds, storms, and snowfall to higher elevations. So if you’re in the mountains, don’t be surprised to see things turn white. Wet, wild, and windy is the theme of the week. Time to dig out the raincoats and check the gutters — this could be the most significant rain event in a while for many parts of the country. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ක්‍රීඩාව ජාත්‍යන්තර තලයට ඔසවා තැබීම අරමුණු කරගත් ඒකාබද්ධ මුලපිරීම් සඳහා ක්‍රීඩා හා ක්‍රීඩා සංගම් සහයෝගයෙන් කටයුතු කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාවය ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා අවධාරණය කර තිබේ. ක්‍රීඩා උපකරණ බෙදා හැරීම වැනි හුදකලා උත්සාහයන් වෙනුවට, දිගුකාලීන ක්‍රීඩා සංවර්ධනයට සහාය වන ව්‍යුහගත හා බලපෑම් සහිත වැඩසටහන් කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කළ යුතු බව ජනාධිපති දිසානායක මහතා අවධාරණය කළේය. ජනාධිපති ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ පැවති යෞවන කටයුතු හා ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ප්‍රගති සමාලෝචන රැස්වීමකදී ජනාධිපතිවරයා මෙම අදහස් පළ කළේය. ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ, ජාතික තරුණ සේවා සභාවේ සහ ජාතික යොවුන් සේනාංකයේ ආයතනික ප්‍රගතිය මෙම රැස්වීමේදී සමාලෝචනය කරන ලදී. මෙම ආයතන විසින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කරනු ලබන වත්මන් ව්‍යාපෘති සහ රට පුරා තරුණ සංවර්ධනය අරමුණු කරගත් වැඩසටහන් පිළිබඳව ජනාධිපතිවරයා දැනුවත් කරන ලදී. සාකච්ඡාවේදී, දියුණු රටවලට සමානව, ක්‍රීඩාවට සමාජ ප්‍රතිලාභ පමණක් නොව සැලකිය යුතු ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිලාභ ද ලබා දිය හැකි බව ජනාධිපතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය. අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ක්‍රීඩා සංවර්ධන මුලපිරීම් ඔහු සමීපව පරීක්ෂා කළ අතර වඩාත් උපායමාර්ගික ප්‍රවේශයක් ඉල්ලා සිටියේය. ජාතික තරුණ සේවා සභාවේ “යෞවන සමාජ” වැඩසටහන කෙරෙහි ද අවධානය යොමු විය. පාසල් හැර යන තරුණ තරුණියන් සඳහා පහසුකම් සපයන සහ තරුණ රැකියා ප්‍රවර්ධනය කරන නවීන හා හොඳින් සන්නද්ධ වෘත්තීය පුහුණු මධ්‍යස්ථාන පිහිටුවීම කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කරන ලෙස ජනාධිපතිතුමා නිලධාරීන්ට උපදෙස් දුන්නේය. කාර්යක්ෂම හා ප්‍රතිඵල කේන්ද්‍ර කරගත් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමේ වැදගත්කම අවධාරණය කළ ජනාධිපතිතුමා, අමාත්‍යාංශය යටතේ ඇති සියලුම ආයතන 2025 අවසන් වන විට භෞතික හා මූල්‍ය ඉලක්ක සපුරා ගැනීම සඳහා සාමූහිකව කටයුතු කළ යුතු බවත්, වෙන් කරන ලද සම්පත් ප්‍රශස්ත ලෙස භාවිතා කිරීම සහතික කරන බවත් අවධාරණය කළේය. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. 2025 ජුනි මාසය සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මිලදී ගැනීමේ කළමනාකරුවන්ගේ දර්ශකය (PMI) නිෂ්පාදන සහ සේවා යන අංශ දෙකෙහිම අඛණ්ඩ වර්ධනයක් පෙන්නුම් කරයි. රැකියා පහත වැටීමක් තිබියදීත්, නිෂ්පාදන PMI අගය 51.9 ක් වූ අතර එය මධ්‍යස්ථ ප්‍රසාරණයක් පෙන්නුම් කරයි. ගෝලීය වෙළඳ අවිනිශ්චිතතාවයන් හේතුවෙන් සමාගම් ප්‍රවේශම් සහගතව සිටියද නව ඇණවුම් සහ නිෂ්පාදනය වැඩි විය. මේ අතර, මූල්‍ය, රක්ෂණ සහ ප්‍රවාහන අංශවල ශක්තිමත් ක්‍රියාකාරකම් හේතුවෙන් සේවා PMI අගය 61.9 දක්වා තියුනු ලෙස ඉහළ ගියේය. රැකියා සහ නව ව්‍යාපාර ද වැඩිදියුණු විය. ගෝලීය වෙළඳ ආතතීන් සහ ඩිජිටල් සේවා සඳහා නව බදු පිළිබඳ කනස්සල්ල පැවතුනද, ඉදිරි දැක්ම ධනාත්මකව පවතී. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. If you're anywhere near the coast in southern or western Australia this week, brace yourself - some huge waves are on the way. A series of powerful cold fronts brewing in the Southern Ocean have whipped up massive swells, and they’re now charging toward three of Australia’s coastlines, as well as parts of Indonesia and the Pacific. Over the past few days, gale to storm-force winds have been raging south and southwest of the country. At one point on Tuesday, those winds were so widespread, they were covering an area bigger than the entire landmass of Western Australia. That’s a serious weather system. In the heart of the storm, seas have been towering over 10 metres high, while waves over 5 metres are pushing out from the storm zone — stretching from the west and south of Tasmania almost all the way to Africa. These swells are now spreading out, hammering the western and southern coastlines of Australia, and continuing their journey into the Indian Ocean, Tasman Sea, and further into the Pacific. So if you're heading to the beach, expect rough conditions and steer clear of the surf unless you're an experienced pro — and even then, it’s best to take extra care. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. US President Donald Trump is once again turning up the heat on global trade — this time targeting pharmaceutical imports, a move that could seriously impact Australia. Speaking to reporters today, Trump said he’s planning to introduce tariffs on imported drugs by the end of July. He mentioned starting with a lower rate and gradually increasing it over a year to give companies time to build manufacturing facilities in the US. “It'll probably come into effect at the end of the month,” Trump said. That’s bad news for Australia’s pharmaceutical industry, which already faces a 10% tariff on exports to the US — a number Trump has warned could rise to 15 or even 20% by August 1. But things could get a lot worse. Trump has floated the idea of tariffs on pharmaceuticals climbing as high as 200%, which would make Australian-made drugs significantly more expensive for American consumers. That could dent demand and squeeze Aussie exporters. And the stakes are high: pharmaceuticals are Australia’s second-biggest export to the US, just behind beef, and worth more than $1.6 billion a year, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently told ABC Radio that the pharmaceutical sector is "exposed" to these kinds of moves, acknowledging how vulnerable the industry is to shifts in US trade policy. For Trump, the goal is clear — he wants to bring manufacturing jobs back to America, even if it means adding pressure on long-standing trade partners like Australia. If these new tariffs go ahead, Australian drugmakers could be in for a tough time — and it might not be long before we see ripple effects through the wider economy. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. විදේශයන්හි සිටින ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයින්ට තෝරාගත් ශ්‍රී ලාංකික දූත මණ්ඩල සහ විදේශ කාර්යාල හරහා විදේශ ගමන් බලපත්‍ර සඳහා අයදුම් කිරීම සඳහා මාර්ගගත ක්‍රමයක් ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සඳහා ඒකාබද්ධ යෝජනාවක් කැබිනට් මණ්ඩලය විසින් අනුමත කරන ලදී. ජාත්‍යන්තර සංක්‍රමණ සංවිධානයේ (IOM) සහාය ඇතිව, ශ්‍රී ලංකා දූත මණ්ඩල 20 ක් හරහා ජෛවමිතික ග්‍රහණ මධ්‍යස්ථාන ස්ථාපිත කිරීම සහ අවශ්‍ය උපකරණ සැපයීම මෙම මුලපිරීමට ඇතුළත් වේ. මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතියට මෘදුකාංග පද්ධති සංවර්ධනය කිරීම, ආගමන හා විගමන දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව සමඟ තත්‍ය කාලීන සම්බන්ධතාවය සක්‍රීය කිරීම සහ තාක්ෂණික සහාය ලබා දීම ද ඇතුළත් වේ. විදේශ කටයුතු, විදේශ රැකියා සහ සංචාරක අමාත්‍යවරයා සහ මහජන ආරක්ෂක සහ පාර්ලිමේන්තු කටයුතු අමාත්‍යවරයා එක්ව මෙම යෝජනාව ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලදී. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for stronger cooperation between China and Australia, saying both countries should work together in the face of global uncertainty and rising protectionism. Speaking at a high-profile CEO roundtable in Beijing — which included Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and major business leaders from both countries — Li warned that the international trade landscape is shifting fast, and not always for the better. “There are more and more destabilising factors and growing uncertainty,” Li said. “Trade frictions and protectionist measures are on the rise. That’s why China and Australia need to stick together and promote open trade.” The timing of his comments is interesting. They come against the backdrop of ongoing US-China trade tensions, particularly under former President Donald Trump, who slapped steep tariffs on Chinese goods. Australia, meanwhile, has largely avoided similar pressure — although China did hit some Aussie exports with tariffs during a tense period in relations. That friction was triggered by Australia’s call for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, which didn’t sit well with Beijing. But things have calmed since then. In fact, Li praised the “resilience” and “vitality” of the Australia-China trade relationship, despite what he called “some twists and turns.” And there’s reason to be optimistic — many of those tariffs have now been dropped, giving Australian exporters a boost. Albanese welcomed the improved trade ties, noting that Australia’s exports to China have doubled in the decade since a free trade agreement was signed. “This is a really important moment for both our countries,” Albanese said. “Yes, we’ve had challenges, but we’ve also had shared successes. Now we need to work together on common challenges ahead.” The PM also said this latest roundtable sends a strong message back home: that Australia values its relationship with China, not just for economic reasons but also for the stability of global trade. Political experts say China’s warm tone is no accident. “It’s a signal to Australia,” said analyst Simon Jackman. “Basically, China’s saying, ‘You can trust us — maybe even more than the US right now.’” And public opinion might be shifting. According to the latest Lowy Institute poll, trust in China has actually ticked up slightly, while trust in the US has dropped — especially during Trump’s second term. Only 20% of Australians say they trust China, but that's up three points. Trust in the US, meanwhile, has fallen 20 points to 36%. The roundtable event — hosted by the Business Council of Australia and the China Development Bank — was held in Beijing for the first time since 2016. And the focus was clear: more trade, more cooperation, and more Australian products on Chinese shelves. “We talked about everything from green steel to Aussie beef and rice,” said BCA boss Bran Black. “Trade supports one in four Australian jobs — so growing our relationship with China is absolutely vital.” The meeting followed Albanese’s headline visit with President Xi Jinping, signaling a possible new chapter in Australia-China ties. In a world full of economic headwinds, both sides seem ready to move forward — and do more business. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව අද දින කොළඹදී සෞදි සංවර්ධන අරමුදල (SFD) සමඟ ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සංශෝධන ණය ගිවිසුම් අත්සන් කිරීමත් සමඟ එහි බාහිර ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීමේ ප්‍රයත්නයන්හි ප්‍රධාන සන්ධිස්ථානයකට ළඟා විය. SFD විසින් කලින් දීර්ඝ කරන ලද SAR මිලියන 517 (516,951,065.02) ක ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත ණය ගිවිසුම්, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ පුළුල් ණය අයකර ගැනීමේ රාමුවේ ප්‍රධාන පියවරක් සනිටුහන් කරයි. සෞදි අරාබි රාජධානිය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආර්ථික අර්බුදය පුරාවටම ස්ථිර හවුල්කරුවෙකු ලෙස රැඳී සිටි අතර, රට ණය ඇණහිටීමක් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කිරීමෙන් පසුව පවා ණය ලබා දීම අඛණ්ඩව සිදු කළේය. ප්‍රධාන සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘති සඳහා ගම්‍යතාවය පවත්වා ගැනීම සඳහා මෙම අඛණ්ඩ සහයෝගය තීරණාත්මක වී ඇත. සහනදායී කොන්දේසි මත ලබා දෙන SFD ණය, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ණය බර ලිහිල් කිරීමට ද සැලකිය යුතු ලෙස දායක වී ඇත. මුදල්, සැලසුම් සහ ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ලේකම් ආචාර්ය හර්ෂණ සූරියප්පෙරුම සහ SFD හි ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී සුල්තාන් අබ්දුල්රහ්මාන් ඒ. අල්මර්ෂාඩ් මහතා විසින් ගිවිසුම් අත්සන් කරන ලදී. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australians could save up to $1.2 billion a year on everyday shopping under a bold new proposal from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). In a move that could shake up how we pay, the RBA is recommending an end to surcharges on Eftpos, Mastercard, and Visa card payments. Right now, Aussies fork out about $1.2 billion in card surcharges every year, according to the RBA — charges that pop up when you're paying for a coffee, dinner, or online shopping. But the bank says those fees no longer serve their original purpose. “People used to avoid surcharges by using cash or cheaper cards,” the RBA said in a statement. “But with less cash use, and many businesses now charging the same fee no matter what card you use, it’s become harder for consumers to make cost-saving choices. It’s also really difficult to enforce the current rules properly.” The RBA argues that scrapping surcharges altogether would make paying by card simpler, more transparent, and increase competition among card providers. But not everyone’s cheering. The Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association has come out swinging, saying small businesses will be the ones left footing the bill. “If this goes ahead, businesses that were charging customers a small fee to cover card costs will now have to absorb those costs themselves,” said CEO Wes Lambert. “That means higher prices across the board — so the supposed savings for customers will just get wiped out at the counter.” The surcharge ban is just one of a few big changes the RBA is floating as part of its review of how card payments work in Australia. Other proposals include: Requiring card networks and large providers to publish the fees they charge, so businesses can shop around more easily. Lowering the cap on interchange fees — the behind-the-scenes charges banks make when cards are used — which could save businesses another $1.2 billion per year. According to the RBA, 90% of Aussie businesses would be better off under the changes, especially smaller ones who often pay the highest fees. They also say putting limits on international card fees could lower costs for anyone accepting overseas payments. There’s still time for feedback — the public can have their say until August 26, before the final decisions are made. You can read the full consultation paper on the RBA’s website. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Australia and the United States have just launched their biggest-ever joint military exercise — and it looks like China will be keeping a close eye on it. Called Exercise Talisman Sabre, the wargames officially begin today, with more than 30,000 military personnel from 19 countries taking part across Queensland and other parts of Australia. This year is the largest edition of the drills so far — and for the first time, parts of the exercise will also take place in Papua New Guinea. But with all that action, don’t be surprised if Chinese surveillance ships show up offshore. “It’s kind of expected,” said political editor Charles Croucher. “They’re usually in international waters and legally allowed to be there.” Federal Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy echoed that sentiment during an interview with the saying it would actually be strange not to see Chinese activity during the drills. “China has observed the last four Talisman Sabre exercises,” Conroy said. “So it wouldn’t be surprising if they did again.” He added that Australia will keep an eye on China's movements and adjust the exercises as needed. The timing of the drills is also interesting — they coincide with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to China, where he’s expected to discuss defence and security issues in a meeting with President Xi Jinping. That meeting comes just months after a Chinese naval flotilla circled Australia and conducted live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea with little advance notice. Meanwhile, a report from the Pentagon is asking Australia for reassurances about how it would use nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS defence pact, especially if the US goes to war — possibly with China over Taiwan. When asked about those reports in Shanghai, PM Albanese didn’t go into detail but made Australia’s stance clear: “Our focus is on advancing peace and security in our region,” he said. “We support the status quo when it comes to Taiwan and don’t support any unilateral actions. Our position has been consistent.” So, while the exercises may be routine for the military, there’s no doubt that all eyes — including China’s — are watching closely. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව විසින් නිකුත් කරන ලද දත්ත වලට අනුව, විදේශයන්හි සේවය කරන ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන් 2025 ජුනි මාසයේදී ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 635.7 ක ප්‍රේෂණ සිය රටට එවා ඇත. මෙය 2024 ජුනි මාසයේදී ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 519.6 ක ප්‍රේෂණ ගලා ඒම හා සසඳන විට 22% ක වැඩිවීමක් නියෝජනය කරයි. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. Good news for a few farming towns in South Australia — recent rainfall has finally tipped them over the monthly average. Snowtown in the Mid North, and Cummins and Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula, have picked up 47mm, 62mm, and 45mm of rain so far this month. Most of that fell just last Wednesday. For Kimba, this marks two months in a row of above-average rainfall — something that hasn’t happened since 2022. Now, that might sound like things are on the up — and in some ways, they are. But when you zoom out and look at the bigger picture, it’s clear there's still a long way to go. For Snowtown and Cummins, this is the first wetter-than-average month in over a year — 13 months and 9 months, to be exact. And even with the recent rain, long-term deficits remain pretty significant: Cummins is still 310mm short, Snowtown 300mm, and Kimba 250mm below the 24-month average. This kind of shortfall isn’t limited to just those towns — most of SA’s farming areas have only received about 50–60% of their usual rainfall over the past two years. So, while the topsoil is starting to show signs of improvement, things are still pretty dry deeper down. What’s changed recently? Cold fronts and low-pressure systems have been dropping by more often, and some of them are pulling in extra moisture from the Indian Ocean — always a good sign for farmers. Looking ahead, it’s likely we’ll see more of this kind of weather through the next few months. Occasional northwest cloudbands could bring decent rain, meaning most regions are on track for a fairly average season. And after the dry spell we've had, average sounds pretty great. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Australians .