At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Australian community informed with timely updates. If you’re in Victoria or NSW, better keep the umbrella handy this long weekend.  A wave of heavy rain and thunderstorms is set to roll in, kicking off as early as Anzac Day  (Friday), and sticking around through the weekend. It’s all thanks to a broad low pressure trough and cold front , which, as the weather maps show, are combining forces with tropical moisture streaming in from both the northwest and northeast of Australia. Basically, we’ve got the perfect recipe for some wild weather. Victoria: Victorians should brace for a wet and stormy Anzac Day , especially across western and central parts of the state. Storms could start around dawn  (yes, right when those dawn services are happening), with heavier rain and severe thunderstorms likely from late morning through to early evening . Eastern Victoria may dodge the worst of it, but the rest of the state should expect to get a good soaking. Forecasts suggest widespread rainfalls of 20-30mm , with some spots potentially picking up 40-50mm , especially in the central and northern areas. While that’s not exactly picnic weather, it’s much-needed relief for parts of Victoria that have been dealing with serious rainfall deficiencies over the last year or two . Storms could linger into early Saturday , but by Sunday, a high pressure ridge  should push most of the showers away, leaving behind a cooler, cloudy day. New South Wales: NSW won't escape the downpour either. Southwestern areas  are up first, with heavy rain and intense thunderstorms expected Friday afternoon and evening . By Saturday, that rain spreads out over the west and central regions , reaching Sydney and the east  by Saturday afternoon and into the evening. Storms are likely to bring localised heavy downpours , and there's also a chance of large hail and damaging winds , especially over western and northern NSW. Expect 15-30mm of rain  across large parts of the state — with potentially more in the east once the trough deepens on Sunday. As the system intensifies and a low pressure system develops off the coast , southerly winds will strengthen  along the eastern seaboard on Sunday , and gusty showers could hang around into Monday . So, whether you're heading to a dawn service, planning a road trip, or just trying to enjoy a quiet weekend — make sure you’re checking forecasts regularly and have a backup plan in case the weather turns. Stay safe and dry out there! More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ නියෝජ්‍ය අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය සහ විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan මහතා ප්‍රකාශ කළේ එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමඟ දිගුකාලීන සබඳතා තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් කරමින් බලශක්ති, සංචාරක, විදේශ ආයෝජන සහ විදේශ රැකියා ක්ෂේත්‍ර ප්‍රවර්ධනයට ප්‍රමුඛත්වය දෙන බවයි. එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ ඉහළ පෙළේ නියෝජිත පිරිසක් ද කැටුව මේ දිනවල නිල සංචාරයක් සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ සිටින නියෝජ්‍ය අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා මෙම අදහස් පළ කළේ ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා සමඟ ජනාධිපති කාර්යාලයේ පැවති හමුවකදීය. දෙරට අතර ගැඹුරු සහයෝගීතාව තුළින් අන්‍යෝන්‍ය ආර්ථික ප්‍රතිලාභ අත්කර ගැනීම කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කරමින් දෙරට අතර පවතින ශක්තිමත් සහ දිගුකාලීන ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සබඳතා තවදුරටත් ශක්තිමත් කිරීම සහ පුළුල් කිරීම මෙම සංචාරයේ අරමුණ බව නියෝජ්‍ය අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා අවධාරණය කළේය. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නව පරිපාලනයට එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යය සහ එහි ජනතාව වෙනුවෙන් සිය සුභාශිංසන පළ කළ නියෝජ්‍ය අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා නව රජයේ සංවර්ධන න්‍යාය පත්‍රය සඳහා එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ පූර්ණ සහයෝගය ලබා දෙන බවට සහතික විය. තවද, ශ්‍රී ලංකාව යළි ගොඩනැගීම සඳහා ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතාගේ කැපවීම, ප්‍රයත්නය සහ උනන්දුව මෙන්ම එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යය සමඟ සබඳතා සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඔහුගේ ධනාත්මක ප්‍රවේශයද ඔහු අගය කළේය. ඊට ප්‍රතිචාර දක්වමින් ජනාධිපති අනුර කුමාර දිසානායක මහතා අවධාරණය කළේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව දැන් ආයෝජනයට හිතකර පරිසරයක් ස්ථාපිත කර ඇති බවයි. අතීතයේ මෙන් නොව ආයෝජන අධෛර්යමත් කරන අස්ථාවර වාතාවරණයක් රට තුළ යළි ඇතිවීමට ඉඩ නොතබන බවට ඔහු සහතික විය. ආයෝජන ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සඳහා ශක්තිමත් නීතිමය රාමුවක් මේ වන විට ක්‍රියාත්මක බව ද ජනාධිපතිතුමා අවධාරණය කළේය. ණය ප්‍රතිව්‍යුහගත කිරීම සහ ආර්ථික ස්ථාවරත්වය ළඟා කර ගැනීම සඳහා රජය ගෙන ඇති පියවර පිළිබඳව ද ජනාධිපතිතුමා නියෝජිත පිරිස දැනුවත් කළේය. මීට අමතරව, ඔහු වරාය පර්යන්ත සංවර්ධනය, වරාය නගර සංවර්ධනය, සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය, බලශක්ති අංශය සහ ප්‍රවාහන ක්ෂේත්‍රයේ ඇති ආයෝජන අවස්ථා විස්තර කළේය. කලාපයේ ප්‍රමුඛතම ආයෝජන මධ්‍යස්ථානය සහ ප්‍රමුඛතම සංචාරක ගමනාන්තය ලෙස ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ස්ථානගත කිරීම නව රජයේ අරමුණ බව ද ජනාධිපතිතුමා වැඩිදුරටත් අවධාරණය කළේය. මෙම රැස්වීමට පැමිණ සිටි අය අතර කම්කරු අමාත්‍ය සහ ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන නියෝජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය ආචාර්ය අනිල් ජයන්ත ප්‍රනාන්දු, ජනාධිපති ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ අතිරේක ලේකම් රොෂාන් ගමගේ, රාජ්‍ය අමාත්‍ය (UAE) එච්.ඊ. අහමඩ් අලි අල් සයෙග්; ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ තානාපති එච්.ඊ. Khaled Nasser Al Ameri, ආර්ථික සහ වෙළඳ කටයුතු පිළිබඳ සහකාර අමාත්‍ය (UAE) H.E. Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, බලශක්ති සහ තිරසාර කටයුතු (UAE) විදේශ කටයුතු සහකාර අමාත්‍ය එච්.ඊ. අබ්දුල්ලා බලලා, එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ කාර්යාලයේ නියෝජ්‍ය මාණ්ඩලික ප්‍රධානී, අහමඩ් බුර්හයිමා, විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශයේ (එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ) ප්‍රතිපත්ති සැලසුම් දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ අධ්‍යක්ෂ මුආත් අල්වාරි, විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ කාර්යාලයේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ මාධ්‍ය සහ අන්තර්ගත විශේෂඥ එම්. සහ තවත් නිලධාරීන් කිහිප දෙනෙක්. (PMD) More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Global community informed with timely updates. The Vatican is preparing to say goodbye to Pope Francis,  with his funeral now officially set for Saturday at 10am (6pm AEST)  in St Peter’s Square . Cardinals met today in the Synod Hall to make the first big decisions since his passing, including plans for the funeral and allowing the public to pay their respects from Wednesday , when his casket will be brought into St Peter’s Basilica . It’s a moment the world is watching closely. Condolences have been pouring in from across the globe  for the late pope — the first from Latin America — who many saw as a voice for compassion, reform, and the poor. World leaders are expected to attend , including Donald and Melania Trump , UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer , and Argentine President Javier Milei . From Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese  said he’s spoken with Governor-General Sam Mostyn , who will likely represent the country as she travels back from Anzac Day commemorations in Gallipoli . Rome is already tightening security  ahead of the funeral. The city is packed with Easter tourists, and Sunday’s previously planned youth jubilee mass will only add to the crowds. Italian police are already out in force — on horseback, on foot, and even in boats along the Tiber River. Starting Wednesday , tens of thousands of mourners  are expected to line up to say goodbye as Francis lies in state in St Peter’s. Vatican officials  were among the first to pay their respects Monday night, including Sister Nathalie Becquart , one of the Vatican’s highest-ranking women. She reflected on his final moments with awe: “He truly gave everything he had, up to the end.” Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi  also praised Francis for his efforts to elevate the role of women in the Church , calling it one of his most lasting legacies. Francis died on Monday at age 88 , after suffering a stroke that led to heart failure. He had been recovering at his Vatican residence following a long hospital stay for pneumonia. His last public appearance was Easter Sunday , as he rode through St Peter’s Square in the popemobile — offering a final smile, wave, and blessing to the faithful. Fittingly, it was from the same loggia where he first greeted the world as pope in 2013. “He gave himself to the end,” said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi , a close ally and potential papal successor.“To go out to meet everyone, speak to everyone, teach us to speak to everyone, to bless everyone.” On Tuesday, the first images of Francis' body  were released — lying in a wooden casket, dressed in red vestments with his bishop’s miter, as the Vatican’s secretary of state prayed over him. In his final will , Francis asked to be buried at St Mary Major Basilica , outside the Vatican — a place deeply personal to him. It’s home to his favorite icon of the Virgin Mary , a Byzantine-style painting of Mary holding Jesus, who clutches a golden book. Francis often stopped there before and after every international trip to pray and offer flowers. He visited the basilica for the last time on April 12 , just days before he passed. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

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 ලංකාවේ ජල මූලාශ්‍ර භාවිත කරමින් සංචාරක හා මගී ප්‍රවාහන කටයුතු ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමේ යෝජනාවට රාජ්‍ය පෞද්ගලික හවුල්කාරිත්වය යටතේ කැබිනට් අනුමැතිය හිමිව තිබේ. රජය පවසන පරිදි ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ජල මූලාශ්‍රවලින් සහ ජල ප්‍රවාහයන්ගෙන් පිරුණු දිවයිනක් බැවින් සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය සහ නාගරික මගී ප්‍රවාහනය දියුණු කිරීම සඳහා මෙම සම්පත් ඵලදායී ලෙස යොදා ගැනීමේ හැකියාව පවතී. ඒ අනුව දිවයිනේ සහ වෙරළ තීරයේ පවතින ජල ප්‍රවාහයන් යොදා ගනිමින් ප්‍රදේශ කිහිපයක් ආවරණය වන පරිදි බෝට්ටු සේවාවක් ආරම්භ කිරීම කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමුව තිබෙනවා. පුත්තලම-කොටුව, කොටුව-ගාල්ල සහ ගාල්ල-මාතර අතර වෙරළබඩ ප්‍රවාහන සේවයක් ආරම්භ කිරීමටත් අවශ්‍ය යටිතල පහසුකම් සංවර්ධනය තුළින් සංචාරක හා මගී ප්‍රවාහනය ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමටත් යෝජිතය. තවද, හැමිල්ටන් ඇළ, බෙර වැව, දියවන්නා ඔය සහ මාදු ගඟ වැනි විභව ජල මූලාශ්‍ර යොදා ගනිමින් අභ්‍යන්තර ජල සම්පත් පහසුකම් ලබා දීමෙන් සංචාරක කර්මාන්තය ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීමට ද අපේක්ෂා කෙරේ. ඒ අනුව අදාළ ව්‍යාපෘතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් ශක්‍යතා අධ්‍යයනයක් කිරීමටත් ශක්‍යතා අධ්‍යයනයේ ප්‍රතිඵල මත යෝජිත ව්‍යාපෘතිය රාජ්‍ය හා පෞද්ගලික ඒකාබද්ධ වැඩසටහනක් ලෙස ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීමටත් සංචාරක අමාත්‍යවරයා ඉදිරිපත් කළ යෝජනාව අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලය විසින් අනුමත කර ඇත. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. With just 10 days to go before Aussies head to the polls, Peter Dutton and the Coalition have rolled out a massive new promise : a whopping $21 billion defence boost  if they win government. Fresh off his showdown with Anthony Albanese on Nine’s The Great Debate , Dutton announced plans to ramp up defence spending to 2.5% of Australia’s GDP by 2030 , which would be a serious cash injection — about $25 to $30 billion extra per year . So where’s all that money going? According to Dutton, it’ll help recruit more personnel , lock in extra F-35 fighter jets , and bring the much-talked-about AUKUS nuclear sub deal  across the finish line. And that’s not where it ends — the Coalition’s long-term goal is to push spending all the way up to 3% of GDP  within a decade, aligning with Donald Trump’s call for the same in the US . In a statement, Dutton didn’t hold back: “The prime minister and the deputy prime minister regularly tell Australians that we live in the most precarious period since the end of the Second World War… yet Labor has done nothing about it, other than rip money out of defence.” For context, Labor’s current defence plan  has spending reaching $100 billion annually by 2034 , or about 2.33% of GDP . So Dutton’s promising to go bigger — and faster. When asked if China’s rising influence was the motivation behind this move, Dutton admitted it’s part of the picture — but pointed to a broader shift globally. “Let’s be frank… it’s also what’s happening in Europe. The prospect of Russia moving beyond Ukraine has NATO countries extremely worried. Countries like Germany and Italy are stepping up — and so should we.” Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie  backed him up, saying the Coalition will share a full cost breakdown before election day  on May 3. “There are trade-offs, of course. But what price do we put on defence?”“We need to be able to defend ourselves with rising authoritarian threats, the war in Ukraine, instability in the Indo-Pacific, and Trump’s America-first approach.” Hastie also took a swipe at Labor’s defence recruitment efforts, saying the ADF is in a “ crisis ” — struggling to bring in new recruits and retain experienced personnel. “We’re not keeping good people in uniform,” he said. “And readiness is suffering.” But Labor’s not letting this go unchallenged. Defence Minister Richard Marles  hit back hard, calling the Coalition’s plan a “ pathetic whimper ” and accusing them of lacking a real plan. “You can’t trust the Liberals on defence. There’s no clear funding path, no breakdown of spending — it’s not a policy, it’s a headline.” So, the battlelines are drawn: Dutton’s Coalition wants to make defence a major ballot box issue. Labor’s brushing it off as empty posturing. Either way, expect defence to be a hot topic in these final campaign days. Visit the Aus News Lanka homepage   for more updates.

This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond. ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ මෙල්බර්න් ගුවන් තොටුපළේ ශ්‍රී ලංකන් ගුවන් සේවය සඳහා ගොඩබිම් හැසිරවීමේ සේවා සම්බන්ධ කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුව AUD 13,124,402 ක මුදලකට Dnata Airport Services Pty Limited වෙත ප්‍රදානය කිරීමට අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩලය අනුමැතිය ලබා දී ඇත. රජයට අනුව, ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ මෙල්බර්න් ගුවන් තොටුපළේ බිම් හැසිරවීමේ සේවා සැපයීම සඳහා දැනට පවතින කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුව 2025 ජුනි 30 දිනෙන් අවසන් වීමට නියමිතය. එබැවින් ඉදිරි වසර 03 සඳහා බිම් හැසිරවීමේ සේවා සපයන්නෙකු තෝරා ගැනීම සඳහා සීමිත ජාත්‍යන්තර තරඟකාරී ලංසු කැඳවා ඇත. ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලද ලංසු හතර (04) සමාලෝචනය කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව ඉහළ මට්ටමේ ස්ථාවර ප්‍රසම්පාදන කමිටුව විසින් අදාළ කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුව Dnata Airport Services Pty Limited වෙත ලබා දීමට නිර්දේශ කර ඇත. ඒ අනුව ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ මෙල්බර්න් ගුවන් තොටුපළේදී ශ්‍රීලංකන් ගුවන් සේවය සඳහා මගී, ගොඩබිම් සහ භාණ්ඩ හැසිරවීම ඇතුළු බිම් හැසිරවීමේ සේවා සැපයීමේ කොන්ත්‍රාත්තුව Dnata Airport Services Pty Limited වෙත ලබාදීම සඳහා මුදල්, ක්‍රමසම්පාදන හා ආර්ථික සංවර්ධන අමාත්‍යවරයා ලෙස ජනාධිපතිවරයා විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලද යෝජනාවට අමාත්‍ය මණ්ඩල අනුමැතිය හිමි විය. 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. If you were up late (or got woken up suddenly!) in New South Wales last night, you weren’t imagining things — a 4.6-magnitude earthquake  struck the Hunter region in the early hours of the morning. The quake hit around 2:55 AM , with the epicentre about 10km beneath the town of Singleton , which is west of Newcastle and around 200km north of Sydney . It didn’t just stay local either — people felt the shaking all the way from Taree down to Wollongong , and yes, even in Sydney . Over 3,400 people  jumped online to report feeling the tremor on the Geoscience Australia website. Some even felt it as far as the Queensland border and Canberra . That’s a pretty wide reach for an Aussie quake! Geoscience Australia originally recorded it as a magnitude 5.1 , but it was later revised down to 4.6 . Still, that’s on the larger side for earthquakes in Australia. Professor Phil Cummins, a seismologist, told the Today  show that while a 4.6 isn’t usually enough to cause serious damage, it definitely could  shake things up a bit — and may even cause minor damage in some areas . "This was a relatively large earthquake by Australian standards,” he said. “It certainly would have shaken people over a very wide area.” Turns out, the Hunter Valley  is one of the more earthquake-prone spots in the country. Professor Cummins pointed out that the area around Muswellbrook  has had quite a few quakes — two of this size in the past year , plus many smaller ones. And of course, people in the region still remember the devastating 1989 Newcastle quake , which measured 5.6  and sadly claimed 13 lives . As for this one — thankfully, no reports of injuries or damage  have come through so far, according to police. And just in case you were wondering: no tsunami threat  either, confirmed by the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre. Still, it was a bit of a rude awakening for plenty of Sydneysiders. Many took to social media in the early morning hours saying their homes shook or rattled , especially in areas like Wentworth Point . All in all, a bit of a shake-up — but luckily, not a dangerous one. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep the Sri Lankan community informed with timely updates. ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලය (SLTB) පසුගිය දින 9ක කාලය තුළ ආදායම් ලෙස රු. මිලියන 1,300ට ආසන්න මුදලක් උපයා ඇති අතර, ඉදිරියේදී මෙම ආදායම තවදුරටත් වැඩිවීමේ අපේක්ෂාව පවතින බව ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලයේ කළමනාකරු වන එච්. පියතිලක මහතා සඳහන් කළේය. ඔහු මාධ්‍ය වෙත පැවසූයේ, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලය (SLTB) බස් සේවා අප්‍රේල් 10 වනදා සිට ආරම්භ කර ඇති බවයි. අද වන විට පැවැත්වෙන්නේ පැය 24ක් පුරා ක්‍රියාත්මක වන බස් සේවාවක් වන අතර, මහනුවරදී පැවැත්වෙන ‘සිරි දළදා වන්දනා’ සඳහා සහභාගී වන භක්තිකයන් වෙනුවෙන් විශේෂ බස් සේවාවක්ද යොදා ඇති බව ඔහු තවදුරටත් පැවසීය. මහනුවර – කොළඹ මාර්ගයේ බස් රථ 150කට ආසන්න ප්‍රමාණයක් ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලය (SLTB) විසින් යොදවා ඇති බවද ඔහු සඳහන් කළේය. සිංහල හා දෙමළ අලුත් අවුරුදු නිවාඩුවෙන් පසුව කොළඹ වෙත ආපසු එන මගීන් වෙනුවෙන්ද විශේෂ බස් සේවා මෙසේම දිවයින පුරා ක්‍රියාත්මක වන්නේ යැයි ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලය (SLTB) කළමනාකරු වැඩිදුරටත් සඳහන් කළේය. 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. Peter Dutton and the Coalition are going all-in on a tough-on-crime pitch just two weeks out from the federal election. Their latest plan? A $750 million “Operation Safer Communities” package aimed at cracking down on “drugs and thugs” — with a major focus on child safety, border security, and support for law enforcement. At the heart of the announcement is a 12-month trial of a national child sex offender disclosure scheme. Basically, it would let parents apply to police to find out if someone who’s spending time with their kids is a convicted sex offender. The scheme would be backed by $21.3 million in funding and would apply when someone’s had unsupervised contact with a child for at least three days. Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said the finer details would be worked out with the states, but the idea is to give parents peace of mind. “This is all about keeping drugs and thugs off our streets. That’s what Peter Dutton is about — keeping Australians safe,” she said. It’s not the first time Dutton has pushed this kind of idea. Back in 2019, when he was Home Affairs Minister, he floated the idea of a public sex offender register. Now, with polls not in their favour, the Coalition seems to be leaning into familiar territory: national security, crime, and defence — areas where they tend to feel most comfortable. Dutton said this isn’t just a state issue and that a national approach is needed, especially when offenders can move between jurisdictions. He also said the Coalition would soon release a separate domestic violence policy, calling the issue an “abomination” and stressing it deserved focused attention outside of the broader crime plan. In addition to the sex offender disclosure scheme, the Coalition’s crime policy includes: $355 million to fight illegal drugs, including better screening and detection tech. Doubling funding for the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation. $7.5 million over three years for Crime Stoppers to expand operations. New efforts to crack down on date rape drugs and drink spiking. The proposed disclosure scheme would be based on models already running in WA and the UK. Under the WA version, people who receive info through the scheme must keep it confidential — no naming and shaming allowed — and making false applications is actually an offence. The national pilot would be overseen by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, with local law enforcement handling the applications and background checks. Dutton said, “As a former police officer, and as a father, I have always fought for the protection of children. This register is an idea whose time has come.” The Labor government, for its part, hasn’t dismissed the idea outright. Health Minister Mark Butler said they’re “open” to good suggestions about improving community safety — but did take a jab at Dutton, saying he promised a similar register when he was in government and never delivered. Labor’s Murray Watt was even more blunt, calling the move “a cynical” pre-election play. He pointed out that the Coalition previously blocked Labor’s efforts to crack down on money laundering — a big issue tied to organized crime and drug trafficking. Prime Minister Albanese also weighed in, saying his government has already taken action on community safety, including creating a national child sex offender system that allows info-sharing between states, and committing to a national firearms registry set for 2028. Albanese added that while community safety is mainly a state police responsibility, “my government provides whatever support is required when it’s requested.” More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .

"This is a developing story brought to you by Aus News Lanka , your trusted source for news for Sri Lankans  in Australia and beyond." 2024 අවසානය වන විට සේවක භාරකාර අරමුදලේ (ETF) සාමාජික ගිණුම් වලින් විශාල වශයෙන් 14.11%ක් පමණක් සක්‍රියව පැවති බව ශ්‍රී ලංකා මහ බැංකුව (CB) සඳහන් කරයි. මහ බැංකුව පැවසූයේ: “සේවක භාරකාර අරමුදලේ (ETF) සාමාජික ගිණුම් 16.3 මිලියනයක් අතරින්, 2024 අවසානයේදී සක්‍රියව පැවති ගිණුම් සංඛ්‍යාව 2.3 මිලියනයක් පමණක් වූ බවයි.” මෙවැනි අඩු සක්‍රියතාවයක් පවතිද්දීමත් සමඟ,  සේවක භාරකාර අරමුදලේ (ETF) හි වත්කම් පදනම වාර්ශික වශයෙන් 12.7%කින් වර්ධනය වී 2024 අවසානයේදී රු. මිලියන 591.3ක් දක්වා ඉහළ ගියහ. අරමුදල වෙත දායක වුණු නියෝජිතයන්ගේ සංඛ්‍යාවද ඉහළ ගොස් 2023 අවසානයේ 74,927ක් වූයේ 2024 අවසානයේදී 80,008ක් ලෙස වාර්තා විය.  සේවක භාරකාර අරමුදලේ (ETF) හි සමස්ත සාමාජික ශේෂය වාර්ෂිකව 11.9%කින් වර්ධනය වී 2024 අවසානයේදී රු. මිලියන 564.3ක් දක්වා වැඩි විය.  සේවක භාරකාර අරමුදල (ETF) වෙත වූ සමස්ත දායකත්වයද වාර්ෂික වශයෙන් 12.9%කින් ඉහළ ගොස් රු. මිලියන 42.0ක් විය. අනෙකාට ගෙවූ සමස්ත විශ්‍රාම වරප්‍රසාද 2024 වසර තුළ 12.7%කින් පහත වැටී රු. මිලියන 33.4ක් විය. සේවක භාරකාර අරමුදල (ETF) විසින් සිදු කළ ආයෝජන 2024 අවසානයේදී රු. මිලියන 581.1ක් දක්වා වර්ධනය වී 12.8%ක වර්ධනයක් ඇතිවිය. මෙහි විශාලතම කොටසක් වන 94.7%ක් ආයෝජනය කර තිබුනේ රජයේ වාර්තාබදු වලටය, සහ ඒවා වාර්ෂිකව 14.7%කින් වර්ධනය වී 2024 අවසානයේදී රු. මිලියන 550.5ක් විය.  සේවක භාරකාර අරමුදල (ETF) විසින් 2024 වසරේදී සාමාජික ශේෂයන්ට 11.9%ක ආයෝජන ආදායමක් ලබාදුන් බවද වාර්තා වේ. Stay tuned with Aus News Lanka  – the leading platform for news for Sri Lankans .

This morning, at 9:45 AM, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who serves as the Camerlengo of the Apostolic Chamber, made a deeply emotional announcement from the Casa Santa Marta: Pope Francis has passed away. "Dearest brothers and sisters," he began, "with deep sorrow I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis. At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father." Cardinal Farrell spoke warmly about the Pope’s lifelong dedication to serving God and the Church. He remembered Francis as someone who truly lived the Gospel — with courage, love, and a heart especially attuned to the poor and marginalized. "With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus," he said, "we commend his soul to the infinite mercy of God." Pope Francis had been battling health issues for a while. He was admitted to Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Hospital back on February 14 , suffering from a respiratory illness that had lingered for several days. Things got more serious on February 18 , when doctors diagnosed him with bilateral pneumonia . After 38 days in the hospital, he returned home to the Casa Santa Marta  in the Vatican to continue his recovery — but sadly, he never fully bounced back. It’s well known that Francis had long-standing respiratory issues . As a young man in Argentina, at just 21, he had part of one lung removed due to a severe infection. And in his later years, those issues returned more often — he even had to cancel a major trip to the UAE in late 2023  due to lung inflammation and the flu. Even in his final year, Pope Francis continued to make thoughtful changes. In April 2024 , he personally approved a revised version of the Church’s liturgical rites for papal funerals  — a book called Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis . This new version includes updated instructions for what happens after a pope passes away, such as moving the Pope's body directly to the chapel  and placing it in the coffin immediately. Importantly, these changes reflect Pope Francis’s personal wishes: he wanted a simplified funeral , one that emphasizes faith in Christ’s resurrection over ceremony and power. Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the Master of Apostolic Ceremonies, explained it simply: “The renewed rite is meant to highlight that the Pope is a pastor and a disciple of Christ — not a powerful figure of this world.” At this point, details for the funeral Mass haven’t been announced yet, but the tone has already been set — a farewell full of humility, grace, and faith, just like the man himself.

At AusNewsLanka , we aim to keep theAustralian community informed with timely updates. Russia has taken a swipe at Australian political leaders, accusing them of "playing the so-called 'Russian card'" amid rising concerns about a potential Russian military base in Indonesia. The issue came into the spotlight after US intelligence site Janes  reported last week that Moscow had officially asked to base aircraft at Manuhua Air Force Base on Biak Island in Papua, Indonesia — around 1300 kilometres north of Darwin. While Indonesian officials have denied the possibility of such a base actually happening, they haven’t confirmed whether the request was made or not, which has only added to the speculation. In response to the media buzz, Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Sergei Tolchenov, wrote a strongly worded letter to the Jakarta Post , basically asking why Australia even cares. "It’s hard to believe everyday Australians are genuinely worried about something happening 1300 kilometres away, between two other sovereign nations that has nothing to do with them," he said. Tolchenov argued that any military cooperation between Russia and Indonesia is purely defensive and not aimed at anyone else in the region. Then he turned the spotlight back on Australia, calling its own military moves — including its role in the AUKUS pact — “particularly alarming.” He also accused Aussie politicians of stoking tensions for political gain. “It’s obvious both major political parties are trying to outdo each other in anti-Russian rhetoric. Now it’s time to play the ‘Russian card’ — to show their overseas mentors who’s more anti-Russian,” Tolchenov wrote, adding a dramatic mic-drop: “You have no cards.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese didn’t seem fazed, brushing it off at a press conference. “Russia wants propaganda to be pushed by Australians. Of course they do — that’s what Russia does,” he said. Interestingly, Russia hasn’t confirmed whether it actually made the request for the base. But the rumors have only grown after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov recently met Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and earlier this year, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu also met with Indonesia’s Defence Minister. Meanwhile, Australia has been busy reinforcing its own strong ties with Indonesia. The two countries already have a solid defence partnership under the 2006 Lombok Treaty and a newer Defence Cooperation Agreement signed just last year. They also run around 20 joint military exercises each year. Defence Minister Richard Marles said he spoke directly with his Indonesian counterpart, who told him there’s no truth to the Russian base reports. “He has said to me in the clearest possible terms, reports of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true,” Marles said. Indonesia's Defence Ministry also backed that up, telling Reuters  the report was “incorrect.” Prime Minister Albanese emphasized the strength of the Australia-Indonesia relationship, saying it’s “never been stronger.” He also pointed out that Indonesia is a sovereign nation and makes its own decisions — but Australia will always make its own case. And when it comes to Russia and Indonesia, Albanese acknowledged their relationship is historically quite different from Australia’s. More updates to come on AusNewsLanka .