A black box from a ship loaded with chemical and plastic that is sinking off Sri Lanka has been located, officials said Sunday, as investigators probe what caused the vessel to catch fire.

The fisher community which has fallen from the frying pan into the fire due to the blow from a double whammy of the global pandemic and now the ship catching fire in Lankan waters urgently call for assistance from the authorities to keep the home fires burning.

Sri Lanka is due to receive one million doses of the Chinese manufactured Sinopharm vaccine, today (06).

A Government proposal for State-owned Litro Gas Lanka Ltd to buy 40 percent equity in the private LAUGFS Gas Terminal International Company (LGTIC) that operates a tank farm in Hambantota will go to Cabinet for approval tomorrow amidst controversy.

Disaster Management Centre (DMC) says as many as 170,022 people of 41,717 families were affected in several districts of the country due to adverse weather conditions.

Four persons are reported missing after their home was buried in an earth slip at Devanagala in Mawanella.

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on Thursday claimed that Sri Lanka had now been turned into a land for auction and warned the whole country was in danger because of irresponsible rulers selling national resources to foreigners and close friends, destroying the heritage of future generations.

There are no laboratory facilities in the country to analyse any organic fertiliser to determine whether it is harmful or not, Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera revealed.

Minister Namal Rajapaksa says five centres will be established for COVID-19 vaccinations for individuals who are yet to receive the vaccine in the Colombo city limits.

Making a special statement he said health workers are carrying out their work despite high risk because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic he said has turned the whole world upside down.

Sri Lanka’s fishermen are already feeling the impact of an unfolding environmental disaster caused by the slow sinking of a fire-ravaged cargo ship that had been loaded with chemicals.

Britain added seven countries, including Egypt and Sri Lanka, to its “red list” of destinations that require hotel quarantine on return to England on Thursday

The United States announced Wednesday that it plans to send 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to countries around the world, including Sri Lanka, by the end of June.

The owners of Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl which caught fire off Colombo Port have agreed to make an interim payment to Sri Lanka for the damage done to the marine environment of the country, an official said.