World Test Championship set to stay nine-team contest till 2031
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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, issuing a New Year message, extend his heartfelt wishes to all Sri Lankans for a peaceful and joyous Sinhala and Tamil New Year!
The Sinhala and Tamil New Year, which symbolises the aspiration for renewal both physically and spiritually, is the foremost cultural festival of the people of this country.
During the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, traditional customs are upheld, with priority accorded to rituals and religious observances, and activities undertaken collectively at a common auspicious time. This shared cultural practice vividly reflects our nation’s identity before the world, as well as the strong socio-cultural bonds that exist among our communities.
We firmly believe that the future path of national development can only be shaped in harmony with this invaluable culture and our distinguished historical heritage. Accordingly, it must be recalled that all our future development plans have been formulated upon the firm foundation of these precious traditions and cultural values.
Moreover, the common aspiration embodied in the customs and rituals associated with the solar transition is the nurturing of a compassionate individual who values togetherness, respects others, and lives in harmony with nature. I believe that the virtues and values of unity reflected in these New Year traditions should not be confined to these few days alone, but should instead be demonstrated throughout the year in our daily conduct.
In the face of the most significant recent natural disaster challenge encountered in the past year, we demonstrated to the world our resilience and capacity to withstand internal shocks. At the same time, in responding to the external challenges arising from the conflict in the Middle East, the Government has already set in motion a well-planned and effectively managed programme to overcome these difficulties.
As a nation, in overcoming these challenges together, I call upon all of you to further dedicate yourselves to enriching your lives through the values of togetherness, sharing, and solidarity exemplified during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year season.
As we strengthen the achievements we have secured and move forward with unwavering resolve in the face of emerging challenges, I invite everyone to join hands in unity to realise the vision of “A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life” for all.
I extend my heartfelt wishes to all Sri Lankans for a peaceful and joyous Sinhala and Tamil New Year!
Heat Index at ‘Caution Level’ in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Eastern and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district
US blockade of Iran would worsen global energy crisis, analysts say
Italy fines Meta $880m over photo privacy
It is the government’s aim to make the entrepreneurship one of the driving forces in the national economy – Prime Minister
Showers in the Northern, North-central, Eastern, Western and North-western provinces and in the Galle and Matara districts
Lanka plans more subsidized credit amid high inflation target
Sajith accuses Government of betraying election promises with Budget 2027
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Italian regulators have fined Meta 805 million euros ($887m) for accessing users’ photos without their consent.
The Facebook app on Android devices “accessed photos, videos and associated metadata stored on Italian users’ smartphones without specific consent and without informing them”, Garante, the Italian data privacy authority, said Saturday.
The issue relates specifically to the “Get suggestions from gallery when browsing Facebook” feature, which suggests photos and videos from the phone’s gallery for posting while browsing.
This feature violates the Italian law implementing the EU’s ePrivacy directive, the authority said.
Garante said the app’s process for collecting consent is too generic and does not allow users to fully understand the specific permissions they are allowing by accepting. The suggestions option was also enabled by default.
The figure of 805 million euros is by far the largest fine ever imposed by the Italian regulator.
Garante said Meta must fix the unclear consent notification and disable it being set by default, suggesting that roughly 20 million Italian Android users could have been affected by it.
The regulator also highlighted a “lack of cooperation” by Meta and said an earlier violation, which resulted in a 2019 fine, was a contributing factor in their decision.
The amount is roughly 0.47 percent of Meta’s global turnover.
The proceedings did not address the possible use of content to train artificial intelligence, which Meta denies.
Meta has not yet publicly commented on the matter, and it has the right to appeal the regulator’s decision.
The World Test Championship (WTC) is set to remain at nine teams for the next two cycles through to 2031, despite some vocal support for an expanded competition.
Fierce debate is expected at the ICC board’s all-day meeting on Sunday in Bali, where this long-running issue will finally be decided. The board is expected to ultimately back the ICC’s recommendations to keep the competition as is for the 2027-29 and 2029-31 cycles.
The WTC is currently, in the back-end of its fourth cycle, with the format having undergone much discussion in recent years, including a push for a two-tier league at one stage.
A proposal to expand the WTC to all 12 Full Members in one division, a recommendation from an ICC working group led by former New Zealand batter Roger Twose, had gained steam in the past year. It received strong support from Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan, the Full Members not part of the WTC.
But with doubts lingering among members over whether more teams would bring more commercial value (the WTC remains a league organised and scheduled by members bilaterally, with only the final run by the ICC) the ICC has preferred retaining the format for the time being.
Foreshadowing what’s ahead at the board meeting, there was robust debate over the issue on Saturday at a Chief Executives’ Committee meeting that lasted more than four hours. There were impassioned pleas from the three Full Members on the outer, who believe their Test development is being stifled without WTC status. They also rue not having a chance to get into the top nine without a promotion-relegation system in place.
Cricket South Africa was also understood to be strongly supportive of expansion with chief executive Pholetsi Moseki providing a rallying cry during the CEC meeting. The positions of the BCCI and Cricket Australia remain unclear. England have played Zimbabwe and Ireland in one-off Tests in recent years, but the ECB is believed to be reticent over expansion due to travel and financial burdens.
The ECB and Zimbabwe Cricket are in the midst of finalising England’s historic tour to Zimbabwe after a three-decade drought. Initially earmarked for 2028, the tour is set to take place in 2030 and include a Test match at Victoria Falls.
Sunday’s board meeting looms as a last-ditch effort for expansion proponents, who are bracing for the worst. There is the very slim chance of a compromise through a 10-team competition, given Zimbabwe’s strong appetite for Test cricket: they played 10 Tests in 2025 though only two this year.
Meanwhile, a strategic review into international cricket’s future – involving scrutiny of cricket’s three official formats – will be tabled to the board. A presentation from global management consulting firm McKinsey, who undertook the review, was held in Bali on Saturday night ahead of the board meeting.
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have announced one additional measles-associated death in each state, marking 10 total deaths in the United States linked to the disease this year.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported an infant’s death on Friday, while the Pennsylvania Department of Health said that its latest death was an unvaccinated patient who had tested positive for measles
Pennsylvania has logged seven measles-associated deaths, while Wisconsin has reported two. On November 2, New York state said a child had died in the state’s first recorded measles death in more than 30 years.
More than 5,400 confirmed measles cases have been recorded in the US to date, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center tracker.
The number of confirmed cases as of November 2026 is more than double the 2,289 confirmed cases reported in 2025.
The CDC recorded six measles-related deaths, according to figures on its website. The newly reported data is twice the deaths the agency recorded in 2025.
GMOA seeks restoration of duty-free vehicle permits
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