Srilanka

Pope Francis called for a global commitment to fight the fires in the Amazon as Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said on Sunday that G7 leaders were nearing an agreement on how to tackle them.The pontiff added his voice to growing international concern about the vast tracts of tropical forest ravaged by blazes in Brazil and neighbouring countries. &That lung of forests is vital for our planet," said the pope, who is from Brazilneighbour Argentina, in his weekly address before thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.Mr Macron, hosting Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, at the summit of the G7 major industrialised nations in Biarritz, said a consensus was emerging about how to put out the fires and repair the damage.

The construction of the lower Malwathu Oya Thanthirimale Reservoir, the third largest reservoir in Sri Lanka, commenced today under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.The construction of the reservoir will be implemented as a completely eco-friendly project and in a manner not to cause any harm on the Wilpattu Wildlife Zone. The villages that will be submerged during the construction of the lower Malwathu Oya reservoir will be rebuilt in Thanthirimale.

New Zealand completed a series-leveling win by an innings and 65 runs on the final day in Colombo after Sri Lanka folded for 122. On Monday (August 26), New Zealand declared on 431 for 6 after BJ Watlington and bought themselves enough time to force an innings win, only the fourth by a non-Asian side in Sri Lanka.

The America Sri Lankan Photographic Art Society in association with the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Los Angeles will hold a photographic exhibition titled, ‘The Beauty of Sri Lanka&, on September 21 at the University of California (UCLA) in Los Angeles.The exhibition is organised to promote and develop tourism in Sri Lanka, and is designed to depict the beauty of fauna and flora and the 2600-year-old heritage of Sri Lanka.