French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that "illegitimate" protests would ​be banned in the coming days and blamed "seditious" ultra-left groups and vandals for last weekend's ‌riots and looting.

An earthquake of magnitude 7 ​struck China's southwestern region of Tibet ‌at around 10:33 p.m. (1433 GMT) on Thursday, the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said.

Leader of the ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ and Member of Parliament Dilith Jayaweera has criticised the government’s handling of international relations, claiming that diplomatic failures and a lack of strategic foresight have undermined Sri Lanka’s international standing.

French health officials on Thursday confirmed that they had detected the Shamonda virus in a human — who died early this month — in what they say was the first-ever case of a human contracting the livestock disease.

A tense situation has been reported at the Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo, as police officers arrived with a court order at the location of the Satyagraha campaign launched by a group of Buddhist monks, demanding the release of Ven. Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thero.

The Department of Meteorology warns that a low-pressure area is likely to form over Southeast and adjoining East-central Bay of Bengal around tomorrow (23 October).

A section of the Kandy-Jaffna A9 Road, specifically at the '7th Mile Post' (7 Kanuwa) area in Kurugoda, within the Alawathugoda Police Division—is scheduled to be temporarily closed from 10.00 p.m. tonight (22) until 2.00 a.m. tomorrow (23).

The low-pressure area in the vicinity of Sri Lanka is moving westward away from island. However, the influence of this system may persist tomorrow (23), the Department of Meteorology said.

Brent prices rose to their highest since ‌May on Thursday after more Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked concerns over a broader escalation of conflict and further disruptions to crude oil supplies from the world's key exporting region.

Two people were killed and eight injured ​in an attack on King Fahd ‌International Airport in Saudi Arabia's eastern oil hub of Dammam on Wednesday evening, Saudi ​Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation ​said on Thursday.