COLOMBO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A heat wave will sweep through Sri Lanka in the coming days and the public have been warned to take precautionary steps, the Meteorology Department said in its latest weather update here on Tuesday.

The department said the heat levels may reach "caution levels" and temperatures were likely to reach as high as 45 degrees centigrade in some provinces.

People in Polonnaruwa in the north central province, Trincomalee in the east and Vavuniya and Mullaitivu in the north were urged to remain extra cautious.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Filled with paratroopers, a U.S. warplane lumbered down an English runway in 1944 to spearhead the World War II D-Day invasion with a message for Adolf Hitler painted in bright yellow across its nose: “That’s All, Brother.”

Seventy-five years later, in a confluence of history and luck, that plane is again bound for the French coast for what could be the last great commemoration of the Allied battle to include D-Day veterans, many of whom are now in their 90s.

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) With exit polls forecasting NDA's return to power, top leaders of the BJP-led alliance will meet on Tuesday over dinner to be hosted by party president Amit Shah where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be present, party sources said on Monday.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Lok Janshakti Party head Ram Vilas Paswan are likely to attend the meeting, which will take place two days before the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls on May 23.

BERLIN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Two high schools in southern German city of Munich were evacuated due to unspecified threat, German media Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday.

The two schools, Staatl. Dante-Gymnasium and Klenze-Gymnasium, are next to each other. One of the schools already announced that it would cancel all lessons, the report said.

Local radio said that one school received a mail package and the content must be evaluated.

A police spokesperson in Munich said the threat situation is "still a bit unclear," but must be taken seriously.

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A small group of inmates, disproportionately black, are set to stay in Washington state prisons for life — left out of the latest in a multi-year wave of reforms easing tough-on-crime “three strikes” laws around the U.S.

At least 24 states including Washington passed such laws during the 1990s, embracing tough-on-crime rhetoric. But nearly half have since scaled them back amid concern that habitual but less-violent offenders were being stuck behind bars for life with hardcore felons.

Bhuj (Guj), May 20 (PTI) Two Pakistani nationals were apprehended on Monday by the Border Security Force (BSF) and their boat seized from the Sir Creek area in Gujarat's Kutch district, an official said.

He said a probe has begun in the vicinity to find out more details about the two Pakistani nationals, he added.

In an incident that happened earlier this month, a group of fishermen from the neighbouring country had managed to flee when confronted by BSF personnel in the Sir Creek area.

Their boat was, however, seized by the border guarding force at the time.

Thane, May 20 (PTI) Six persons were arrested Monday from Uran in Navi Mumbai for allegedly looting 25 tonne copper, worth Rs 1.5 crore, from a container truck on May 14, police said.

The incident occurred between Ghavan Phata and Belapur Reti bunder when the truck carrying copper was headed towards Silvassa, the capital of Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

A gang of six men sitting in a car stopped the truck, attacked its driver, and fled with 25 tonne copper, a police officer said.

Dhaka/Islamabad, May 21 (PTI) Bangladesh high commission in Islamabad has stopped issuing visas to Pakistani nationals for one week over a fresh diplomatic row, a Bangladeshi official said Tuesday, amid strained bilateral ties since 2013 when Dhaka decided to hang several of the 1971 war criminals.

The diplomatic row between Bangladesh and Pakistan is on the rise since last year when Dhaka denied a visa to the Pakistan high commissioner.

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/: Multipurpose laboratory module Nauka will be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in the autumn of 2020 at the earliest, a source in the space rocket industry told TASS.

"The Nauka module will be launched at the end of October or November 2020 at the earliest," the source said. He added that the module will be delivered to the orbit by a Proton-M carrier rocket.

The source noted that "the relevant decree was signed by Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin."

DALLAS (AP) — A transgender woman was found slain in a Dallas street over the weekend, authorities said, a month after a cellphone video showed her being brutally beaten in a separate case police said they investigated as a hate crime.

Muhlaysia Booker, 23, was found face-down early Saturday after Dallas police officers were called following reports of shots being fired. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Booker died from “homicidal violence,” police Maj. Vincent Weddington said. He did not elaborate on her death. No suspect has been identified.

BEIRUT, May 20 (Xinhua) -- A confrontation took place on Monday between protesters and police soldiers in the capital Beirut during a demonstration organized by retired military personnel and other public sector employees against proposed austerity measures, local media reported.

Local TV channels broadcasted footage of soldiers using water cannons to disperse demonstrators and prevent them from reaching the Grand Serail where the council of ministers is convening to discuss the 2019 state budget.

VIENNA, May 21. /TASS/: Austrian representatives refused to participate and provide a venue for the 6th European conference of the Valdai International Discussion Cluba because of the domestic political crisis, Russian Ambassador in Vienna Dmitry Lyublinsky said on Tuesday.