About 10,000 people visit Kachchatheevu to honour Saint Anthony in celebrations promoted by the Diocese of Jaffna and led by the bishop of Sivagangai. The latter calls on both parties “to work together to find a lasting solution to the conflict in the sea.”
According to the Global Terrorism Index 2025, released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), the island nation is among 63 countries with the lowest level. No attacks have been reported in the last five years. In South Asia, Pakistan ranks first, followed by Afghanistan and Myanmar.
A hundred refugees who landed in 2022 rallied in protest in front of the United Nations Office in Colombo. After surviving genocide, they wonder if they will “now die from hunger and abandonment”. In their appeal to the authorities, they are grateful to Sri Lanka and its people, but they have had enough to live as refugees. For Rev Marimuttu Sathivel, speaking to AsiaNews, the UN should act immediately and take “responsibility for these refugees.”
Sri Lanka’s Navy and Air Force seized 1,200 acres after the civil war in 2009, removing residents who were left without rights and livelihoods. “Former governments played with us for such a long time,” a leader of the Paanam Pattuwa Protection Organization told AsiaNews.
An initiative in railway stations across the country to celebrate the birthday of the founder of the movement, educating people to respect public property. Their leaders tell AsiaNews: ‘We want to be an example through action. Showing that if the Scouts can do it, everyone else can too’.
The episcopal ordination of the new shepherd of the diocese in the north of the country took place in the national sanctuary of Madhu. The diocese has grown from the seed sown four centuries ago by its martyrs. The president of the Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Perera, expressed his hope that the new bishop “will walk with this people still so harshly marked by the consequences of the war”.
A prominent local crime boss shot in the courtroom where he had been taken from prison for a hearing. The killer disguised himself as a lawyer. The Minister of Justice has ordered armed escorts and fingerprinting for court depositions.
The new government's economic plan includes incentives for industry, support for workers and a commitment against corruption. These measures are necessary to obtain loans from the International Monetary Fund and ensure the country's financial stability after a long period of crisis. Northern regions will also receive investments to revive manufacturing.
Signed with then President Wickremesinghe last May, the agreement included the construction of two wind farms on Mannar Island and in the village of Pooneryn. The Dissanayake administration has pulled the plug on the project to cut costs amid the country’s ongoing economic crisis and after fraud accusations were made against the Indian billionaire. Environmentalists are happy since the project threatened fishermen and migratory birds.
During celebrations marking the 77th anniversary of the end of British colonial rule, Card Ranjith called for the current presidential system to be scrapped since it has “fostered a culture of fear” and “lawlessness”.
Card Ranjith led a Mass in Tewatta to celebrate Verbum TV, a Catholic broadcaster founded in 2015 by a lay couple that today has a viewership of around 200,000.
A report by the University of Vavuniya in collaboration with The Gate Institute shows “significant gaps”, especially among the elderly, economically disadvantaged groups and women in areas affected by the country’s civil long war (1983-2009). The district of Mannar appears to have the highest connectivity rate. The potential of young people was emphasised.
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