Sri Lanka

Traffic has grown by 80% in a few weeks, after many companies decided to abandon the Suez Canal route because of Houthi attacks, for the one circumnavigating Africa. But for Sri Lanka it risks being only a short-term gain. The political crux of Colombo's participation in the Red Sea mission.

A unity bill has been proposed to promote ethnic, religious, and social harmony 14 years after the end of the civil war, but the Office for Missing Persons, the Office for Restorative Justice, and the Truth, Unity, and Reconciliation Commission are not represented on the council that proposed it. For the director of the diocesan Human Rights Office in Kandy, “National reconciliation cannot be enforced from the top down”.

The police are making thousands of indiscriminate arrests. The children are abandoned without care and are often fed by neighbours living in poverty. The Sri Lankan Bar Association is trying to lead an action to investigate how the police are investigating.

Today's news: Thai officials investigated for corruption, accused of sending migrants to Finland for payment; Clashes again Manipur, where the longest internet blockade of 2023 was recorded; North Korea is stepping up military cooperation with Russia, Seoul says; UN Security Council asks Houthis to stop attacks on ships in the Red Sea, China and Russia abstain.

The murdered journalist was a great opponent of the then Rajapaksa government. The children at the grave ask that the pain be directed towards completing their father's work on press freedom and rights in Sri Lanka, while Amnesty International has called on the government to end impunity for his murder.

A survey by the Department of Census and Statistics reports that many families have had to look for a second job as a survival strategy, while most found themselves with a smaller monthly income and few alternatives. Government officials are trying to implement the provisions imposed by the International Monetary Fund.

In Kalpitiya, a local parish priest, Fr Sampath, is involved in this project as a show of harmony among religious communities. “It is in unity among all the religious leaders of this country that we can create peace," said Venerable Diyasena Thero who appreciates such a gesture.

In 2008 Father Nandana Manatunga set up the Human Rights Office in Kandy for victims of torture, gender-based violence, and the families of the missing or unjustly detained. The Christmas season, he told AsiaNews, is a time to share joy with everyone, not only Christians, but also Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims.

In his Christmas message, the Archbishop of Colombo reminds the faithful that Jesus was born with “no property” like many in Sri Lanka today. The prelate also renewed his call to President Wickremesinghe to hold an international investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

51% of the crops affected in a country that is among the world's leading exporters. According to Forbes&Walker, 'in the most severely affected areas, rubber production has plummeted by up to 30%'. In the absence of a proper treatment protocol, the only hypothesised solution is drones spraying fungicides on plant crowns. But the growers' association also calls for biological methods that prevent the disease.

It will focus on crimes spread through social media. The institution in the aftermath of the arrest of a controversial, self-proclaimed monk who allegedly mocked Buddhism. Marimuttu Sathivel, an Anglican priest and human rights activist, commented to AsiaNews: 'The real problem is extremist politicians who artfully create religiously motivated clashes.

The experts' warning linked to the severe drought that will hit the island early next year. "Failure would make it much more difficult to get out, given the country's economic crisis compounded by climate change. We estimate that 70 percent of people have difficulty eating regularly and properly," said Renuka Jayatissa, a clinical nutrition specialist.