Civil society

UNICEF also urged combatants to take every possible precaution in their choice of weapons and tactics, specifically calling for an end to the use of explosive weapons in areas where children live and learn.

The UN's broader appeal comes amid regional instability. Weeks of prior violence had already heightened tensions, with Pakistan linking the strikes to cross-border incursions by groups like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Human Rights Watch lambasts the “explosive mob vigilantism,” calling for safeguards against assaults on journalists (340 incidents in 2025) and minorities.

With extensive 4G mobile coverage reaching a vast majority of the island, Sri Lanka is reasonably positioned.

Sri Lanka is highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, with an estimated 19 million people expected to live in moderate or severe climate hotspots by 2050.

Cereal production for 2025 was revised upward to a record 3,029 million tonnes – a 5.6 per cent leap – bolstered by favourable monsoons in South America and Africa.

Compounding the acceleration are insidious feedback mechanisms that PIK's research illuminates as potential game-changers. A March 2025 study from the institute projects that even low-to-moderate emission scenarios could unleash amplified heating over the next millennium.

The market’s verdict has been swift and unforgiving. Brent crude futures rocketed to $119.50 per barrel – the highest since mid-2022 – while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) hit $119.48, capping a blistering 25 per cent surge in days.