Sri Lanka

In May, temperatures in the Philippines and Thailand topped 50 degrees Celsius as an intense heatwave gripped South and South-East Asia.

The situation places Sri Lanka’s Left-of-Centre government in a precarious position as it seeks to balance economic imperatives with human rights concerns.

Over the years, Sri Lanka has successfully eliminated major diseases like malaria, filariasis, polio, and neonatal tetanus, further solidifying its position as a regional healthcare leader.

The SCL Act, which covers 63 items, imposes taxes at high rates on staple foods such as rice, potatoes, and maize. Critics argue that while these taxes protect domestic agriculture, they also make basic foods costly, exacerbating malnutrition among poor families.

President Dissanayake’s first official foreign trip since taking office in September 2024, underscored his commitment to deepening ties with India, especially as Sri Lanka seeks to rebuild after its economic crisis in 2022.

The Report records a 25 per cent increase in the number of trafficking victims detected globally in 2022 compared to 2019 pre-pandemic figures. Between 2019 and 2022, the global number of victims detected for trafficking for forced labour surged by 47 per cent.

Sri Lanka plans to revise the draft bill on stolen asset recovery, a move aimed at strengthening mechanisms to retrieve illicitly acquired funds hidden domestically and abroad.

On November 14 this year, another tsunami struck, sweeping across the country in an unprecedented wave that mesmerised many of the 22 million population.