The annual festival celebrating the winter harvest with the sharing of a traditional dish has provided the opportunity to remember the injustices endured by the plantation workers community in Sri Lanka for more than two centuries. Damages caused by the recent Cyclone Ditwah has only worsened the situation.
The deaths, in the Badarganj and Rangpur areas, are linked to the consumption of bootleg alcohol. The latest victim is alleged trafficker Zainul Abedin. In this Muslim-majority country, the existing ban encourages illegal trade. Investigations into the supply chain are ongoing.
The agreement, the result of lengthy negotiations with the Trump administration, has been announced. Taiwan will receive the same treatment as Japan, South Korea and the European Union, but its companies are committed to building plants in the United States: TSMC is expected to open at least five factories. Beijing: ‘Taipei is like a turtle in a jar to us.’
From 19 January, the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam will decide the country's leadership until 2031. General Secretary To Lam arrives at the event on the back of strong economic results achieved in 2025, so further centralisation of power is expected after the anti-corruption campaign that eliminated several political opponents. But the Party has several options available to make the country's administration more efficient.
Today's Headlines: in Seoul, Yoon is sentenced to five years in prison in the first of the trials for attempting to impose martial law; In Yemen, Prime Minister bin Breik resigns and is succeeded by Foreign Minister Zindani; Hunger threatens 4.7 million people in Afghanistan; Washington has asked Jakarta to purchase US drones to monitor the South China Sea; The final death toll from the fire at the Wang Fuk Court towers in Hong Kong is 168.
Since gaining independence from the USSR, Iran has been one of Turkmenistan's few foreign policy partners, with which it shares almost 1,000 kilometres of border. During Raisi's presidency, new cooperation agreements were signed, particularly in the energy sector. Fears of a possible exodus of the two million ethnic Turkmen living in the northern region of the country.
