Dissanayake elected president in Sri Lanka

Today's news: new Israeli raids on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after missiles on Haifa;The Quad strengthens cooperation between coast guards in the South China Sea; US returns illegally trafficked archaeological finds to India; Alarm in Myanmar over execution of 5 political prisoners that could take place tomorrow.

SRI LANKA

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, member of the Marxist-oriented National People's Power (NPP), is the winner of the presidential elections in Sri Lanka. He won by counting the voters' second choices, after no candidate had obtained more than 50 per cent of the total votes at the first count. Dissanayake had achieved 42.31% while his nearest rival, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, got 32.76%. Only third was the outgoing president Wickremesinghe.

ISRAEL-LEBANON

The Israeli army is conducting new airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon as mutual attacks between the two sides continue to increase. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari has warned Lebanese civilians to move away from areas used by the Iran-backed group for military purposes. Over the weekend, Hezbollah struck deep into Israel, reaching targets in the city of Haifa.

USA-INDIA-JAPAN-AUSTRALIA

At a Quad Summit chaired by Joe Biden in Claymont, Delaware, the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States agreed to expand joint security measures in Asian waters. Operations with Australian, Japanese, and Indian personnel aboard a US Coast Guard vessel were announced for next year. Although the White House claimed that the summit was not ‘aimed at other countries’, the new initiatives are believed to send a message to Beijing and represent a further shift in emphasis of the Quad's activities towards security issues in the South China Sea.

INDIA-UNITED STATES

During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, the US handed over to India 297 archaeological artefacts that had been smuggled out of the country. These objects date from 2000 BC to 1900 AD, and come from various regions of India. The majority are terracotta artefacts from eastern India. In July 2024, India and the US signed their first ‘Cultural Property Agreement’ to prevent and combat illicit trafficking of antiquities from India to the US.

MYANMAR

Human rights groups have raised the alarm over the possible capital execution of five political prisoners that the Myanmar military junta is set to carry out tomorrow. The five, Kaung Pyae Sone Oo, Kyaw Win Soe, San Min Aung, Zayyar Phyo and Myat Phyo Pwint, were sentenced to death by a special court on charges of shooting and killing a police officer at Yangon's Ahlone station on 14 August 2021.

RUSSIA-CENTRALASIA

According to information from the Ministry of the Interior in Moscow, there are currently almost 4 million citizens of Central Asia permanently in Russia, 1.8 million from Uzbekistan, 1.2 million from Tajikistan, 600 thousand from Kazakhstan, 262 thousand from Kyrgyzstan and 92 thousand from Turkmenistan, out of a total figure of 6.174 million foreigners. To these must be added the flow of seasonal migrant workers, which reached 10 million in 2023.

KYRGYZSTAN-TAJIKISTAN

The President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Žaparov, signed the decree redefining ‘the territorial-administrative units of regions and cities’ of the country, concerning the Batken region on which border negotiations with Tajikistan are focused, which prepares the cities in the area for the final demarcation of the borders, approved by the Žogorku Keneš in a closed session.

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