Pressure is mounting on Sri Lanka’s president to allow parliament to decide between two men claiming to be the country’s lawful prime minister, amid warnings that the constitutional dispute could lead to a “bloodbath”. President Maithripala Sirisena announced on live TV on Friday that Ranil Wickremesinghe, with whom he had governed in a fragile coalition since 2015, had been dismissed. In… Read more »
Mumbai has set a ban on plastic in the recent years but unfortunately, these rules are not as strictly enforced as they should be. A feared group by the name of the “blue squad” sets out on the streets of markets to thoroughly check shops for plastic bags, utensils, plates and cups of a certain size. Dressed in blue vests,… Read more »
Shopkeepers and vendors fear a hefty fine from inspectors who are tasked with keeping the Indian city free of plastic bags Mumbai’s ‘blue squad’ enforce the ban on plastic bags. Photograph: Amrit Dhillon At 10am on a muggy October morning, Crawford Market, one of Mumbai’s oldest, is stirring into life. In a first floor office inside the complex, the feared… Read more »
Relatives help with identification as rescuers say they don’t expect to find survivors from flight JT610 Authorities are conducting a round-the-clock search after the Indonesian Lion Air plane crashed off Jakarta on Monday. Photograph: Xinhua/Barcroft Images A round-the-clock search is underway for the bodies of the 189 passengers onboard Lion Air flight JT 610, which crashed into the sea off Jakarta on… Read more »
Improved train services mean it’s easier than ever to explore Sri Lanka but campaigners warn a surge in tourism could ruin its natural beauty Passenger train crossing the nine arches viaduct near Ella, Sri Lanka. Photograph: Alamy Almost 10 years after the end of its civil war, Sri Lanka has been named the best country in the world to visit… Read more »