Sources: BBC
Sri Lanka announces a ban on disposable cutlery, cocktail shakers, and artificial plants beginning in June, citing the risk of plastic pollution on its wildlife. 2023-02-14
Holy See Press Director Matteo Bruni announces that Pope Francis will make his first international apostolic visit in 15 months after accepting the invitation of the Republic of Iraq and the local Catholic Church to visit the Middle Eastern country of Iraq from 5–8 March 2021. 2020-12-7
Malaysian authorities announce sixteen arrests connected to an international human trafficking ring. The arrests follow the seizure of modified tanker ship MV "Etra" in Malaysian waters on Tuesday with 127 Sri Lankan migrants on board being smuggled to New Zealand and Australia. The arrests include seven people captured aboard a fishing vessel used to transfer migrants onto MV "Etra". 2018-05-6
The World Health Organization warns that the Zika virus will continue to spread across Asia with cases already reported in Singapore and Thailand. 2016-10-11
Pope Francis calls for a worldwide ban on the death penalty and urges Christian leaders to work to stop executions as part of the church's Holy Year of Mercy. 2016-02-21
From the Diocese of Tonga, Catholic Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi is welcomed at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in Honolulu, Hawaii. Appointed by Pope Francis, Mafi is the first and youngest cardinal from the small South Pacific nation of Tonga. 2016-01-16
Pope Francis encourages bishops from around the world to sign an appeal to world leaders, meeting in Paris next month, for crucial climate change talks. In a major teaching document in June, the encyclical Laudato Si' (Latin: Praised be), Francis denounced what he called the “structurally perverse” fossil fuel-based world economy that exploits the poor and destroys the habitability of the Earth for humans. 2015-10-19
Pope Francis condemns the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria for violence against women, children, and ethnic minorities. 2014-12-25
Demonstrations against sexual violence after Delhi gang rape spread across Asia and are now happening in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 2013-01-4
Protesters try to enter the United Nations compound in Colombo, Sri Lanka, calling for the United Nations to abandon an inquiry into alleged human rights abuses in the final stages of the civil war between the government and Tamil rebels that ended last year. Staff are unable to leave until being assisted by Sri Lankan police. 2010-07-6