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Sri Lanka's election full of firsts

President Dissanayake promises change as economic crisis still bites in Colombo; escaping the 'cauldron' in Ukraine; Cuba's crime concerns; a solar-power success story in Somalia

Sri Lankans have signalled their appetite for change by voting for Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the JVP in the first presidential election since the island's major economic and political crisis of 2022. Two years after the Aragalaya, or 'struggle', which ousted former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, the former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, many people say they're still having trouble making ends meet. Samira Hussain returned to former protest sites to ask what hope there is for real progress.

As Ukraine's President talked tough to the UN in New York, Russian forces have continued to take ground in southeastern Ukraine, nibbling away slowly along the frontline in the Donetsk region. Abdujalil Abdurasulov recently spent time with a Ukrainian artillery unit keeping a hectic schedule near the city of Pokrovsk - and heard some of its members' stories of a narrow escape from a Russian encirclement or 'cauldron'.

Cuba's government has often boasted of its success in keeping the island's people - and its visitors - safe from drugs and crime, especially when compared to its neighbours in the Caribbean and and Central America. But that reputation for safety is less secure than it was. Increasing numbers of Cuban citizens are sharing their own stories of being victims of crime - and some are taking to social medial to tell them, says Will Grant.

And the 麻豆社's climate editor, Justin Rowlatt, shares a solar-powered success story from an unexpected source - the north of Somalia. This is a dangerous part of one of the world's most dangerous countries - but its energy entrepreneurs have found renewable ways to keep the lights on in the city of Garowe.

Image: Sri Lanka's newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake addresses a gathering after taking his oath of office at the Presidential Secretariat.

(Photo: Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Credit: Reuters)

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Mon 30 Sep 2024 19:06GMT

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