In the densely populated Western Province of Sri Lanka, the disposal of solid waste has been a dirty – and dangerous – problem.

Thirty-two people were killed in the collapse of a mountain of waste at the Meethotamulla open dumping site in the Colombo District seven years ago. The pile of rotting debris had shifted from flooding and a fire before it collapsed and buried dozens of people living in nearby homes.

Even without such tragic disasters unfolding, untreated solid waste causes unhealthy air pollution as it decomposes, releasing harmful gasses into the air including highly flammable methane. It poisons the soil and groundwater as well.

Today, Sri Lanka’s Western Province, home to more than six million people, still produces 3,500 metric tons of household waste every day. That’s the equivalent of a stack of  2,600 compact cars or 13,000 motorcycles every day.

To tackle the persistent problem of solid waste disposal, the Western Power Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Aitken Spence PLC, launched the nation’s first waste-to-energy power plant.

Source – Newswire

Sri Lanka has been revealed to be the world’s most family-friendly country for 2025, according to luxury travel magazine, Condé Nast Traveller. 

A new report by Condé Nast Traveller has crowned Sri Lanka as the best country for families to relocate to in 2025.

“The island nation achieved an impressive score for its education system (0.7 out of 1.0) and a low annual childcare cost of $354.60 per year (compared to $16,439.40 in the US, which ranked in 10th place).

“It’s no surprise that Sri Lanka ranked so highly in this list – in fact, we named the country one of our favourite places to go for multi-gen megatrips in 2025, due to its welcoming nature, focus on outdoor activities and family-friendly Sri Lankan hotels. 

“The country is home to some incredible wildlife, from vast national parks and sprawling beaches, plus there is fascinating history, creative coastlines, delicious food and an excellent shopping scene,” Condé Nast Traveller said, describing the island nation. 

The most family-friendly countries in 2025 are;

1. Sri Lanka
2. Sweden
3. Norway
4. New Zeland
5. Iceland
6. Germany
7. Finland
8. Denmark
9. Australia
10. USA

Sri Lanka has been named one of the countries with the lowest terror threats in the world, according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025.

The 12th annual GTI report, released on Wednesday (March 5), ranked Sri Lanka 100th among 163 countries considered in the index. However, with a GTI score of zero, Sri Lanka shares the lowest spot on the index with 63 other countries.

The report indicates that Sri Lanka has significantly improved, dropping 64 spots in the index within a year, thereby lowering the risk of terror threats within the island nation.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka also shares the lowest terror threat ranking in the South Asian region with Bhutan.

In 2024, South Asia had the highest average GTI score, a position it has held for the past decade. Despite an overall deterioration in the region—driven primarily by Pakistan—terrorism has significantly declined compared to a decade ago, with all South Asian countries showing improvement.

The report attributes this improvement largely to a decline in terrorist activity in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The region is home to two of the ten countries with the worst GTI scores: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Of the seven countries in South Asia, only Bhutan and Sri Lanka have a GTI score of zero, indicating that neither country has recorded a terrorist attack in the past five years.

The surge in terrorism in the region was primarily driven by Pakistan, where regional attacks increased from 726 to 1,399 and deaths rose from 961 to 1,303. Bangladesh and Pakistan were the only two countries in the region to record a deterioration in their scores in 2024. Consequently, Pakistan ranked as the second most terrorism-affected country globally for the second consecutive year, while India was ranked 14th.

Sri Lanka was the most improved South Asian country in 2024, having recorded no terrorist attacks or deaths for the fifth consecutive year since 2019. Nepal followed as the second most improved country, recording no attacks or deaths for the second consecutive year.

Meanwhile, the Sahel region remains the epicenter of terrorism, accounting for over half of all global terrorism-related deaths, according to the report.

The GTI is produced by the international think tank, the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), and has been published annually for the past 12 years. It is the most comprehensive resource on global terrorism trends, using multiple factors to calculate scores, including the number of incidents, fatalities, injuries, and hostage situations. These factors are combined with conflict and socioeconomic data to provide a holistic picture of terrorism worldwide.