Families of victims of Sri Lanka’s 2019 Easter Sunday bombings have expressed renewed hope for justice after police on Wednesday arrested Major General Suresh Sallay, a former top intelligence official, over the coordinated 2019 suicide bombing attacks that killed 279 people.

The suicide bombings targeted three churches and four luxury hotels, and more than 500 people were injured in the attacks, including dozens of foreign nationals. Police said Sallay, who was serving as director of Military Intelligence at the time, was detained for 72 hours under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for questioning.

Catholic leaders and survivors have for years urged successive governments to uncover the full truth behind the attacks and prosecute those responsible. The arrest follows renewed scrutiny after media reports in 2023 cited testimony from a high-level whistleblower alleging possible complicity at senior levels of government.

Investigators are examining whether Sallay was part of a broader conspiracy and whether he failed to act on credible intelligence warnings that might have prevented the bombings. Investigations conducted during former regime led by Rajapaksa made no progress, critics say.

Activists take part in a silent protest demanding justice for the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide attacks, in Colombo on April 20, 2024. In a significant development, Sri Lankan police on Feb. 25, 2026, arrested a former top intelligence official over the coordinated attacks that killed 279 people. (Photo: AFP)

Family members of drug war victims have expressed hope for justice as the International Criminal Court or ICC started the pre-trial hearing of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, accused of overseeing thousands of extrajudicial killings. The hearing at the Hague-based court started on Monday to confirm 80-year-old Duterte’s complicity in shooting down people suspected of being drug users and peddlers. Duterte denied the charges, calling them “outrageous lies.”

The ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor released a document that says the former president and some senators and top police officials had approved a "common plan" to "neutralize alleged criminals" through "violent crimes, including murder."

Families of victims in extrajudicial killings of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte's drug war watch a live stream of proceedings from The Hague in Manila on Feb. 23, 2026, when the court started the hearing to decide if Duterte should stand trial for crimes against humanity linked to his deadly anti-drug crackdown. (Ted Aljibe/AFP)

Earlier, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber dismissed a series of motions from Duterte’s defense team, allegedly aimed at delaying and derailing the confirmation of charges and the trial itself. Also, the court had denied their motion asking to disqualify three lawyers representing the victims and to disclose more personal information on several prosecution witnesses.

Duterte faces the charge of crimes against humanity for a series of extrajudicial killings during his tenure as the mayor of Davo city about 22 years and president from 2016 to 2022.

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai won an appeal on Thursday over a 2022 fraud conviction, days after a court jailed him on separate national security charges.

The ruling was a surprise win for Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, who was sentenced to 20 years behind bars this month on collusion charges under a Beijing-imposed national security law.

This photograph taken on June 19, 2015, shows media tycoon Jimmy Lai gesturing during an interview in Hong Kong. (Photo: AFP)

The fraud case grew out of a contractual dispute and was unrelated to the charges he faced under the security law. Lai did not appear in court and remains behind bars. Prosecutors did not answer reporters' questions on whether the authorities will appeal. The Hong Kong government was contacted for comment.

In 2022, Lai received a jail sentence of five years and nine months over what the trial judge called a "planned, organized and years-long" scheme. It remains unclear how the latest outcome affects Lai's overall prison stint.

Cambodia has rejected a Thai claim that its soldiers sparked an exchange of fire along their disputed border after a round from a 40 mm grenade launcher was fired at them, threatening a fragile ceasefire struck on December 27 that ended a six-month conflict last year.

The exchange followed the seizure of three Cambodian fishermen by the Royal Thai Navy as tensions reignited between the distrustful neighbors, with Phnom Penh lodging an official protest and also demanding the return of its citizens.

A deminer from the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) walks in front of a damaged pagoda near the Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province on Feb 6. (Photo: AFP)

A Cambodian defense ministry spokesperson rejected claims circulated on Thai military websites that a grenade was fired as false, adding that this was established in talks between both sides at the border after the initial reports on Tuesday.

It was the worst-reported incident since the Christmas ceasefire, which followed pleas for peace from Pope Leo XIV and world leaders amid diplomatic pressure from the United States and China. It also occurred just after field visits to the border by Japan, Britain, and the Philippines.

The 107-year-old All India Catholic Union, a lay organization, has sought governmental action in India’s northeastern states to help Christians face mounting pressure from social tensions and targeted violence amid renewed efforts to enforce an anti-conversion law in one state.

It urged state governments to uphold constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. The group’s concerns center on attempts to operationalize the 1978 Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act that prohibits religious conversions by force, fraud, or inducement.

Security personnel stand guard at a checkpoint after a curfew was imposed following violence in Imphal, capital of India's Manipur state, in this June 8, 2025 photo. Ethnic tensions continue in the state. A Christian group on Feb. 21 said the violence targets Christians and wants effective governmental action to end it. (Photo:AFP)

In a statement issued after its working committee meeting in Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, the AICU said the law risks criminalizing core Christian practices such as baptism.

Although the law has remained largely dormant for decades due to the lack of implementing rules, recent efforts to revive it have sparked protests from Christian groups, who say the legislation could be misused against Christians.

Christians account for about 30 percent of Arunachal’s 1.6 million population and have reported no sectarian violence so far.

Christian leaders and activists welcomed the announcement by Punjab government officials at a press conference in the provincial capital Lahore on February 18.

The package titled Nigahban Ramadan aims to support about 4.2 million families during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the minister said while declaring that Christians will also be included as beneficiaries this year, as the Lenten season overlaps with Ramadan.

A father hugs his daughter in their home in Lahore, the capital city of Pakistan's Punjab province, in this 2023 photo. Millions in Pakistan live in poverty amid ongoing economic crisis. (Photo: AFP)

In Pakistan, Ramadan relief packages have long been part of the government’s welfare tradition, primarily aimed at supporting Muslim families observing the fast through subsidized groceries or direct financial assistance.

In the past, Christians have received such aid packages occasionally. However, the first-time official inclusion of Christians has garnered positive reactions.

Christians make up about 3.30 million or 1.37 percent of Muslim-majority Pakistan, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ 2023 digital census.

He visited the Humanitarian Volunteer Team for Flores, a Catholic Church-backed advocacy coalition based in Sikka Regency on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province, on Monday. There he collected 12 victims and flew back with them to West Java — where most of them are from — later the same day.

Before leaving, Mulyadi said he would facilitate their continued legal proceedings in the case being handled by the Sikka Regency police.

Governor Dedi Mulyadi (left) of Indonesia's West Java province speaks to Catholic nun Holy Spirit Sister Maria Fransiska Imakulata during his visit to a shelter run by a Church-backed advocacy group in Sikka Regency of Flores Island on Feb. 23. (Photo supplied)

Holy Spirit Sister Maria Fransiska Imakulata, chairwoman of the advocacy group, said she was surprised because Mulyadi had previously described the trip as a visit. She expressed concern that the move could hinder the legal process because police have not yet named a suspect and still require the women’s testimony for further investigation.

However, she said Mulyadi and his attorney signed a written statement during the meeting committing to facilitate the women’s attendance at police summonses.

Local police rescued 13 women from Eltras Pub, a nightclub in Maumere, in January following advocacy efforts by the advocacy group and its partners.

At least 17 civilians, including children, were killed and 14 others injured when a Myanmar military jet struck a market in Yoe Ngu village in Ponnagyun Township on Tuesday, the Arakan Army said.

Local volunteers said the airstrike hit the busiest section of the market, where many internally displaced people were sheltering. Houses and stalls caught fire.

Mourners react during a funeral for victims killed in a bombardment carried out by Myanmar's military on Ohe Htein Twin village in Tabayin township, Sagaing Region, on May 12, 2025. At least 17 other civilians, including children, were killed and 14 others injured when a Myanmar military jet struck a market in Rakhine state on Feb. 24. (AFP)

A volunteer involved in rescue work, wrote on social media that most of the dead were women and children. Three injured people were in critical condition, he said, noting that communication difficulties were complicating efforts to verify details.

The Arakan Army condemned the strike as a war crime. A resident said the area was not an active battlefield.

Residents and Arakan Army officials say the military has repeatedly carried out airstrikes on civilian areas in Rakhine state, including villages, schools, hospitals, religious buildings, and markets, particularly in the Arakan Army-controlled townships. Another resident said many displaced people had been sheltering in the village and that some fled after the attack.

The article appeared in the ucanews