rajapaksa is a member of sri lanka's majority some khaled buddhist community. he's a former military man and his defense secretary oversaw the defeat of tamil separatists that ended. 10 years ago. but he has been accused of human rights violations during the crackdown and of eva seeing forced disappearances of a penance and dissidents. his reputation as a strong man gave him a boost in the polls with security a huge issue in the country especially after the easter sunday attacks in april this year in which militants linked his lot mixtape killed more than 250 people. i consider the foremost responsibility of my government to ensure the national security of my country. we will rebuild the state security machinery is to secure the country from terrorism underworld activities robbers extortionists good and i get a lot. to put his nationalists from this and how a community will be choice and his victory for them it's immense the majority status of the sinhalese of the other ethnic groups in the country. we don't have as we know remote and ideology that the country

a tsunami killed nearly a quarter of a 1000000 people gigantic wavin gulf the coast of indonesia sri lanka india and thailand and 9 other countries the wave that hit indonesia was 17.4 meters high and underwater quake that caused it was one of the strongest ever recorded sri lanka's eastern coast was especially hard hit more than 10000 people died in the southern region. can. you looks out over the indian ocean nearly every day get up and deter life 15 years ago when she lost almost her entire family to the massive tsunami. only a little bit did not good all 9 of us lived near the beach so many tonight when i think about the children i get very sad i only managed to save one little go that i never saw the of us again when i got back at my house was destroyed. but i. can die and now shares her home with the one granddaughter she rescued and her small child the waters forced their way some one and a half kilometers inland the town of power in sri lanka's south was worst affected thousands of children were among the victims. has helped many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in

the waters forced their way some one and a half kilometers inland the town of power in sri lanka south was worst affected thousands of children were among the victims. on his help many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected area of southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. children as you know will have a huge amount of france indians and that they have got the thing that's trying to come out of these things and that depends on the adults at them. and control and complete then steuben with the problems the children's anxiety and stress it's much much less. after the tsunami sri lankan psychiatrist formed a network with the help of the world health organization today elementary school teachers are being taught how to recognize signs of trauma in children but talking about the effects of trauma is still to do. with what the country has installed an early warning system for tsunamis the fear of another giant wave has never gone away nor has the memory of the victims of 2004. well here at the w. we don't normally tell viewers to stop watching

these images being streamed online by the institute of astronomy, sri lanka.pse just about now at 4.06 gmt, 01’ eclipse just about now at 4.06 gmt, orjust after 4.06 gmt. religious leaders have used their christmas messages to call once more for an end of some of the world's injustices. pope francis drew attention to the suffering of migrants, who he said endured "walls of indifference". the leader of the anglican church, the archbishop of canterbury, spoke of the "darkness" that led to last month's terrorist attack in london. 0ur correspondentjohn mcmanus has this report, beginning in bethlehem. midnight mass at manger square — the place where, for christians, it all began, just over 2,000 years ago. and this year, a special link to the past — a wooden fragment which the church says is from the manger ofjesus, back in the holy land after 1,300 years. the holy family famously became migrants, fleeing from king herod to the relative safety of egypt. and at the vatican city today, pope francis once again repeated his concern for the plight of those forced to lea

the last time sri lanka played a series here, it ended in terror.ps six pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed. miraculously, the coach and players made it to the ground in lahore. the tea m made it to the ground in lahore. the team were evacuated from the stadium. the series was cancelled. now, the sport that means so much to so many pakistanis is back. the concerns that people had about pakistan were certainly for the last year or two were not what the ground reality is. we always had a very, very good relationship with the sri lankan cricket board and the very fa ct lankan cricket board and the very fact that they came and laid the t20 matches was a very strong signal. the wait for test cricket has been long. the anticipation is tangible. i have come back to pakistan after maybe five or six years, and it is quite extraordinary, because the la st quite extraordinary, because the last time i walked into pakistan into a cricket stadium it was the national stadium interacting and there was nobody there. there were two people and their dogs

still ahead of al jazeera a crackdown on dissent we go to sri lanka where journalists say that facing harassment in the new government revisit the mississippi communities struggling to hold on to their way of life changing the landscape. hello there's still some pretty good weather conditions across central areas of europe relatively good clear skies and not bad temperatures however that is not the case to the north of this way the clouds and within this not only we have got some rain and some snow but also some very very strong winds that could be gale force along the northern coast as a frontal a country's on into germany and as i say we've got a mix of rain and snow so on friday is not particularly cold in london 13 very windy and we will certainly see the chance of some rain showers and then you can see with it is cold and as heart of asians will of course see some snow but that cloud continuing right there or across into areas of scandinavia meanwhile temperatures in book are s. not too bad of the next couple of days over a little bit below the average and it's worth noting this

sri lanka, a lot of clouds showing up here. north easterly driving moist air the southernward peninsula of india and also into sri lanka. elsewhere, it is looking dry. cool weather there. --have unsettled weather coming into central china. not bad at the moment, particularly into the south. figure cloud you do notice here will thicken up through the next day or so, tuesday. one or two showers into shanghai, might see a little bit of wet weather. wednesday, it thickens up. rain will become more intense with snow on the northern flank of that. further south, it should bebe largely finene and dry. hong kong at 23 degrees. into the philippines, we have been talking about a couple of storm systems making its way toward the philippines. it will cocome through tuesday. wet weather driving across the country. 200 millimeters of rain in the process. into sri lanka over the next day or so, parts of india, a lot of clouds showing up. the northeasterly monsoon driving moist air across the bay of bengal toward the southern peninsula of indi

we'll update the headlines in a moment and then sri lanka's new leader says he's a president for all but can he win the trust of minority groups. how i once again welcome to look at the international focus of a slot he says fabric across china at the moment generally high pressure in shots to clear skies and some sunshine temperatures in hong kong get up to around 20 celsius 15 degrees there in shanghai we go on into monday more to try and find weather coming through a lot of fine weather to across a good pass all of india china and the dry weather stretches of whack-o. secure part of india we are still seeing some rather lively showers into more generally into eastern than southern costs off frank and that will be the case as we go on through the next couple of days but otherwise as you can see loss of dry weather basin places of cloud into india up towards and more west even that he will be lost he settled for the most parts shop was there will continue to watch flying can i say some very heavy rains some shallows making the way through the gulf of aden known pasta somalia flooding

sri lanka's players are back in pakistan to play test cricket for the first time in ten years.t time sri lanka played a series here, it ended in terror. the coach was attacked by gunmen. six pakistan a policeman, and two civilians were killed. miraculously, the coach and the players made it to the ground in lahore. the team were evacuated from the stadium, the series was cancelled. now, in rawalpindi, the sport that means so much to so many pakistanis is back. the concerns that people had about pakistan were, certainly for the last year or two, were not what the ground reality is. we have always had very, very good relationships with the sri lankan cricket board and the very fact that they came and they played t20 matches and the odis, was a very strong signal. the wait for test cricket has been long, the anticipation is tangible. i have come back to pakistan after maybe five or six years, and it is quite extraordinary because the last time i walked into pakistan, to a cricket stadium, it was the national stadium in karachi, and there was nobody there. there were two people and

their lead meant sri lanka were really batting to save the test. but we could spell regularly.eaks, taking captain to batten at k forjust 16. naseem shah got three wickets the 16—year—old's best return in test cricket so far. the main resistance came from opener oshada fernando. he and wicket—keeper niroshan dickwella went on to get his first century. he was still there at the close, the final wicket for shah with the final ball of the day, reducing sri lanka to 212/7. pakistan just need three more bigots to clinch the test and the series. —— wickets. a good win for pakistan, and a good win for india, who chased down a big target to beat west indies and take their one—day series 2—1. the windies made 315/5 off their 50 overs, but india's openers gave them another good start — half—centuries for both rohit sharma and kl rahul. and then a top score of 85 from captain virat kohli took them within reach. they got to 316/6 with eight balls to spare. to golf, and australia's adam scott hasn't won a title in nearly four years, until now. his barren run came to an end after he emerged

some 2000 kilometers away sri lanka's eastern coast was hit especially hard more than 10000 people died in the southern power region. can. you look out over the indian ocean nearly every day. and deter life 15 years ago when she lost almost her entire family to the massive tsunami. owned a little bit if not good all 9 of us lived near the beach on done so many tonight when i think about the children i get very sad i only managed to save one little go and i never saw the others again when i got back my house was destroyed. i can die and now shares her home with the one granddaughter she rescued and her small child. the waters forced their way some one and a half kilometers inland the town of power in sri lanka's south was worst affected thousands of children were among the victims. has helped many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected area of southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. children as you know will have a huge amount of france indians and they have got the thing that's trying to come out of these things and that depends a lot on

help many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected area of southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. children as you know or have a huge amount often cindy adams and they have brought up the mess trying to come out of these things and that. on the adults at them. and control and competence to begin with the problems the children's anxiety and stress so much much less. after the tsunami sri lankan psychiatrist formed a network with the help of the world health organization today elementary school teachers are being taught how to recognize signs of trauma in children but talking about the effects of trauma is still to. come to the country has installed an early warning system for tsunamis the fear of another giant wave has never gone away nor has the memory of the victims of 2004. well let's take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world turkish president richard tire bared one says he intends to send troops to libya on course is the internationally recognized government in tripoli has requested the intervention to help stabi

sri lanka have returned to play a two—test series.d fought back to reduce sri lanka to 202-5. ten yea rs ten years after terror attacks put a halt to international test cricket in pakistan, the home side were back on the field in front of their passionate supporters. with security stepped up. the locals were given reason to churches before lunch as shahid afridi made the breakthrough. more wickets followed with 16—year—old naseem shah getting his first. this man should worry also broke his test dark and pakistan we re broke his test dark and pakistan were on a roll. shah was only 60 as though the last time it takes much was paid in pakistan and he took his second wicket with a key dismissal of angelo mathews. they were stopped in their tracks when bad light brought play to an early finish with the tourists on 202—5. brought play to an early finish with the tourists on 202-5. there is no pressure, i was very excited to have played in front of my home crowd, in my home ground. we saw in a still young when fans really got behind the bowl

was president it was a particularly dangerous time to be a journalist in sri lanka journalists were often beaten kidnapped in prison and even murdered during the 2005 to 2015 rule of mahinda rajapaksa. government always denied responsibility and despite there being improvements in media freedom in recent years few if any people are being punished for those crimes journalists now fear that the recent election of gotoh by rajapaksa brother mahinda as prime minister means they could face similar threats again so it is that fear of what the board's 'd once like and what it may become again and what the nature of the man who is now in power as president that is driving the censorship and the unilateral decisions of editors and orders and journalists themselves to dive down the reporting the government says allegations of intimidation of false and politically motivated that a few institutions are see if you are going to a station who really made it during the campaign that that. game should not be tolerated out there should not be elected people may be making those comments so i'm just sa

his former soldier, he fled home country of sri lanka in 2003. he explained he was repeatedly befored by his superiors being tortured and thrown into jail for treason. in the end, he decided to desert the army. safetysnowden owes his and most likely his life to these refefugees who agreeeed to protectt him, to guidede him through the city he did not know. they kept him safe when he was the most wanted man on earth. thanks to his military training and survival skills, he managed to live in hong kong without any resources, so he was the ideal person to ensure mr. snowden would be able to move safely around hong kong when it was necessary. >> a lawyer for snowden's guardian angels founded a nonprofit organization called for the refugees to support them. us to a couple who welcomed the fugitive into their home. that time we did not know anything about snowden. >> the second day, we find the newspaper for him. i show it to him. this is you. this is you. he say, yes. i say, is you. maybe e you spy. >>>> it was amazing the little things they would do to

was president it was a particularly dangerous time to be a journalist in sri lanka journalists were often beaten kidnapped in prison and even murdered during the 2005 to 2015 rule of mahinda rajapaksa. government always denied responsibility and despite there being improvements in media freedom in recent years few if any people are being punished for those crimes journalists now fear that the recent election of gotoh by rajapaksa brother mahinda as prime minister means they could face similar threats again so it is that fear of what the board's once like and what it may become again and what the nature of the man who is now in power as president that is driving the censorship and the unilateral decisions of editors and orders and journalists themselves to dial down the reporting the government says allegations of intimidation of false and politically motivated that a few institutions are see if you are going to as they said who really made it during the campaign that that. game should not be tolerated are they should not be elected but people may be making those comments so i'm just

sri lanka have named a full strength squad including the likes of angelo mathews and dinesh chandimaly has turned down a reported $2.5 million to compete in saudi arabia next month. the northern irishman says the idea of playing in the event does not excite him and that the decision not to compete is also based on morality. the country has been criticised for its record on human rights. tiger woods revealed last week that he had also turned down an offer to play in the european tour event. before we go, we had to show you what some snooker players get up to in their spare time. mark williams is actually going to improve your game — well, not your snooker, anyway. this is mark williams, three—time world champion, working on his golf in an usual way. probably not good for the table and those pyjama bottoms, not good for my eyes either. at least his makes the putt, or pot, whatever you want to call it. we also want to know where he got those trousers from. pretty spectacular stuff. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that‘s bbc.com/sport. we will have reaction to the p

sri lanka were returning to the country for the first time after a 2009 terrorist attack on their teamrists were happy. it was really nice, all the pakistani people, they were cheering oui’ pakistani people, they were cheering our name so pakistani people, they were cheering our name so i think it's really good thing to do, you know, after 15 yea rs, thing to do, you know, after 15 years, a match playing here, people coming. a big crowd here in a test match. i think that is very good for pakistan in the coming years. west indies have beaten india by 8 wickets to win the first of their three match one day international series in chennai. having won the toss and elected to field, the tourists restricted india to 287 for 8 from their 50 overs before centuries from player of the match shimron hetmeyer, and an unbeaten 102 from shai hope saw them home. in the nfl — quarterback tom brady threw a pair of touchdown passes to move within one of the nfl career record as the new england patriots qualified for the post season with a 34—13 victory over the bengals in cincinnati — and the 42—year—ol

helped many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected areas southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. children as you know will have a huge amount of lucidity happens and they have got the thing that's trained to come out of these things and that big ben's on that had doubts at them. control and competence to begin with the problems the children's anxiety and stress that much much less. after the tsunami sri lankan psychiatry's formed a network with the help of the world health organization today elementary school teachers are being taught how to recognize signs of trauma in children but talking about the effects of trauma is still to do. with the country has installed an early warning system for tsunamis the fear of another giant wave has never gone away nor has the memory of the victims of 2004. let's get a check now to some of the other stories making news around the world. at least 11 soldiers have been killed in another terrorist attack in birkenau faso earlier the country's president called for 2 days of mourning after 35 civilians almost al

the article gave an example from sri lanka to illustrate the very real risks of taking on debt from chinae port of hambatota was constructed at a cost of $1.5 billion, most of it funded by a loan from china. however, sri lanka, struggling to repay the loan, later handed 70% of the shares in the port to the chinese operators. the article pointed out that beijing now exercises de facto sovereign control over the strategic facility. aware of these risks, the aung san suu kyi government began discussions with china. it wanted to revise the scope and investment terms of the interview project. but the talks scan stalled. it was around this time a serious situation erupted in rakhine state. in august 2017, extremists from the minority rohingya, a muslim group, attacked a police facility. myanmar's security forces responded with a brutal campaign aimed at driving rohingya out of the country. 700,000 people fled across the border into neighboring bangladesh. aung san suuuu kyi was harshly criticized by the international community for failing to rein in the security forces. >> it is risky for anybo

help many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected area of southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. children as you know will have a huge amount of france in the atoms and they have got the thing that's trying to come out of these things and that depends on the adults at them. and control. and complete then the problems the children's anxiety and stress much much less. after the tsunami sri lankan psychiatrists formed a network with the help of the world health organization today elementary school teachers are being taught how to recognize signs of trauma in children but talking about the effects of trauma is still to do. what the country has installed an early warning system for tsunamis the fear of another giant wave has never gone away nor has the memory of the victims of 2004. in the u.k. queen elizabeth 2 delivered her traditional christmas address with a focus on peace and reconciliation she reflected on this past summer 75th d.-day anniversary commemorations as an example of people's capacity to overcome deep seated divisions she also pra

help many survivors back then he was the only psychiatrist in the worst affected area of southern sri lanka he treated adults and children alike. children as you know or have a huge amount of lucidity at this and they have a lot of the mets trained to come out of these things and that depends on the had doubts at all then. control board and complete then still be in with the problems the children's anxiety and stress much much less. after the tsunami sri lankan psychiatry's formed a network with the help of the world health organization today elementary school teachers are being taught how to recognize signs of trauma in children but talking about the effects of trauma is still to do. with the country has installed an early warning system for tsunamis the fear of another giant wave has never gone away nor has the memory of the victims of 2004. a quick reminder now of our top story. typhoon found found has battered the central philippines the storm tore across a number of popular holiday islands destroying property and killing at least 16 people. here up to date now on. up next is our docume

countries had avoided playing test in pakistan since the 2009 attack on sri lanka's team bus in lahore. and it was against sri lanka that pakistan's landmark victory came the home side only needed 3 wickets and crunchy on the final day to feel victory. and they got the 1st one with the openings all of the morning the remaining batsman fell soon after pakistan taking just 15 minutes to get the job done. nothing shar was the hero the 16 year old stepping up with 5 wickets in the final innings to not only seal a $263.00 run win but also the series one nothing is easy their home series was important to us it's been a long time since a test series was played in pakistan this test series was special for each player to win obviously everyone's overwhelmed pakistan's test future still remains uncertain bangladesh a schedule to visit next but they won best series moved to a neutral venue for now however pakistan will celebrate this a storage moment so he'll malik al-jazeera. one of rugby's best known players that is the latest sportsman to criticize china for locking weaker muslims sonny bill w

and sri lanka's new leader says that he's a president for all but the noisy groups appear far from convinced. we begin in hong kong where more than a 1000000 protesters have brought the city to a standstill it's just after 7 local time and people have been marching for of a 5 hours now demanding greater protection of the democratic freedoms and human rights sunday's rally is the culmination of 6 months of sometimes violent protests the territory is locked in a dispute over the nature of its relationship with mainland china police approved sunday's demonstration but they've warned they'll break it up if there's any violence let's go live now to hong kong i was here as adrian brown is there so 6 months on adrian what of these protests achieved. well i think these protesters have probably achieved actually quite a lot they managed to get that controversial extradition bill finally officially withdrawn by the government but of course that was too little too late and by then the protesters demands had morphed into calls for full democracy as well as an independent commission of inquiry into polic

all these clouds producing a lot of rain across the region and for parts of sri lanka we have seen well over $180.00 millimeters of rain just in the last 24 hours the rain is going to continue across much of the region we could be even seen some localized flooding for parts of sri lanka and colombo well unfortunately the next 3 days the rain continues tempter though it were going to sing $27.00 degrees here on monday as we go towards tuesday and wednesday the rain does continue at $29.00 normally this time of year attempt if you would be 30. a chinese just say no empire is transforming cambodia on rapid development and criminology one i want to get to when is it in cambodia. on al-jazeera called counting recalls what started the protests in ecuador could it be a multi-billion dollar loaded with full time goodness to the corporation sterrett it to the poor. and the part of the economic policy did it help to pander culpa from its last decade. counting the cost on alger. bases al-jazeera a reminder of the top stories this hour iraqi parliament has approved prime minister abdullah abdullah

sri lanka has suffered decades of religious and ethnic violence the newly elected president go to buy a rajapaksa has promised to unite the country but as. for the reports from the capital colombo there remains deep distrust among the country's minority groups that voted overwhelmingly against him ali mohamed just these pasta for tree owned by his muslim family was burned down by the rwanda 100 people in may last year. it happened during days of violence talks in sri lanka's muslim community to the easter sunday attacks suicide bombers who were members of a local group linked to eisele killed more than $250.00 people in the tanks and churches and hotels the newly elected president go to buy a rajapaksa has promised to protect minorities into every sri lankan and his words irrespective of race or religion. i think. you know i'm not party to this but i think everybody. i think. that if you will do not with the minorities if you do not. they are not working together you cannot like. you cannot function that the buddhist nationalist group. which means buddhist policy is accused of incitin

test cricket is back in pakistan for the 1st time in more than a decade the hosts are taking on sri lanka in rawalpindi in the 1st of a 2 match series lanka were the last team to 2 in 2009 when their bus came under attack in lahore killing several people since then pakistan have paid all of their home test matches at neutral venues security is tight for this game and the pakistan cricket board is hoping that a successful series will encourage other top teams to come to the country to go in diapers she said we are externally happy that the united team isn't it pakistan people are so excited that they have bought all the tickets and even i tried my best for tickets but it's hard to get on very rare now what is your issue today is a great day for pakistan and for cricket lovers that despite the attack on the show lankan team a few years back they have made it to pakistan this time again everyone here is excited. as for the match itself sri lanka won the toss and chose to back. out after a lead the way with a half century they were 2 wickets for pakistan fast bowler naseem shah is the tourist

it happened during days of violence targeting sri lanka's muslim community to the easter sunday attacks suicide bombers who were members of a local group linked to eisele killed more than $250.00 people in the tanks and churches and hotels the newly elected president go to by rush upon his promise to protect minorities and to serve every sri lankan and his words irrespective of race or religion. i think. you know i'm not party to this but i think everybody. i think. that if you will do not with the minorities if you do not. they are not working together you cannot like a society cannot function that the buddhist nationalist group. which means buddhist power is accused of inciting hate and taking part in violence it's x. because minority muslim and christian communities in recent years the group campaigned hard for president carter by rajapaksa and celebrated his election victory the b.b.'s leader says the group may despise the parliamentary elections expected in april then up but how do you get that now hasn't our father come home in recent times the sinhalese people were destitute like

much of the region we could we've seen some localized flooding for parts of sri lanka and colombo well unfortunately the next 3 days the rain continues temps are though it were going to sing $27.00 degrees here on monday as we go towards tuesday and wednesday the rain does continue at $29.00 normally this time of year attempt if you would be 30. our planet is warming as never before with profound consequences for all life on earth but the world's leading scientists say there is still time to plan it s.o.s. sets out the facts and the science behind the issues affecting our planet. and brings you what people across the globe are doing to turn the crisis around plan attacks on al jazeera. i am. again you're watching al-jazeera reminder of our top stories this hour iraq's parliament has accepted the prime minister mad this decision to step down he submitted his resignation on saturday it's done little to calm protesters who are demanding a total overhaul of the political system. a couple that was killed by a crowd in the eastern democratic republic of congo with victims of a stake and iden