SRI LANKA: New President Anura Kumara Dissanayake today swore in Harini Amarasuriya as his Prime Minister, making her the country’s first woman to head the government in 24 years.

Ms Amarasuriya, a university lecturer and activist, is a fellow member of President Dissanayake’s left-wing National People’s Power coalition.

GERMANY: A police office that provides security for leading politicians says it plans to increase the number of bodyguards significantly over the coming years, citing growing dangers at home and abroad as the next national election nears.

The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Munch, said in comments to the RND newspaper group published today that his office currently has more than 500 bodyguards. 

SWEDEN: Authorities accused Iran today of being responsible for thousands of text messages that were sent to people in the Scandinavian country calling for revenge over the burnings of Islam’s holy book in 2023.

According to officials in Stockholm, the cyberattack was carried out by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which hacked an SMS service and sent “some 15,000 text messages in Swedish” over the string of public burnings of the Koran that took place in the summer of 2023.

TUNISIA: Lawyers and families of jailed opposition leaders called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) today to investigate a crackdown on political opposition and the abuse of black African migrants in the North African country.

Last year, the families of seven imprisoned politicians asked the ICC to investigate claims of political persecution and human rights violations by President Kais Saied’s administration.