Editor's note

The devastating Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka have left over 300 people dead, and the country in shock. The government has responded by banning social media and messaging apps, ostensibly to stop the spread of misinformation, but Meera Selva argues that this both restricts access to key facts in a country with a beleaguered press and dismantles a crucial interface between the island’s different groups.

And Mathew Schmalz looks at the country’s Christian community.

Matt Warren

Deputy Editor

Top Stories

Security personnel near St Anthony’s Church Kochchikade in Colombo, Sri Lanka. April 22, 2019. EPA Images

Sri Lanka attacks: government’s social media ban may hide the truth about what is happening

Meera Selva, University of Oxford

In a country with a weak press, social media played a key role in exposing the truth and building bridges between Sri Lanka's different ethnic and religious groups.

Sri Lankan army soldiers secure the area around St. Anthony’s Shrine after a blast in Colombo. AP Photo/ Rohan Karunarathne

Who are Sri Lanka’s Christians?

Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross

Suicide bombers struck Sri Lanka's churches and hotels on Easter Sunday, killing and injuring hundreds of people. Seven percent of Sri Lanka's population is Christian – most of them Roman Catholics.

Politics + Society

Dilemmas of peacekeeping: what we learnt from talking to people in South Sudan

Adam Day, United Nations University; Charles T. Hunt, RMIT University

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan has had a mixed bag of success and failure.

Electoral systems need urgent reform. South Africa is no exception

Roger Southall, University of the Witwatersrand

The current crisis in British politics is significant for countries like South Africa where a change in electoral systems is needed.

Education

Nigerian universities are suffering from neglect. Why this should stop

Isaac Adebayo Adeyemi, Nigerian Academy of Science

Government funding in Nigeria's education sector has been chronically low and needs to be changed.

Why philosophy must be dragged out of the ivory tower and into the street

Aaron James Wendland, Russian National Research University The Higher School of Economics

We need to accept the incomplete nature of our knowledge, question and adopt alternative views.

Energy + Environment

‘Climate Change – The Facts’: the BBC and David Attenborough should talk about solutions

Rick Stafford, Bournemouth University; Peter JS Jones, UCL

The BBC's new documentary is a great opportunity to challenge our current economic system.

Why Kenya’s seasonal rains keep failing and what needs to be done

Victor Ongoma, The University of the South Pacific

Some areas in Kenya haven't experienced "long rains" for three consecutive years causing crop failures and food insecurity.

En français

Présidentielle en Ukraine : les défis du novice Zelenski

Cyrille Bret, Sciences Po – USPC

Vladimir Zelenski dispose de la force d'un succès électoral massif, rapide et incontestable. Mais il a, sur le long terme, la faiblesse d'un leader sans programme, sans équipe et sans idéologie.

Attentats à Sri Lanka : comment se met en place le climat de terreur

Anthony Goreau-Ponceaud, Université de Bordeaux

La série d’explosions meurtrières visant des églises et hôtels, lors de ce dimanche de Pâques, ouvre un nouveau chapitre dans les tensions communautaires de l’île.