People are dying of water-borne diseases, while food prices are likely to remain elevated. Most businesses in affected areas are operational, but not yet operating at capacity. Tea exports likely to fall by 10 percent. Damage to roads and bridges is severe. Reconstruction could take up to two years.

This week’s Diary is rightly muted. But Colombo has no less than 26 Christmas Carol events coming up. Timeout has the full list, so we won’t bother writing them all out. A wee

By clothing the presidency in such overmighty power, J.R.'s constitution magnified folly into catastrophe. Black July, the referendum that made a mockery of democracy, Indian intervention, all the way to Gota’s disastrous economic collapse — all bore the imprint of unchecked authority.

Claiming an article in the Sinhala daily Aruna was ‘fake news’, the government filed a CID complaint. The move comes as the government is pushing for a ‘co-regulatory’ model to supervise the press. Meanwhile, The Examiner investigated Wijepala’s claims, finding a gap between policy and reality.

This evening, learn how to design a museum at The Bawa Space or why the sathyagrahas failed at ICES. More on communal strife at Lakmahal. Earlier in the day, artists jaw-jaw with philosophers. Sumithra Peiris’

Authorities removed hundreds of unauthorised coastal buildings this year. But when they tried to demolish an illegal cafe on Trinco’s public beach, monks erected a Buddha statue. The authenticity of the monks’ Pooja Bhoomi deed is in question and officials object to the law’s selective application.

As war and the economic crises choked the domestic industry, some construction companies have looked to foreign markets. Today, Sri Lankan builders sign their names on projects from Uganda to Oman. But local conditions still clip their wings.