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From Our Own Correspondent: Sri Lanka's Muslims feel the fear

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Sri Lanka's Muslims feel the fear

30/11/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Sri Lanka's Muslims feel the fear

The backlash after the Easter 2019 bombings leaves a minority community vulnerable

The backlash after Easter's bombings leaves a minority vulnerable. Plus tales from Sudan's revolution, Iran's streets in revolt and a globe-trotting, breast-feeding correspondent

The appalling carnage of the Easter 2019 church and hotel bombings in Sri Lanka have left the whole island traumatised - and its Muslim community now subject to prejudice and suspicion. Jill McGivering reports on a climate of apprehensive silence - and the sectarian hatred now creeping out into the open in public life. 

Pascale Harter introduces this and other stories from correspondents, reporters and writers around the world. 

James Copnall, former BBC correspondent in Sudan during the longtime government of General Omar al Bashir, recently returned to see how the country's adjusting to its new government. The top man may have been toppled by a wave of popular protest, but the military still has a great deal of clout among the power players; some citizens aren't happy that some of their leaders may have played a part in the violent repression used against demonstrators this spring. But in Khartoum, everyone from patriotic schoolgirls to groups of friends drinking tea by the Nile talks about a new mood of optimism and pride.

This month's protests in the streets of Iran have had less impact - both at home and internationally. Despite widespread violence and scores of reported (though unconfirmed) deaths, news of unrest around several of Iran's major cities hardly filtered out of the country. BBC Persian's Jiyar Gol explains how his colleagues have struggled to find out and report the truth, in the face of an apparent Internet blackout inside Iran. 

And: a foreign correspondent's life is often a busy one, with last-minute travel, rapid changes of climate and erratic working hours. Imagine dealing with all that, AND the demands of pumping breast milk every few hours to ensure a new baby's food supply. Latin America correspondent Katy Watson reveals just what it takes to keep going. 

Photo: A Muslim boy riding a bike 14 days after the Easter attack May 4, 2019, in Kattankudy, Sri Lanka. ( Allison Joyce/Getty Images)

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