South Asia

ARMY SELLS VEGETABLES: The Sri Lankan army is buying vegetables directly from farmers and selling them to the consumers. The military has been deployed to run small food kiosks along a main road to the island's former war zone.

The 15 unnamed shops, opened on January 7, are aimed at countering the black market mafia and make vegetables available at nearly one-third of the market prices. Prices of vegetables sky-rocketed since October after heavy rains disrupted supplies and destroyed crops, forcing the country to rely on imports to meet shortfalls.