Sri Lanka leader proposes 25-year plan for crisis-hit nation

Sri Lanka's new president said Wednesday that his government is preparing a national policy roadmap for the next 25 years that aims to cut public debt and turn the country into a competitive export economy as it seeks a way out of its worst economic disaster. President Ranil Wickremesinghe in his

World Bank refuses new funding for bankrupt Sri Lanka

The World Bank said Friday it would not offer new funding to Sri Lanka unless the bankrupt island nation carried out "deep structural reforms" to stabilise its crashing economy. Sri Lanka has suffered an unprecedented downturn with its 22 million people enduring months of food and fuel shortages, rolling blackouts and

Rajapaksa ally named PM in Sri Lanka

An ally of the Rajapaksa political family was appointed Friday as Sri Lanka's prime minister, hours after security forces cleared the main protest site occupied for months by demonstrators angry at the Rajapaksas over the country's economic collapse. New President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected by lawmakers and sworn into office

Sri Lankan forces make arrests, clear main protest site

Sri Lankan security forces arrested several people by early Friday and cleared the main camp protesters have occupied for more than three months while demanding the nation's leaders resign over an unprecedented economic collapse. Army and police personnel arrived in trucks and buses around midnight, removing tents and protest banners at

Wickremesinghe elected president of crisis-hit Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan lawmakers chose six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as president Wednesday to succeed the ousted leader who fled the country in a vote that risks reigniting political turmoil in the troubled South Asian island nation. Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May, hoping to bring stability

State of emergency declared in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency in the South Asian country, the Prime Minister's Office said on Wednesday. The police have imposed a curfew in the Western Province, including the capital Colombo, the Office said after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the South Asian country amid

No fuel and no cash, fuel keeps schools closed

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Sunday extended school closures for one week because there isn't enough fuel for teachers and parents to get children to classrooms, and the energy minister appealed to the country's expatriates to send money home through banks to finance new oil purchases. A huge foreign debt has left

CIS provides emergency medicine to Sri Lanka

Community Initiative Society (CIS) has handed over emergency medicine priced approximately LKR 3 million to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka through A-PAD Sri Lanka on 13 June 2022, a press release said Tuesday.  The aid will be used in critical health condition to stave off diseases. Firzan Hashim, Country

DCHT, CIS distribute food, hold health camp in Sri Lanka

Dhaka Community Hospital Trust (DCHT) and Community Initiative Society (CIS) in collaboration with Muslim Foundation for Culture and Development (MFCD) distributed 200 food packs for the people of Galle & Colombo, Sri Lanka on 11 & 12 June 2022, a press release said Sunday. With the support of MFCD, the DCHT