Tag: Sri Lanka

Federal Climate Policies, Fertilizer Plan, Will Cause Devastation, Say Saskatchewan Farmers

Farmers in Saskatchewan, a province that has nearly half of Canada’s arable land, say production will fall sharply if they are forced to use less fertilizer and pay increasingly high carbon taxes on fuel. The government is moving ahead with its goal, first announced in December 2020, to reduce absolute levels of greenhouse gas emissions…


Group Seeks Ex-Sri Lankan President’s Arrest in Singapore

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—A rights group gathering evidence on Sri Lanka’s alleged rights abuses said it filed a criminal complaint with Singapore’s Attorney General, seeking to arrest an ex-Sri Lankan president for his role in what they say are alleged war crimes during the island nation’s civil war that ended more than a decade ago. Lawyers…


Sri Lankan Forces Deployed to Dismantle Anti-Government Protest Camp Outside Presidential Residence

Sri Lanka’s armed forces on July 22 launched a pre-dawn raid at Galle Face park—which had been besieged for months by anti-government protesters in the wake of the country’s economic crisis—drawing outcry from human rights groups. Hundreds of military personnel and police special task force officers stormed the site at about 1 a.m. local time,…


Sri Lanka’s Newly Elected President Sworn Into Office

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president Thursday to take charge of a nation bitterly angry that he will remain in power amid an unprecedented economic crisis. Sri Lankans have taken to the streets for months to demand their top leaders step down to take responsibility for economic…


Chinese Media Discuss How to Recover Billions in Debt from Bankrupt Sri Lanka

Since Sri Lanka announced its bankruptcy, voices in mainland Chinese news media have been scrambling to propose solutions on how to recover billions in investments that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) loaned to the country through its Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at expanding the communist regime’s infrastructure projects overseas. Sri Lanka, once known as…


Sri Lanka’s Ranil Wickremesinghe Elected as New President

Sri Lanka’s parliament has elected acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new President of the crisis-hit nation, despite his growing unpopularity among anti-government protesters who had demanded his resignation. Wickremesinghe secured 134 of the total 219 votes in the parliament, defeating his two rivals Dullas Alahapperuma, who had 82 votes, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake with…


Sri Lanka’s Parliament Votes for New President as Protesters Wait

COLOMBO—Sri Lankan lawmakers voted in parliament on Wednesday to choose the next president from three contenders amid tight security, hoping the new leader would pull the island out of a crippling economic and political crisis. A win for acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, one of the main two contenders but opposed by many ordinary Sri Lankans,…


Sri Lanka Placed Under Emergency Declaration Ahead of Parliamentary Vote for New President

Sri Lanka’s acting president on July 17 declared a state of emergency across the crisis-hit island nation ahead of the parliamentary vote for a new president. In the emergency proclamation, acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who previously served as the country’s prime minister, said an emergency declaration would be expedient “in the interests of public security, the…


Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Sworn in as Interim President

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Sri Lanka’s prime minister was sworn in Friday as interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse. Lawmakers were to convene Saturday to choose a new leader who would serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in…


Sri Lankan President Hands in Resignation After Fleeing to Singapore

COLOMBO/SINGAPORE—Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa submitted a letter of resignation on Thursday, a spokesperson for the parliament speaker said, hours after fleeing to Singapore following mass protests over an economic meltdown. The announcement triggered jubilation in the commercial capital Colombo where protesters massed outside the presidential secretariat, defying a city-wide curfew. Crowds set off firecrackers,…