Search Results for: sri lanka

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet Monday passed a constitutional amendment in order to curb the president’s power and delegate more power to the country’s parliament. The 21st amendment repeals the 20th Amendment, which reallocated some of parliament’s powers to the president and allowed the president to dissolve parliament. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has pushed for the passage [...]

Australia’s new interim Home Affairs minister Friday announced that a Sri Lankan family detained by immigration authorities since 2018 will be granted new visas and be permitted to return to their home in the Australian town of Biloela. The Murugappan family was detained by the Australian Border Force after their asylum application was rejected and [...]

Sri Lanka lifted a government curfew Sunday for the Buddhist holiday of Vesak on May 16. The curfew was put in place on May 9 after violence broke out amid protests against current Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The curfew was instituted under Sri Lanka’s Public Security Ordinance Part III. The [...]

Sri Lankan security officials were given orders Wednesday to use live ammunition against protesters to prevent “anarchy” amid anti-government protests and an economic crisis in the island nation. Sri Lanka, which is facing its worst economic crisis since the country declared independence from Britain in 1948, has been “rocked” with violence amid supply shortages, a [...]

These days, the Sri Lankan rupee has fallen by almost 45 percent compared to the US dollar. Its foreign exchange reserves are nearly dry, having dropped below $1 billion. Meanwhile, the island nation has to repay debts of about $4 billion in the rest of this year, including a $1 billion international sovereign bond that [...]

A nation-wide strike in Sri Lanka Thursday brought the country to a standstill. Since the COVID-19 pandemic struck Sri Lanka, the country has experienced shortages in food, fuel and medicine. The situation has become so dire that the government has requested donations from citizens in other countries. The crisis has been caused in part by [...]

Sri Lankan police Tuesday opened fire at people who were protesting against the new fuel price hike, killing one and injuring 13 others. This was the first incident of shooting by security forces during weeks of demonstrations over the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. Sri Lanka is facing the worst financial crisis in its [...]

A Pakistan anti-terrorism court (ATC) Monday sentenced six people to death and nine people to life in prison for the lynching of Priyantha Kumara, according to reports from local news outlets. In a press conference, Punjab Prosecution Department Secretary Nadeem Sarwar also said Judge Natasha Nasim sentenced 72 people to two years in jail, sentenced [...]

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) Tuesday urged Sri Lankan authorities to find a solution to the country’s economic and political challenges in a press release following Sri Lanka’s state of emergency declaration. Sri Lanka, which is enduring its most painful economic downturn since its independence from Britain in 1948, declared a state of emergency [...]

Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers Sunday reportedly resigned amidst rising public anger against the government over the economic crisis in the country. All ministers except Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa signed a letter stating their resignation, paving the way  for a new cabinet to be formed. The letter was submitted to the prime minister, who will [...]