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☆ Sri Lanka passes controversial bill to regulate online content
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Rhea Mogul | Morayo Ogunbayo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Sri Lanka’s lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday regulating internet use among its citizens, in a move that has sparked fears among rights groups of a free speech crackdown. “Sri Lanka is still reeling from an economic crisis partly caused by misgovernment and failures of accountability,” said Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly in a statement Tuesday. Then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country after angry protesters, who blamed him for the financial situation, stormed his residence. But rights groups have accused him of cracking down on dissent and silencing protesters. “Sri Lanka’s repressive laws have facilitated widespread human rights violations for decades and contributed to economic and political crises,” said Ganguly.

Persons: ”, Lanka’s, Meenakshi Ganguly, “, Wickremesinghe, Jeff Paine, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Rajapaksa, Ganguly Organizations: CNN, Safety, Rights Watch, Asia Internet Coalition, United Nations Human Rights Locations: Lanka’s, Sri Lanka, Lankans

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement in principle with a group of creditors including India and Japan on debt restructuring, a crucial move toward unlocking a second instalment of a $2.9 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund. Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy in April 2022 with more than $83 billion in debt — more than half of it to foreign creditors. Political Cartoons View All 1270 ImagesSri Lanka needed financial assurances from its bilateral creditors in order to receive the second bailout installment. The ministry said the debt treatment terms will be further detailed and formalized in a memorandum of understanding between Sri Lanka and the creditor committee, which is co-chaired by India, Japan and France and includes 17 countries. ___This version corrects the name of the group in the agreement to the Official Creditor Committee, not Official Credit Committee.

Persons: Gotabaya Rajapaksa Organizations: International Monetary Fund, country's Finance Ministry, IMF, Sri, Sri Lanka’s IMF, Credit Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, India, Japan, Sri Lanka’s, Sri, Lanka, France

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The U.S. announced a $553- million project Wednesday to build a new, deep-water shipping container terminal in the Port of Colombo as it competes with China in international development financing. The U.S.-backed financing comes at a time when Sri Lanka is struggling to recover from a dire financial and economic crisis. Sri Lanka borrowed heavily from China to build the port and other infrastructure including an airport and a city being built on reclaimed land. Both neighboring India and China are jostling for influence in Sri Lanka and both have already invested in expanding facilities at the Colombo port. Colombo port also has a terminal run by China Merchants Port Holdings.

Persons: ”, Scott Nathan, Sri Lanka’s John Keells, Lanka’s, Wang Wenbin, William & Mary, AidData, China's, saysChina, Bradley Parks, “, ” ___ Didi Tang Organizations: South, U.S . International Development Finance Corp, West, Local, Sri, Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings, Initiative, Foreign Ministry, China Merchants Port Holdings, CHEC Port City Colombo Co, China Communications Construction Company, William & Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, U.S, Port, Colombo, China, Bay, Bengal, Beijing, Hambantota Port, Hambantota, India, oceanside, Port City, Virginia, “ Beijing, Washington

☆ China Is Lending Billions to Countries in Financial Trouble
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Keith Bradsher | More About Keith Bradsher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China’s early, rapid expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative alarmed U.S. officials, who saw the program as eroding American influence. The Trump administration and Congress merged and expanded two agencies in 2018 to create the development finance corporation. Between 2014 and 2017, AidData found, China was providing nearly three times as much development financing as the United States. But by 2021, China was outspending the United States by only 30 percent. (The American loan for up to $553 million would be for expansion of the busy port in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital and main city.)

Persons: Trump, China’s, AidData, Mahinda Rajapaksa Organizations: United States International Development Finance Corporation, Initiative Locations: Greece, Sri Lanka, China, United States, Hambantota, Colombo, Sri

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition on Friday defeated a no-confidence motion against the country's health minister who has been accused of allegedly failing to secure enough essential drugs and laboratory equipment that some say resulted in preventable deaths in hospitals. The motion was initiated by opposition lawmakers who claimed Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella's actions had ruined the health sector. Sri Lanka’s total debt has exceeded $83 billion, of which $41.5 billion is foreign. Sri Lanka has secured a $3 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund and is taking steps to restructure its domestic and foreign debts. Amid the crisis, thousands of Sri Lanka are leaving the country for better paying jobs abroad, including about 1,500 doctors who have left over the last year, according to a union.

Persons: Lanka’s, Keheliya, Rambukwella, Gotabaya Rajapaksa Organizations: Friday, Health Ministry, Sri, International Monetary Fund Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan lawmakers began a debate on the fate of country's health minister on Wednesday, seeking to remove him over his alleged failure to secure enough essential drugs and laboratory equipment that some say resulted in preventable deaths in hospitals. Their relatives, trade unions, activists and opposition lawmakers alleged that low-quality drugs had led to poor patient care. Sri Lanka’s total debt has exceeded $83 billion, of which $41.5 billion is foreign. Sri Lanka has secured a $3 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund and is taking steps to restructure its domestic and foreign debts. Amid the crisis, thousands of Sri Lanka are leaving the country for better paying jobs abroad.

Persons: Keheliya Rambukwella, ” Rambukwella, Gotabaya Rajapaksa Organizations: Health, Health Ministry, Sri, International Monetary Fund Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan

☆ Sri Lanka lifts import limits on 286 items as crisis eases
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka lifted import restrictions on 286 items, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday, a fresh sign the South Asian nation is starting to emerge from its worst economic crisis in decades. FILE PHOTO: A general view of city's skyline, amid the country's economic crisis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 19, 2022. Sri Lanka’s reserves grew 26% to a 17-month high of $3.5 billion in May, helped by stronger remittances and tourism earnings. “With the economy stabilising, import restrictions on 286 items have been lifted from Friday midnight,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement. Sri Lanka will also slash prices of 60 essential drugs by 16% from this week.

Organizations: Reuters, Finance, REUTERS, International Monetary Fund, Finance Ministry, IMF, Sri Locations: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Colombo

☆ Sri Lanka Supreme Court clears path to decriminalize homosexuality
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has given the green light to a bill seeking to decriminalize homosexuality, the speaker of parliament said on Tuesday, in a move hailed as a “historic development” by campaigners. The Supreme Court, after hearing more than a dozen petitions on both sides of the argument, ruled it was not unconstitutional, Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said. “The Supreme Court is of the opinion that the bill as a whole or as any provision thereof is not inconsistent with the constitution,” the speaker told parliament. Activists will still have to lobby for support from the 225 parliamentarians to push forward the proposed legislation through parliament. This Supreme Court decision is major for the community in terms of any kind of progress they have seen over the last couple of years,” Coswatte added.

☆ Fact Check-German judges in court cases did not rule on whether measles virus exists
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Judges presiding over a German court case between 2013 and 2016 involving the measles virus settled a civil dispute about a promised payment and did not rule on the existence of the virus itself, contrary to social media posts falsely claiming the courts decided the virus does not exist. However, judges presiding over the case and subsequent appeals to which the articles refer did not rule on the existence of the measles virus, and expressly said this in court. Dr. David Bardens, a medical student, responded to Lanka’s measles virus challenge on Jan. 31, 2012. He submitted six studies (see citations in clause 21 here) which, Bardens said, provided Lanka with proof that the measles virus exists, and of its size. They did not rule on the existence or non-existence of the measles virus.

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - A committee of Sri Lanka's international private creditors sent its first debt rework proposal to the country's authorities regarding over $12 billion in bonds outstanding, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter. It is the first bondholder proposal after the island-nation of 22 million people defaulted on its debt a year ago. A spokesperson representing the creditor committee declined to comment. China, Sri Lanka’s biggest bilateral creditor, did not join the announcement. Sri Lanka secured last month a $2.9 billion program from the International Monetary Fund to tackle its huge debt burden.

CNN —Sri Lanka on Monday secured a much-anticipated loan of about $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the South Asian nation navigates its worst financial crisis in decades. The deal, nearly a year in the making, will aim to “restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability” and “unlock Sri Lanka’s growth potential,” the IMF said in a statement. In July last year, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka is “bankrupt,” adding negotiations with the IMF were “difficult.”Monday’s loan approval will provide much-needed respite for the nation as it faces an uphill climb to revive its flailing economy. The IMF will immediately disburse an initial $333 million to Sri Lanka, with more funds to follow in the coming months. “For Sri Lanka to overcome the crisis, swift and timely implementation of the EFF-supported program with strong ownership for the reforms is critical,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement.

☆ Sri Lanka's rate hike shows commitment to rapid disinflation - IMF
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO, March 4 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's decision to raise interest rates shows the crisis-hit country's commitment to reducing inflation quickly towards single-digit levels, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Saturday. In a surprise move, the South Asia nation's central bank raised rates by 100 basis points on Friday to battle inflation, which is at 50.6%. The central bank raised its standing deposit facility rate to 15.50% and its standing lending facility rate to 16.50%, and said it would relax its currency band to move towards a market-determined exchange rate as it seeks to secure the bailout. The bank raised rates by 950 bps in the first half of last year to contain the country's financial crisis. Sri Lanka is pushing for finalisation of a four-year Extended Fund Facility and is expecting IMF board level approval this month, its central bank chief said on Friday.

☆ Sri Lankan court orders ex-leader to pay victims of 2019 Easter bombings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that inaction by the country’s former president and four others led to Easter Sunday bomb attacks in 2019 that killed nearly 270 people and ordered them to pay compensation for violating the basic rights of the victims and their families. A seven-judge bench of the top court ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena to pay 100 million rupees ($273,300) from his personal funds. It also ordered the police chief, two top intelligence officials and the secretary to the ministry of defense at the time to pay a total of 210 million rupees ($574,000). “This dismal failure on the part of former President Sirisena resulted in disastrous consequences for this country. A presidential commission earlier recommended criminal procedures against Sirisena for alleged negligence, but it has not been followed up.

☆ India inch closer to semis after nervy win vs. Bangladesh
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

India moved to top of Group 2 with six points, one ahead of South Africa who have played one game fewer. Litton gave Bangladesh a rollicking start scoring 56 of his team’s 60 runs in the first six powerplay overs. He raced to a 21-ball fifty before rain halted play with Bangladesh on 66 for no loss after seven overs. “It’s been the story when we play India. “It was a great game, the crowd enjoyed and both teams enjoyed.

☆ A Weeknight-Friendly Curry That Brings Sri Lanka to Your Table
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Lauren Joseph | Photographs Carlotta Cardana For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ms. Shanmugalingam’s recipes are full of easy-to-love flavors like coconut and tamarind and sway mostly Tamil in keeping with her family’s heritage. But she doesn’t shy away from Sri Lanka’s troubled political past—and present—either. Dishes like a Sinhalese black pork curry, adopted by her grandparents while weathering decades of civil war in a southern stronghold, speak to the need to flee, adapt and integrate. “Food is political,” she said. “And it’s important to recognize that.”

☆ 50 of the world’s best breads
▼ + stars: | 2019-10-15 | by ( Jen Rose Smith | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +33 min

In alphabetical order by location, here are 50 of the world’s most wonderful breads. Roti gambang, IndonesiaShutterstockPalm sugar and cinnamon lend a light, aromatic sweetness to roti gambang, a tender wheat bread that’s an old-fashioned favorite at Jakarta bakeries. This is where locals bring rounds of tender wheat dough ready to bake into khobz kesra, one of the country’s homiest breads. Gyeran-ppang, South KoreaShutterstockThere’s buried treasure within every loaf of gyeran-ppang, individually sized wheat breads with a whole egg baked inside. To make malawach, bakers roll wheat dough into a delicate sheet and fold it over a slick of melted butter.

Persons: William Rubel, ”, Afghanistan Johannes Eisele, lavash, it’s, de, whirl, Egypt Jen Rose Smith, El Salvador Lane Turner, you’ll, Joya de Cerén, injera, France Enrico Spanu, You’re, munch, Jim Chevallier, Emmanuel Macron, Pai bao, confections, snacking, Dökkt, rúgbrauð, India Stuart Freedman, Roti, Iran Behrouz Mehri, sangak –, crumb, Italy Bruce Bisping, Arnaldo Cavallari, Kare, ” Karepanman, Jordan Shutterstock, canai, sourdough, “, Mexico Lisa Cherkasky, Morocco Bartosz, Luke E, Rēwena parāoa, haven’t, Broa, South Korea Shutterstock, kisra, Balep, Lama, United States Dixie, Lily, White Lily, –, Uzbekistan Shutterstock Flatbreads, they’re, Areperos Organizations: CNN, Getty, UNESCO Intangible Heritage, Montreal bagels, Fairmount, Boston Globe, pats, UNESCO, le, swabbing, National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Jerusalem, Star Tribune, The Washington Post, Amsterdam’s, Vikings, Sri, Brewers, Turkey VW, Biscuits, United, Washington Post, Uzbekistan Shutterstock Locations: Germany’s Westphalia, Afghanistan, AFP, Lavash, Armenia, Australia, Luchi, Bangladesh, Dhaka, de queijo, Brazil, Montreal, Canada, Marraqueta, Chile, Chilean, el brazo, ” Shaobing, China, Sichuan, Cubano, Cuba, Cuban, Havana, Miami, Florida, Libba, Egypt, El Salvador, San Salvador, Joya, Injera, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, injera, Baguette, France, Paris, Khachapuri, Georgia, Pumpernickel, Germany, Soest that’s, Hong Kong, Dökkt rúgbrauð, Iceland, Laugarvatn, Paratha, India, Roti gambang, Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesian, Gouda, Edam, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Tel Aviv, you’ll, United States, Ciabatta, Italy, Jamaica, South America, Caribbean, Japan, panko, Amman, canai, Malaysia, Malta, Maltese, Mexico, kesra, Morocco, Moroccan medina, ferran, Navajo, Arizona, New Mexican, powwows, Netherlands, San Francisco, New Zealand, Lefse, Norway, Europe, Norwegian, Podplomyk, Poland, milho, Portugal, Americas, Karavai, Russia, Sardinia, of Piedmont, there’s, Proja, Serbia, Serbian, South Korea, Seoul, Sri Lanka, Colombo, Kisra, Sudan, South Sudan, Sweden, Sweden’s, Balep korkun, Tibet, Simit, Turkey, Istanbul, United Kingdom, British, Uzbekistan, Arepa, Venezuela, Venezuelan, Malawach, Yemen

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