Latest Sri Lanka News
Sri Lankan state workers strike, protesting high taxes
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan health, railway, port and other state workers were on a daylong strike Wednesday to protest against sharp increases in income taxes and electricity charges, as the island nation awaits approval of an International Monetary Fund package to aid its bankrupt...
Sri Lanka leader says IMF deal imminent after China's pledge
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president said Tuesday that China has given crucial debt restructuring assurances that mean the bankrupt Indian Ocean nation could get its $2.9 billion bailout package approved soon. President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament that a...
Sri Lanka police fire tear gas at election protest; 15 hurt
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Police in Sri Lanka on Sunday fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters angry over a decision to postpone local elections after the government said it cannot finance them because of the country's crippling economic crisis. About 15 people...
Sri Lankan police disperse protesters demanding election
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan police fired tear gas and a water cannon at opposition supporters who marched in the capital on Monday demanding that the government hold next month’s local council elections as planned. Several thousand backers of Samagi Jana Balawegaya, or...
Tiny-home village aims to help people with mental illness
PITTSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Tucked away in the backwoods of Chatham County, down a long, meandering road, a large swath of land has freshly been cleared at The Farm at Penny Lane. On the sprawling 40-acre therapeutic farm off U.S. 15-105 between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, crews are...
China expresses support for Sri Lanka ahead of debt meeting
BEIJING (AP) — China expressed support for Sri Lanka ahead of a meeting Friday of government lenders to poor economies but did not say if it would help reduce a multibillion-dollar debt that has plunged the Indian Ocean nation into financial and political turmoil. Beijing is one of...
Sri Lanka to fast-track trade pact with Thailand amid crisis
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Debt-stricken Sri Lanka is fast-tracking efforts to seal a stalled trade pact with Thailand in order to boost trade and tourism, and improve the foreign currency shortage that has led to its worst economic crisis, a government minister said on Tuesday. Sri...
Sri Lankan leader appeals for patience amid economic crisis
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s president on Wednesday appealed for patience amid the country's worst economic crisis but promised brighter times ahead. President Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a policy speech after inaugurating a new parliamentary session that he had been...
Sri Lanka marks independence anniversary amid economic woes
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka marked its 75th independence anniversary on Saturday as a bankrupt nation, with many citizens angry, anxious and in no mood to celebrate. President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has started to improve some but not all of the acute shortages,...
China confirms offer to Sri Lanka of debt moratorium
BEIJING (AP) — China’s government on Friday confirmed it is offering Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on loan repayments as the Indian Ocean island nation struggles to restructure $51 billion in foreign debt that pushed it into a financial crisis. China lent to Sri Lanka as part...
