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, acknowledged the somber state of the nation, saying in a televised speech, “We […]
Britain, facing economic crisis, pauses to mourn the Queen; Australia holds wreath-laying ceremony
London, UKReuters The death of Queen Elizabeth II has stilled the business of state in Britain at a time when the government, Bank of England and companies are battling to contain inflation and mitigate a deep economic crisis. New Prime Minister Liz Truss – appointed by the queen on Tuesday, just two days before she […]
Life “very hard” for Sri Lankan fishermen in financial squall
Negombo, Sri Lanka Reuters After three weeks at sea, Anton Fernando tallies his sales of tuna and other fish on a dock in Negombo, a fishing town in Sri Lanka, where the country’s financial crisis darkens already murky waters. The math does not look good for Fernando and his crew of four among the dozen […]
Pressure mounts on Sri Lanka leader to quit as protests continue; Catholic clergy call for “new beginning”
Colombo, Sri Lanka AP Thousands of Sri Lankans rallied in the country’s main business district and Christian clergy marched in the capital to observe a day of protest on Saturday calling on the debt-ridden nation’s president to resign, as anxiety and anger over shortages simmered. Protesters carrying national flags and placards, some bemoaning the hardships […]
Lebanese youths abandon education as crisis bites
Beirut, LebanonReuters Before Lebanon’s devastating financial crisis struck, Faraj Faraj thought university could set him on a path out of a cramped family home in a poor area of Beirut and towards financial independence. Instead, like increasing numbers of Lebanon’s young people, soaring costs forced the 19-year-old to drop out of studying just over a […]
South American exodus: A Brazilian town empties as migration to US accelerates
Amid on ongoing migration crisis on the US southern border, GABRIEL STARGARDTER, of Reuters, reports from the town of Alpercata in south-eastern Minas Gerais state…
“Get up!” Pope prays that Lebanon can get back on its feet
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis told Lebanon’s Prime Minister on Thursday that he was praying that God would help Lebanon “get up” and get back on its feet following an unprecedented economic crisis that has thrown three quarters of the country’s 6 million people, including a million Syrian refugees, into poverty. Prime Minister Najib Mikati met […]
Salaries to remittances: Afghans embrace crypto amid financial chaos
Thomson Reuters Fiundation When Roya Mahboob began paying her staff and freelancers in Afghanistan in bitcoin nearly 10 years ago, little did she know that for some of these women the digital currency would be their ticket out of the country after the fall of Kabul in August. Mahboob, a founder of the non-profit Digital […]
Fuel dispute triggers sectarian clash in Lebanon’s south
Beirut, LebanonReuters A dispute over scarce fuel supplies ignited sectarian tensions between neighbouring Shi’ite Muslim and Christian villages in southern Lebanon over the weekend, forcing the army to intervene, a security source said. Clashes mostly centred on the crippling gasoline and diesel shortages have become a daily occurrence in Lebanon, prompting growing concern about a […]
Rising prices, shuttered banks add to misery for Kabul
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters A week after the Taliban’s lightning seizure of Kabul, growing numbers of people in the Afghan capital are facing a daily struggle to get by with their jobs gone, banks still shuttered and food prices soaring. The thousands crowded outside the airport entry points and fighting for seats on flights out of Kabul […]