Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's Cabinet of Ministers have decided not to grant permission for the holding of musical performances, political meetings or other mass gatherings at the Galle Face Green, except for religious activities, with effect from April 20.
The nation, having weathered negotiations with Japan, India and China, hopes the emergency funds from the International Monetary Fund will see it through its debt crisis.
Human rights groups urged Sri Lanka’s government to release a prominent student activist who was arrested five months ago during anti-government protests triggered by the country’s worst economic crisis and has been held without charges under harsh anti-terrorism laws.
The supreme court in Sri Lanka has ordered the former president Maithripala Sirisena to pay millions in compensation to the victims of the 2019 Easter bombings, the first time the courts have acknowledged the government’s role in the attacks.
A Supreme Court ruling denounced former President Maithripala Sirisena and some of his top officials for what it called “reckless failure” to prevent the attacks, which killed more than 200 people.