RANIL WICKREMESINGHE

Sri Lanka has marked its 75th independence anniversary as a bankrupt nation, with many citizens angry, anxious and in no mood to celebrate.

President Wickremesinghe drew parallels to the upheaval in Sri Lanka, although critics were quick to point out there was little in common.

Sri Lanka’s president has proposed to more than double the country’s tax revenue as the island nation struggles to come out from its worst economic crisis.

Shehan Karunatilaka wrote his Booker Prize-winning novel “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” to give voice to Sri Lanka’s dead.

Sri Lanka’s government has started debt restructuring discussions with China, an important step toward finalizing an International Monetary Fund rescue of the island nation from a severe economic crisis.

Sri Lanka’s ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa could face legal action over forced disappearances of activists now that he has been stripped of constitutional immunity following his return home.

Sri Lanka's ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who returned home after seven weeks in exile following protests over economic hardships, could face legal action over forced disappearances of activists now that he has been stripped of constitutional immunity, a lawyer said Saturday. Rajapaksa flew to Colombo around midnight Friday from Thailand and was escorted under military guard to his new home in the capital.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is back in the country just weeks after anti-government protests drove him from office.

Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has returned to the country after he fled in July after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his home and office in a display of anger over the country’s economic crisis.

The agreement, which still needs to be approved by debtholders and the IMF senior management, is the first step on the arduous road to Sri Lanka's recovery.

Sri Lanka’s president says his bankrupt country’s talks with the International Monetary Fund for a rescue package have successfully reached final stages as he presented an amended budget that seeks to tame inflation and hike taxes.

A Chinese navy vessel has arrived at a Beijing-built port in southern Sri Lanka after its port call was earlier delayed due to apparent security concerns raised by India.

Hundreds of Sri Lankans have rallied against a government crackdown and the use of emergency laws against peaceful protesters demanding answers to the country’s worst economic crisis.

To prevent an economic collapse, President Ranil Wickremesinghe needs to respond to protesters’ legitimate political demands.

Sri Lanka’s new president says his government is preparing a national policy roadmap for the next 25 years that aims to cut public debt and turn the country into a competitive export economy as it seeks a way out of its worst economic disaster.

Sri Lanka’s president says COVID-19 cases and deaths are rising in the country, and citizens should receive a fourth vaccine dose to prevent a possible surge of the coronavirus

Sri Lankans have endured months of fuel and food shortages.

A human rights group says it has filed a criminal complaint with Singapore’s attorney general to seek the arrest of Sri Lanka's former president for alleged war crimes during his country's civil war.

Hundreds of armed troops raided a protest camp outside the president's office, attacking demonstrators with batons.

Groups are urging the new president to order security forces to cease all unlawful use of force against protesters who have been demonstrating against the government over the economic crisis.

International human rights groups have urged Sri Lanka’s new president to immediately order security forces to cease use of force against protesters after troops and police cleared their main camp following months of demonstrations over the country’s economic meltdown.

The Sri Lankan Army cleared the main camp of protestors outraged by the economic fall of the country.

Sri Lanka's new president has always aspired to the pinnacle of power, enduring setback after setback but managing to recover from seemingly impossible defeats.

Sri Lanka has been wracked by months of protests and is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence.

Sri Lankans have taken to the streets for months demanding their leaders resign over the economic crisis. The protests forced out former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last week.

Sri Lankan forces have violently cleared the main protest camp of demonstrators outraged by the country’s economic meltdown.

Protest organizers said 50 people were injured. If confirmed, that would make the Friday raid one of the harshest crackdowns since the economic crisis began.

Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president to take charge of a nation bitterly angry he was chosen amid an unprecedented economic crisis.

Sri Lanka's parliament elected longtime politician Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country's new president in a secret ballot on Wednesday. Here's what led to this moment.

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Demonstrators hit the streets again as a widely unliked political veteran was tapped as president, but one expert says he may give the nation "a fighting chance."

Sri Lanka's prime minister has been elected president by lawmakers who opted for a seasoned, veteran leader to lead the country out of economic collapse.

Sri Lankans have taken to the street for months to demand their top leaders step down as the country spiraled into economic chaos.

Parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is widely seen as an ally of the Rajapaksa regime that brought the island nation to an economic crisis.

In a vote that risks reigniting political turmoil in the South Asian island nation, six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was chosen to succeed the ousted leader who fled the country.

Business confidence in Sri Lanka is at its lowest in years, according to the chairman of the Ceylon Chambers of Commerce Vish Govindasamy.

Sri Lankan lawmakers have elected the unpopular prime minister as their new president.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister and acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe faces two rivals in a parliamentary vote on who will succeed the ousted leader who fled the country last week.

Bankruptcy has forced Sri Lanka's government to a near standstill.

The decree invokes sections of the Public Security Ordinance that allow him to make regulations in the interests of public security and order.

Amid the economic and political crises, many people are deeply worried about what comes next for the island nation — and their own lives.

Sri Lanka’s acting president has declared a state of emergency that gives him broad authority amid growing protests demanding his resignation two days before lawmakers choose a new president.

Sri Lankan lawmakers met Saturday to begin choosing a new leader to serve the rest of the term abandoned by the president who fled and resigned after mass protests over the country's economic crisis.

Sri Lankan lawmakers have met to begin choosing a new leader to serve the rest of the term abandoned by the president who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse.

Sri Lanka’s opposition leader, who will seek the presidency next week, is vowing to “listen to the people” who are struggling through the island nation’s worst economic crisis.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe replaces former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country when angry protesters stormed his residence.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka's interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after mass protests forced him from office.

Sri Lanka's prime minister has been sworn in as interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country’s economic collapse.

Sri Lanka has declared a curfew in the capital of Colombo that will last till 5am on Friday.

Sri Lanka's military barricaded the road leading to Parliament, hoping to avoid the chaos that occurred at the prime minister’s office on Wednesday.

Protesters have retreated from government buildings in Sri Lanka, restoring a tenuous calm to the economically crippled country.

Months of protests in Sri Lanka over soaring inflation, shortages of food and fuel and lengthy power cuts have created political turmoil in the South Asian nation and led to its first sovereign debt default since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. Continual changes in the government -- and sporadic outbreaks of violence -- were complicating efforts to manage the island’s foreign exchange crisis and secure more funds to keep its tourism-reliant economy running, having already been hit har

Months of protests in Sri Lanka over soaring inflation, shortages of food and fuel and lengthy power cuts have toppled the government in the South Asian nation and led to its first sovereign debt default since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. The political turmoil -- and sporadic outbreaks of violence -- were complicating efforts to manage the island’s foreign exchange crisis and secure more funds to keep its tourism-reliant economy running, having already been hit hard by the Covid-19

Anadolu AgencySri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned on Wednesday after massive nationwide protests over the rampant political corruption and the dismal economic crisis that have been plaguing the country in recent months.Rajapaksa’s resignation was the culmination of a week of pure chaos in the Sri Lankan city of Colombo. Protesters—many of whom blamed the former president for the country’s economic collapse—had broken into the president’s official residence, where they photographed t

The double whammy of government and economic instability is further complicating recovery, and the country is hurtling toward bankruptcy.

Protesters want the president and prime minister out, but the PM is taking a hard line, saying Sri Lanka "can't allow fascists to take over."

Over the weekend, protesters seized the president's home and office and the official residence of the prime minister following months of protests.

The move on the prime minister's office follows the country's president fleeing the country.

The country needs to move swiftly to save the tattered economy.

Sri Lanka’s president has fled the country, plunging a country already reeling from economic chaos into more political turmoil.

Sri Lanka’s president, who had announced he would resign Wednesday, has fled the country after months of turmoil culminated in protesters converging on the presidential palace.

Lawmakers agreed to elect a new president next week but struggled Tuesday to decide on the makeup of a new government.

Before he fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the last of six members of the country’s most influential family still clinging to power

Before he fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was the last of six members of the country’s most influential family still clinging to power.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had already agreed to resign. Protesters had stormed his home and office and the official residence of his prime minister amid a three-month economic crisis.

The country's current president and prime minister have agreed to concede to demands they resign after protesters occupied official buildings.

The president of Sri Lanka has fled the country.

The takeover of Sri Lanka's presidential residence and other official buildings was a dramatic turning point in monthslong protests that have shaken the country, and the ultimate push that forced the president to say he will resign.

Opposition leaders have yet to agree on who should replace its current leaders, while protesters who are angry over acute shortages of fuel, food, medicine and other necessities vow to stay put.

Sri Lanka is in political vacuum for a second day with opposition leaders yet to agree on who should replace its roundly rejected leaders, whose residences are occupied by protesters angry over the country’s deep economic woes. (July 11)

A political vacuum continues in Sri Lanka with opposition leaders yet to agree on who should replace its roundly rejected leaders, whose residences are occupied by protesters angry over the country’s deep economic woes.

The country needs to move swiftly to save the tattered economy.

Protesters remained in the president's home, his seaside office and the prime minister's residence, saying they'll stay until they officially resign.

As Sri Lanka’s crisis peaked this weekend, two men in the center of the turmoil brought about by the country’s economic collapse promised they would heed the call of tens of thousands of protesters and resign.

Protesters stormed the home of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and set Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s home ablaze over the country’s economic collapse.

Sri Lanka’s opposition political parties have met to install a new government a day after the president and prime minister offered to resign in the most dramatic day of monthslong turmoil.

Sri Lanka’s departing prime minister says the island nation’s debt-laden economy has “collapsed” as it runs out of money to pay for food and fuel.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister said late last month that the island nation’s debt-laden economy had “collapsed” as it runs out of money to pay for food and fuel. Short of cash to pay for imports of such necessities and already defaulting on its debt, it is seeking help from neighboring India and China and from the International Monetary Fund. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office in May, was emphasizing the monumental task he faced in turning around an economy he said was heading for “rock bottom.”

The prime minister will resign when all parties have agreed on forming a new government.

Thousands of people demonstrated in the capital against the island nation's worst economic crisis in recent memory and demanded President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign.

Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister have both agreed to resign after the country’s most chaotic day in months of political turmoil, with protesters storming both officials’ homes and setting fire to one of the buildings in a rage over the nation’s severe economic crisis.

Police have imposed a curfew in Sri Lanka’s capital a day before a planned protest demanding the resignations of the country's president and prime minister over the economic crisis that has caused severe shortages of essential goods.

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says that he had a telephone call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to request credit support to import fuel for the island nation that's facing its worst economic crisis in memory.

Sri Lanka’s problems are, in many aspects, unique to its situation and self-inflicted. Yet the astonishing collapse of the country is also inextricably linked to a wider, interlocking series of global phenomena.

Sri Lanka’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout are more complex and difficult than before because it is a bankrupt nation, the country’s prime minister said Tuesday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told lawmakers that recent discussions with a visiting IMF mission were fruitful but not as straightforward as in the past. The government has shut schools and asked employees other than those in essential services to work from home.

Sri Lanka’s strategic location on Indian Ocean shipping lanes has long attracted outsized interest in the small island nation from regional giants China and India.

Sri Lanka is sending two ministers to Russia to negotiate for fuel — one of the necessities nearly exhausted as a result of the Indian Ocean nation’s economic collapse.

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Senior U.S. officials are in Sri Lanka seeking ways to help the island nation cope with an unprecedented economic crisis and severe shortages of essential supplies.

Sri Lanka's debt-laden economy has "collapsed" after months of shortages of food, fuel and electricity, the prime minister told lawmakers Wednesday.

Senior Indian officials are in Sri Lanka for talks on how to help the island nation weather an unprecedented economic crisis.

Sri Lanka’s debt-laden economy has “collapsed” after months of shortages of food, fuel and electricity.

Thousands of students from state universities have marched in Sri Lanka’s capital to demand the president and prime minister resign over an economic crisis that has caused severe shortages of essential supplies and disrupted people’s livelihoods and education.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister says he may be compelled to buy more oil from Russia as he hunts desperately for fuel to keep the country running.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister says the United Nations has arranged a worldwide appeal to help the island nation cope with critical shortages of food, fuel and medicines, but the projected funds barely scratch the surface of the $6 billion it needs to stay afloat over the next six months.

It has been nearly three weeks since Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as prime minister of Sri Lanka with a daunting mandate to pull the crisis-weary country from the brink of an economic abyss that threatens to tear it apart.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister says protesting youth groups will be invited to be part of governance under political reforms he is proposing to solve the country’s political crisis triggered by an economic collapse.

Police have used tear gas and a water canon to disperse demonstrators trying to approach Sri Lanka’s president’s office to demand his resignation over the country’s economic crisis.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister says that he will quickly prepare an economic reform program and seek approval from the International Monetary Fund.

Schools are closed and public officials are staying home from work Friday in Sri Lanka.