Sri Lanka’s left-leaning president swears in new Cabinet after election victory

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Updated 18 November 2024
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Sri Lanka’s left-leaning president swears in new Cabinet after election victory

  • Harini Amarasuriya, first woman to head Sri Lankan government, reappointed as PM
  • National People’s Power alliance won two-thirds majority in the 225-member parliament

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new left-leaning president swore in on Monday a 22-member Cabinet after his party coalition secured a landslide victory in a snap parliamentary vote last week.

The alliance of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the National People’s Power, secured 159 seats in the 225-member assembly, giving the new leader a mandate to fulfill his campaign promises of sweeping reforms, including to fight poverty and corruption.

The crisis-hit island nation is still struggling to emerge from the worst economic crisis in its history, after declaring bankruptcy and defaulting on its external debt in 2022.

Dissanayake reappointed Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister and lawmaker Vijitha Herath to helm the foreign affairs, foreign employment and tourism ministries, while the president himself retained the posts of defense and finance minister.

“This power we gained is accountable. To whom? On one hand, it is accountable to the public, and on the other hand, to the movement,” Dissanayake told the new Cabinet after the swearing-in ceremony, referring to his alliance’s aim to create a people-centered national movement.

“We had a lot of good aims. We worked to gain power for that. We struggled a lot … The huge the victory we achieved, the heavier our responsibility,” he said. “Let’s work together to achieve the results our people deserve.”

When Dissanayake won the presidential vote in September, the NPP coalition only had three seats in parliament, prompting him to dissolve it and call for a snap election that took place on Thursday, a year ahead of schedule.

His new, fully-formed Cabinet will govern Sri Lanka after austerity measures imposed by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe — part of a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund — led to price hikes in food and fuel and caused hardship to millions of Sri Lankans.

During his campaign, Dissanayake said he planned to renegotiate the targets set in the IMF deal to alleviate the burden placed on ordinary people. A team from the fund is in Colombo this week to review the reform program.

More than half of former lawmakers chose not to run for re-election. No contenders were seen from the powerful Rajapaksa family, including former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabaya, also a former president, who was ousted in 2022 and largely blamed for the crisis.

Thursday’s election saw the United People’s Power of Sajith Premadasa retain its role from the previous parliament as the largest opposition party, winning 40 seats.

Sri Lanka People’s Front, the party loyal to the Rajapaksa family, secured only three seats in the new parliament.


US hit by first extreme heat wave of the year

A bird bathes in a water fountain in Manhattan on June 23, 2025, in New York City. (AFP)
Updated 6 sec ago
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US hit by first extreme heat wave of the year

  • Heat records tumbled across parts of the US Northeast, including in Central Park, known as the lungs of Manhattan, where Monday’s temperature of 96 degrees broke a record that had stood since 1888, according to the National Weather Service

NEW YORK: A potentially life-threatening heat wave enveloped the eastern third of the United States on Monday impacting nearly 160 million people, with temperatures expected to climb to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in the New York metropolitan area.
The country’s first significant scorching heat of the year arrived over the weekend and peaks Monday and Tuesday in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City.
“This extreme heat will not just be uncomfortable and oppressive for New Yorkers,” warned Mayor Eric Adams, adding that each year heat claims the lives of 500 people in this city of eight million.
“It’s going to be brutal and dangerous if you do not treat it with the understanding that we want you to,” he added.
As sweltering heat enveloped the city, authorities urged seniors, people with health problems and those without air conditioning to stay hydrated and seek help at designated cooling centers such as libraries and recreation facilities.
Heat records tumbled across parts of the US Northeast, including in Central Park, known as the lungs of Manhattan, where Monday’s temperature of 96 degrees broke a record that had stood since 1888, according to the National Weather Service.
“Extreme Heat Warnings and Heat Adviseries across much of the eastern third of the country (are) affecting nearly 160 million people” across at least 29 states, the NWS reported.
“This level of HeatRisk is known for being rare and/or long duration with little to no overnight relief, and affects anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration,” the agency warned.
Meteorologists are describing the intensifying weather pattern as a heat dome, a high-pressure system that traps air and leads to steadily rising thermal readings.
For many in the Big Apple, avoiding work in the searing heat was not an option.
“We have to endure it, because otherwise what are we going to survive on?” Manuel, a manual worker repairing a building facade in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, told AFP.
“Sometimes we stop because it’s a danger. We don’t all have the same energy, but you have to endure,” he added.
In the Washington Heights neighborhood, authorities opened several fire hydrants so residents could seek relief with the gushing water.
One of the local heroes was Ronald Marcelin, a 44-year-old air conditioning technician sweating profusely as he repaired a pizzeria’s AC unit.
“I’m taking the heat so that everyone else can cool down,” Marcelin said with a grin.

The soaring temperatures come just as New Yorkers head to the polls Tuesday for the Democratic primary that will decide the party’s mayoral candidate. This promises to be a tight race between Andrew Cuomo, who is seeking political resurrection after resigning in disgrace as state governor in 2021, and rising left-wing star Zohran Mamdami.
Over the weekend, Cuomo urged residents to cast their votes even if the temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
In Washington, the heat index — what the temperature feels like with humidity factored in — was forecast to soar to as high as 110 F on Monday, and the mayor’s office urged residents to take advantage of cooling centers.
Scientists say extreme heat waves are a clear sign of global warming, and they are expected to become more frequent, longer, and more intense.
Fueled by human-caused climate change, 2024 was the warmest year on record globally — and 2025 is projected to rank among the top three.

 


EU will not yield decision-making right in US tariff talks, says von der Leyen

Updated 23 June 2025
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EU will not yield decision-making right in US tariff talks, says von der Leyen

  • Her comments come amid speculation that Washington may be pressing Brussels into delaying the implementation of laws such as those on deforestation and online platforms or providing exemptions to US companies

BRUSSELS: The European Union will not give up its right to make policy decisions in negotiations with the United States to avert higher US tariffs on EU goods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.
“Of course, we discuss tariff lines, we discuss non-tariff barriers, like standards and norms. For example, we discuss strategic purchases, we discuss all these topics,” von der Leyen told a news conference after an EU-Canada summit.
“But where it is the sovereign decision-making process in the European Union and its member states that is affected, this is too far,” she continued, adding this was an “untouchable.”
Her comments come amid speculation that Washington may be pressing Brussels into delaying the implementation of laws such as those on deforestation and online platforms or providing exemptions to US companies.

 


Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte seeks dismissal of impeachment case

Updated 23 June 2025
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Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte seeks dismissal of impeachment case

  • The House of Representatives impeached Duterte in early February on charges of graft, corruption and an alleged assassination plot against one-time ally and former running mate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr

MANILA: Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte responded Monday to her Senate impeachment trial summons, demanding the case against her be dropped.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte in early February on charges of graft, corruption and an alleged assassination plot against one-time ally and former running mate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

A guilty verdict in the Senate would result in her removal from office and permanent disqualification from politics.

A copy of Duterte’s reply to the summons delivered by messenger to House prosecutors on Monday afternoon called the complaint against her an abuse of the impeachment process.

“There are no statements of ultimate facts in the (impeachment complaint). Stripped of its ‘factual’ and legal conclusions, it is nothing more than a scrap of paper,” the response read.

It goes on to deny the allegations made against her as “false” and state that the Senate’s decision to remand the case to the House earlier this month removed her responsibility to answer them.

Duterte is currently on a trip to Australia where she is meeting with Filipino supporters.

Her summons was issued on June 10 after an hours-long Senate session that saw lawmakers convene as an impeachment court only to send the case back to the House, a decision one lawmaker called a “functional dismissal.”


Bangladesh detains Hasina era ex-election chief

Updated 23 June 2025
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Bangladesh detains Hasina era ex-election chief

  • KM Nurul Huda is accused of rigging past polls in favor of former leader

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Monday remanded in custody the former elections chief for his alleged role in rigging the vote in favor of now-ousted autocrat Sheikh Hasina.

KM Nurul Huda, 77, was ordered to be detained for four days while questioning continues, a day after a mob who smashed into his home and assaulted him eventually handed him to the police.

On Sunday, the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party filed a case against Huda and other former election commissioners it accuses of rigging past polls in favor of Hasina, whose 15 years in power ended in an mass uprising in August 2024.

Interim leader Mohammed Yunus has said elections will be held in early April 2026 — the first in the South Asian nation of around 170 million people since the student-led revolt ousted Hasina.

Police put a helmet on Huda while taking him to the court for protection.

Yunus’s government warned last month that political power struggles risked jeopardizing gains that have been made, saying that holding elections by mid-2026 would give them time to overhaul democratic institutions.

Hasina’s rule saw widespread human rights abuses and her government was accused of politicizing courts and the civil service, as well as staging lopsided elections.

Hasina, 77, remains in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled after she was ousted last year.

She has defied orders to return to Dhaka to face charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Her trial in absentia continues.


UK and Ukraine agree to deepen ties as Zelensky meets Starmer

Updated 23 June 2025
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UK and Ukraine agree to deepen ties as Zelensky meets Starmer

  • Zelensky met with Starmer at his Downing Street home, after earlier visiting King Charles III at Windsor Castle
  • The trip comes on the eve of a NATO summit in The Hague, which Zelensky is due to attend

LONDON: Seeking to shore up support more than three years into Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a surprise visit to London on Monday, cementing a military co-production deal.
Zelensky met with Starmer at his Downing Street home, after earlier visiting King Charles III at Windsor Castle.
The trip comes on the eve of a NATO summit in The Hague, which Zelensky is due to attend.
Addressing Ukrainian military personnel undergoing training in the UK, Starmer said the pair had had “an excellent bilateral meeting” and agreed on an “industrial military co-production agreement,” which he called “a massive step forward in the contribution that we can continue to make.”
Zelensky, speaking beside Starmer, insisted the deal “will be very strong and will transform both nations,” although no details were released.
After the meeting, Starmer said it was “really a privilege, a pleasure” to welcome Zelensky, calling him “a regular now at Downing Street.”
Starmer told the Ukrainian troops it was “really humbling” to see their “level of professionalism, commitment and bravery.”
More than 50,000 troops have now been trained as part of the international partnership.
Zelensky said the scheme had helped “strengthen our army” and enabled Ukraine to “survive and fight.”
The UK has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters since Russia invaded in early 2022, levelling rounds of sanctions against Moscow and supplying multiple packages of military aid.
Starmer promised the support would continue “for the rest of the conflict” and help put Ukraine in “the strongest possible position” to negotiate a ceasefire.
Zelensky said his country was “very thankful to the UK... for such big support of Ukraine from the very beginning of this war.”
The Ukrainian leader earlier traveled to Windsor Castle, where he “visited The King... and remained to luncheon,” Buckingham Palace said.
Zelensky is expected at the NATO summit in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday, where Ukraine’s allies will work “to ensure that Ukraine is in the best possible position as we go into the next stage of this conflict,” according to Starmer.
NATO allies are poised to take a “quantum leap” by hiking defense spending to counter the threat of Russia, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the eve of the two-day summit.
The alliance’s 32 members will pledge to boost defense expenditure to five percent of gross domestic product, a key demand of President Donald Trump, who has long grumbled that the US pays too much for NATO.
NATO’s members have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate at least 3.5 percent of GDP to core military needs by 2035, and 1.5 percent to broader security-related items like cyber-security and infrastructure.
“The defense investment plan that allies will agree in The Hague introduces a new baseline, five percent of GDP to be invested in defense,” Rutte told reporters at a pre-summit news conference.
“This is a quantum leap that is ambitious, historic and fundamental to securing our future.”