Sri Lanka marks independence anniversary amid economic woes
Sri Lanka marks independence anniversary amid economic woes
Sri Lanka army women's corps soldiers march during the 75th Independence Day ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 4, 2023. Sri Lanka marks the anniversary of independence from British colonial rule on Feb. 4 each year. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -
Sri Lanka marked its 75th independence anniversary on Saturday as a bankrupt nation, with many citizens angry, anxious and in no mood to celebrate.
Many Buddhists and Christian clergy had announced a boycott of the celebration in the capital, while activists and others expressed anger at what they see as a waste of money in a time of severe economic crisis.
Despite the criticism, armed troops paraded along the main esplanade in Colombo, showcasing military equipment as navy ships sailed in the sea and helicopters and aircraft flew over the city.
Catholic priest Rev. Cyril Gamini called this year's ceremony commemorating independence from British rule a "crime and waste" at a time when the country is experiencing such economic hardship.
"We ask the government what independence they are going to proudly celebrate by spending a sum of 200 million rupees (US$548,000)," said Gamini, adding the Catholic Church does not condone spending public money on the celebration and that no priest would attend the ceremony.
About 7% of Sri Lanka's 22 million people in this Buddhist-majority nation are Christians, most of them Catholics. Despite being a minority, the church's views are respected.
Prominent Buddhist monk Omalpe Sobitha also said there was no reason to celebrate and that the ceremony was just an exhibition of weapons made in other countries.
Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt and has suspended repayment of nearly US$7 billion in foreign debt due this year pending the outcome of talks with the International Monetary Fund.
The country's total foreign debt exceeds US$51 billion, of which $28 billion has to be repaid by 2027. Unsustainable debt and a severe balance of payment crisis, on top of lingering scars from the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to a severe shortage of essentials such as fuel, medicine and food.
The shortages led to protests last year that forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.
There have been signs of improvement under President Ranil Wickremesinghe, but power cuts continue due to the fuel shortages, hospitals struggle with a lack of medicines and the treasury can't raise money to pay government employees' salaries.
The crisis has made people apathetic toward political leaders.
To manage the country's expenses, the government has increased income taxes sharply and has announced a 6% cut in funds allocated to every ministry this year. Also, the military, which had swelled to more than 200,000 members amid a long civil war, will be downsized by nearly half by 2030.
A group of activists began a silent protest on Friday in the capital, condemning the government's independence celebration and failure to ease the economic burden.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
Zellers has opened the first of 25 new locations within Hudson's Bay stores across the country. The Canadian retail chain launched 12 stores in Ontario and Alberta Thursday, along with a new e-commerce website.
Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a US$3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
The largest recorded earthquake in Alberta's history was not a natural event, but most likely caused by disposal of oilsands wastewater, new research has concluded.
French unions called for new nationwide strikes and protests next week, coinciding with King Charles III's planned visit to France, after more than 1 million people demonstrated throughout the country Thursday against unpopular pension reforms.
The Manhattan district attorney investigating Donald Trump rebuffed U.S. House Republicans' request Thursday for documents and testimony about the case, dismissing it as an "unprecedented inquiry" with no legitimate basis.
A top Russian security official warned Thursday about the rising threat of a nuclear war and blasted a German minister for threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin with arrest, saying that such action would amount to a declaration of war and trigger a Russian strike on Germany.
Some thrill seekers describe bungee jumping as a near-death experience, but few come quite as close as one man who managed to survive his cord snapping in Thailand.
Chinese diplomats expressed their strong opposition to an expanded United States military presence in the Philippines in closed-door talks with their Filipino counterparts Thursday in Manila, a Filipino official said, underscoring the intense U.S.-China rivalry in the region.
Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a US$3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw.
U.S. President Joe Biden has arrived in Canada, kicking off his short but long-awaited overnight official visit to Canada. The official itinerary has just been released; here's everything you need to know about what will be on the agenda, and what key players are saying about the upcoming visit.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
The Prime Minister's Office says Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, stayed in a $6,000 per night hotel suite while attending the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.
For the first time, autism is being diagnosed more frequently in Black and Hispanic children than in white kids in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Canada's race to procure ventilators for COVID-19 patients in the early days of the pandemic had researchers, scientists, industry and a notable astrophysicist working 'night and day' to design machines that could be quickly manufactured domestically.
Neurodivergent education expert Mary Klovance says there are several approaches educators can take to help students with such conditions as ADHD and autism to flourish in the classroom.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump getting gang-tackled by riot-gear-clad New York City police officers. Russian President Vladimir Putin in prison greys behind the bars of a dimly lit concrete cell.
U.S. lawmakers grilled the CEO of TikTok over data security and harmful content Thursday, responding skeptically during a tense committee hearing to his assurances that the hugely popular video-sharing app prioritizes user safety and should not be banned.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
Gwyneth Paltrow's attorneys asked the daughter of a man suing the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer over a 2016 ski collision about missing GoPro camera footage that they called "the most important piece of evidence" at trial Thursday.
Neurodivergent education expert Mary Klovance says there are several approaches educators can take to help students with such conditions as ADHD and autism to flourish in the classroom.
Nancy Rose is the creator behind the "The Secret Life of Squirrels" – a series of children’s books and calendars capturing real-life squirrels engaging in human activities.
World Athletics has banned transgender women from competing in elite female competitions if they have gone through male puberty, the sport's governing body said on Thursday.
More than 50 current and former Canadian fencers have joined a growing call for a Canadian judicial inquiry on maltreatment in sport, saying the fear of retribution has kept them silent for nearly 20 years on fencing's toxic culture and abusive practices.
California lawmakers on Thursday will vote on whether to allow penalties on oil companies for price gouging at the pump, a first-in-the-country proposal aimed at stopping the kind of spikes last summer that caused some drivers pay up to US$8 per gallon as the industry reaped super-sized profits.
The Chevrolet Camaro, for decades the dream car of many teenage American males, is going out of production. General Motors, which sells the brawny muscle car, said Wednesday it will stop making the current generation early next year.
U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating complaints from Honda Civic drivers that their steering can stick, causing a momentary increase in effort and increasing the risk of a crash.
Sri Lanka army women's corps soldiers march during the 75th Independence Day ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 4, 2023. Sri Lanka marks the anniversary of independence from British colonial rule on Feb. 4 each year. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
