Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will address the country on Wednesday at 9pm local time, news agency Bloomberg reported citing his spokesman Sudewa Hettiarachchi. The subject of the address – which will be televised in the crisis-hit island nation – is unclear.
Sri Lanka is currently facing the worst economic crisis and political instability ever after Independence due to manifold reasons both short and long-term.
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Delhi high court split on marital rape. What is the law in other countries?
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday delivered a split verdict on petitions seeking to criminalise marital rape in India – a longstanding demand of women’s rights groups. Favouring criminalisation, Justice Rajiv Shakdher said IPC 375 was violative of Article 14 of the Constitution – which guarantees equality before the law – and therefore should be struck down. Both parties have been granted an option to move this matter to the Supreme Court.
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China censors online debate on its zero-Covid policy after WHO criticism
China’s censors scrambled to wipe out online debate over its zero-Covid strategy on Wednesday after the World Health Organisation criticised the country’s hardline approach to crushing the virus. On Tuesday WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged China to change tack, saying the approach “will not be sustainable” in the face of new fast-spreading variants. The intervention prompted China’s army of internet censors to race to snuff out his comments.
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Sri Lankan central bank governor warns of ‘collapse’, threatens to resign
Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s governor Nandalal Weerasinghe warned on Wednesday that the country’s economy will “completely collapse” if a new government is not appointed within two days. “If there is no government in the next two days, the economy will completely collapse and no one will be able to save it,” news agency AFP quoted Weerasinghe as saying.
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Pakistan’s defence minister indicates that general polls can be held before Nov
Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif has indicated that general elections could be held before November, as ruling PML-N leaders are in London to hold key consultations with former premier Nawaz Sharif on political and economic issues. He was asked about the appointment of the army chief after incumbent Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa will retire by the end of November this year.
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Israel says Palestinian gunfire, not IDF, likely killed Al Jazeera journalist
Israel has denied that its forces targeted Shireen Abu Aqla, a senior journalist working for Al Jazeera who was killed on Wednesday during an Israeli operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, and called for a “joint pathological analysis and investigation” to establish the truth. The Palestinian Authority and the Qatar-based network blamed the Israeli Army for the death of Aqla.