Sri Lanka

Tourists walk along Mount Lavinia beach in Colombo. The country aims to significantly increase annual visitor arrivals.
Travel & Leisure

Sri Lanka eyes tourism boom in 2024 via slick ads, digital nomads

India-Maldives spat offers new chance to build on last year's promising results

10 February 2024
Palestinians walk past a house destroyed by an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, in early January.
International relations

Indonesia and Sri Lanka blast EU for 'double standards' on Gaza

Indo-Pacific and ASEAN meetings with Europe underscore divided views

3 February 2024
Activists protest ahead of the passage of Sri Lanka's Online Safety Act in Colombo on Jan. 24.
Sri Lanka crisis

Sri Lanka's online regulations highlight restrictions sweeping South Asia

From Pakistan to India, activists warn of tendency to throttle the net as elections near

2 February 2024
Workers hold a Chinese flag at Hambantota port in Sri Lanka on Aug. 16, 2022. Chinese President Xi Jinping wants his country to play a larger role in global affairs through Belt and Road Initiative projects such as this one.
Asia Insight

Sri Lanka's China 'debt trap' fears grow as Beijing keeps investing

New $4.5 bn Sinopec deal comes amid debt restructuring, BRI lending shift

2 January 2024
Torches are distributed to protesters, mainly relatives of those who disappeared amid Sri Lanka's civil war, during a demonstration in the north of the country in August 2022.
Politics

Sri Lanka war crimes project faces critical year for accountability

U.N. rights sessions in March likely to shape future of evidence-gathering effort

27 December 2023
Bangladesh, Taiwan, South Korea and Sri Lanka are also set to go to the polls next year, while Asia's focus will shift to the U.S. Presidential race later in 2024. (Photo by Ken KobayashI)
Asia Insight

From India and Pakistan to Indonesia, Asia set for election-packed 2024

Over a billion people will be voting but democracy questions cloud some races

26 December 2023
An Israeli volunteer walks with a weapon as he helps farmers from Kibbutz Be'eri, one of the communities attacked by Hamas.
Middle East crisis

Sri Lanka's dispatch of workers to Israel farms sows controversy

Muslim politicians urge rethink amid concerns over safety and ethics

11 December 2023
Colombo slum residents in July. Electricity price hikes have hit the poorest Sri Lankans hard, leaving many without power. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Sri Lanka crisis

Bankrupt Sri Lanka's poor face life in darkness as price of IMF bailout

Hundreds of thousands cut off from grid; fund insists social safety net is a priority

23 November 2023
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who doubles as finance minister, presents the 2024 budget to Parliament in Colombo on Nov. 13. (President Media/handout via Reuters)
Sri Lanka crisis

Sri Lanka's election-year budget straddles line between IMF and voters

2024 plan praised for 'sticking to reform,' criticized for apparent contradictions

14 November 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden, pictured here at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2022, will meet on Nov. 15 in San Francisco for the first time in a year.
Your Week in Asia

Sri Lanka budget, Xi-Biden summit, Japan Q3 GDP

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

12 November 2023
The Viceroy Special steam-powered luxury train: Sri Lanka boasts of a number of scenic journeys by rail. (Courtesy of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau)
Life

Sri Lanka aims to transform tourism

Island nation walks a tightrope in dual drive for income and sustainability

11 November 2023
A vendor waits for customers at Galle Face Green in Colombo in late August.
Economy

Sri Lanka approves VAT hike to 18% in push for IMF targets

Government stresses need to boost revenue despite public hardships

31 October 2023
A market in Colombo on Oct. 20. Sri Lanka's government is due to present next year's budget in mid-November.
Sri Lanka crisis

Sri Lanka leans on IMF and China as crucial budget test looms

President Wickremesinghe faces growing public frustration ahead of elections

26 October 2023
A man uses a mobile phone in Colombo in 2020: Sri Lanka's government is pushing an Online Safety Bill that it says will "promote responsible utilization" of internet platforms.
Politics

Sri Lankans warn of legislative curbs on dissent as elections loom

Government cites public safety in pushing online regulation, terrorism laws

8 October 2023
Sri Lanka's debt negotiations with China are seen as a sticking point holding up arrangements with other creditors, as the bankrupt South Asian country seeks to unlock more support from the International Monetary Fund. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by Reuters) 
Sri Lanka crisis

China keeps Sri Lanka in debt grip, stalling IMF relief

Failed bailout review raises stakes of Wickremesinghe's upcoming trip to Beijing

3 October 2023
A vendor waits for customers at a marketplace in Colombo on Sept. 27. "The people of Sri Lanka have shown remarkable resilience and the authorities have made significant progress on important reforms," the IMF said in a statement.
Sri Lanka crisis

Sri Lanka fails first IMF review, no timeline for further aid

Fund says crisis-hit economy needs tax reforms to boost coffers

27 September 2023
Hikers pass through a tea plantation in Sri Lanka. Soon to be officially launched, the Pekoe Trail spans 300 kilometers across the island's Central Highlands, passing river valleys, tea gardens, forested hills, sacred sites and rural villages. (All photos courtesy of Tangerine Tours)
Life

Hiking Sri Lanka's tea trail

New path through verdant Pekoe hills shows the island is not just about beaches

16 September 2023
Family members pay respects at the grave of a victim of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, next to St. Sebastian's Church, one of the attacked churches, in Katuwapitiya, Sri Lanka, on April 21, 2021.
Politics

Sri Lanka's Catholics 'can't accept' new Easter bombing inquiries

Critics question independence of probes examining alleged Rajapaksa links

13 September 2023
Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin appears at Government House after a royal audience ceremony to swear the oath of allegiance in Bangkok on Sept. 5. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Your Week in Asia

Thai PM's policy speech, Apple's new products, Belt and Road summit

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

10 September 2023
Stream article image
Most read in 2023

China's Belt and Road at crossroads as more loans turn sour

10 years in, Beijing enjoys greater clout but new investments trend down

7 September 2023
Sri Lankan police patrol at the official residence of then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2022, after it was stormed by protesters. The sign reads "Let's fight against corrupt exploitative economic system!" -- illustrating anger over widespread alleged corruption.
Sri Lanka crisis

Sri Lanka's looming IMF review spotlights anti-corruption drive

New law addresses some problems, but critics question enforcement

27 August 2023
Sri Lankan families are having to endure prolonged misery as their government, encouraged by global bodies to spend its way through the pandemic, instead plunged the country into an economic crisis. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi) 
The Big Story

Sri Lanka enters a new era of post-pandemic austerity

Encouraged to borrow during lockdowns, many poor countries face harsh consequences as priorities change

23 August 2023
Tourists at Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo in July: The tourism rebound will be key to rebuilding Sri Lanka's foreign reserves.
Opinion

Sri Lanka is back in business

Stocks and rupee are top performers as economic rebound takes hold

1 August 2023
A woman sells Sri Lankan flags on a road ahead of independence celebrations in February 2020.
Sri Lanka crisis

Sri Lanka hit by record brain drain, but some stay to rebuild

Many doctors and entrepreneurs remain faithful to country despite economic crisis

30 July 2023
The main port in Colombo in June 2023: Sri Lanka's former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa abruptly canceled two multimillion-dollar projects backed by Tokyo.
International relations

Sri Lanka, Maldives see Japan wade into Indian Ocean contest

Foreign Minister Hayashi's visits to key nations show 'alternative' to China

28 July 2023