Sri Lanka declares emergency after violent protests over economic crisis | Reuters
They shouldn’t declare an emergency, the evil family that’s misgoverned, fucked over, and stolen from Sri Lanka’s people all this time should GTFO, so democratic elections can be held!
India is trying to outdo China in its alacrity to provide financial help to Sri Lanka, which is running dangerously low on foreign reserves to service its debt.
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was in Sri Lanka this week to offer help to the struggling Sri Lankan economy in an attempt to pry it away from a decades-long Chinese embrace.
Sri Lanka’s two-year-old economic crisis comes after two decades of heavy Chinese investment, under what a geopolitical expert called “strategic trap diplomacy.″
Having a giant, increasingly assertive neighbor so closely intertwined with Sri Lanka has unsettled India, which is locked in a standoff with China at their disputed Himalayan border. Sri Lanka’s economic crisis affords India an opportunity to wean the country away from Beijing’s influence.
Perched just off busy East-West shipping lanes, Sri Lanka has drawn billions in investment under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The program was launched in 2013 to build ports, roads, railways, pipelines and other infrastructure across Asia.
But China has taken over at least one strategic port when Sri Lanka failed to service its debt. New Delhi won a small but significant victory Tuesday when it wrested away a power project earlier granted to China.
India is also trying to outdo China in its alacrity to provide financial help to Sri Lanka, which is running dangerously low on foreign reserves to service its debt. According to central bank data obtained by Reuters, Sri Lanka currently has about $2 billion in foreign exchange reserves against $7 billion in total debt due this year, including $1 billion worth of notes maturing in July. …
Oklahoma has its first confirmed case of the avian flu. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry says the case is in a wild duck in Payne County. The state veterinarian is encouraging all poultry owners to stay vigilant, practice good biosecurity, and immediately report any sick or dying birds. …
A highly contagious bird flu that has been spreading around the country has been confirmed in North Dakota, in a noncommercial backyard chicken flock in Kidder County, the state Agriculture
Amazon workers in New York make history by voting to form union | Amazon | The Guardian
‘Historic victory’ as Staten Island workers vote 2,654 to 2,131 in favor, in first successful US organizing effort in Amazon’s history
Attempted to Embezzle $332,027 During the Purchase of a New Embassy Building
WASHINGTON – A former ambassador for Sri Lanka pleaded guilty today to diverting and attempting to embezzle $332,027 from the government of Sri Lanka during its 2013 purchase of a new embassy building in Washington, D.C. …
Here’s a precursor to My Little Pony (90 years earlier), and his name is Linus. From St. Nicholas, 1891.
My favorite (and weirdest) equine images are collected in my horse gallery.
Wondering about this post? Wait for the dissertation (TBA).
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