Politics

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to step down next week after protesters stormed the presidential palace and set fire to the prime minister’s home to vent their anger over a worsening economic crisis.

Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a televised statement on Saturday that Rajapaksa has agreed to resign on July 13.

“The decision to step down on July 13 was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power,” Abeywardena said.

“I therefore request the public to respect the law and maintain peace.”

The news of president’s decision triggered an eruption of celebratory …

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has charged commissioners, heads of ministries, departments and agencies to begin compilation of relevant information required to document as successes, covering from 2015, when his administration started.

The Governor said he was determined to do a proper handover to his successor, despite the fact that his predecessor did not do a proper handover to him.

Wike gave the charge after he had sworn-in five new commissioners and assigned them portfolios at the Executive Chamber of Government House in Port Harcourt on Saturday.

The commissioners are Hon. Deinma Iyalla, assigned to the Ministry …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday told his Chinese counterpart that China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine is complicating US-Chinese relations at a time when they are already beset by rifts and enmity over numerous other issues.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi blamed the U.S. for the downturn in relations and said that American policy has been derailed by what he called a misperception of China as a threat.

“Many people believe that the United States is suffering from a China-phobia,” he said, according to a Chinese statement. “If such threat-expansion is allowed to grow, U.S. policy …