The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it held “fruitful technical discussions” with Sri Lanka on its loan request, while the World Bank said it was preparing an emergency aid package for the crisis-stricken country.

Sri Lanka’s financial crisis is a classic example of what populist policies, corruption and mismanagement can lead a country to, which is a lesson for South Asian countries that lack good governance and has politicised administration, speakers told a webinar today (April 24, 2022).

The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it held "fruitful technical discussions" with Sri Lanka on its loan request, while the World Bank said it was preparing an emergency aid package for the crisis-stricken country.

Sri Lanka’s beleaguered prime minister came under increased pressure to step down yesterday, as staunch allies broke ranks and backed street protests calling for resignations over a worsening economic crisis.

 Pakistan’s prime minister yesterday said he will chair an emergency meeting of a national task force for polio eradication after authorities detected the country’s first case of the debilitating neurodegenerative disease in 15 months.

India has extended the duration of the USD 400 million currency swap facility for Sri Lanka, struggling to overcome a crippling economic crisis, as New Delhi urged the World Bank to help the island nation come out of the “unprecedented” situation.

A blast ripped through a mosque during Friday prayers in northern Afghanistan, killing 33 people and wounding 43 more, a Taliban spokesman said, just a day after the Islamic State group claimed two separate deadly attacks. 

At least 33 people were killed after an explosion struck a mosque in northern Afghanistan during Friday prayers, Taliban spokesman said. The blast

By the time he reached a third Colombo pharmacy out of stock of the drug his cancer-stricken wife desperately needs, Dawood Mohamed Ghany was distraught.

A Taliban official says a bombing at a mosque and religious school in northern Afghanistan on Friday killed at least 33 people, including students of a religious school.

An explosion claimed by Islamic State militant group at a Shia mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif yesterday killed at least 12 people and wounded 58, a health official said.

Police kept up a curfew in central Sri Lanka on Wednesday, a day after the killing of an anti-government demonstrator in escalating protests across the island triggered international condemnation.

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announced on Tuesday that the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) was being disbanded in "whatever shape or form it was working".

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sprang no big surprises in naming his new cabinet yesterday, doling out key portfolios to officials from the two parties that combined to oust Imran Khan after weeks of political crisis.

Three explosions at a high school in western Kabul killed at least six people and injured a number of students, Afghan security and health officials said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the exchange of Covid-19 medicines and medical equipment between Bangladesh and India during the surge of the pandemic is a role model of "good neighbourhood" diplomacy.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has administered the oath to federal ministers and ministers of state, who will form the cabinet of newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

India today urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to urgently provide financial assistance to the economic crisis-hit Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s embattled president announced 17 new ministerial appointments yesterday, notably leaving out members of his own family, and expressed regret for his government’s handling of a devastating economic crisis that has led to widespread protests.

Beleaguered Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has named a 17-member cabinet, despite growing calls for his resignation, according to the BBC.