Sri Lanka president hits airport standoff in escape attempt – Newstrends
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Sri Lanka president hits airport standoff in escape attempt

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3 years ago

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President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Sri Lanka’s embattled president was stuck in his own country Tuesday in a humiliating standoff with airport immigration staff blocking his exit to safety abroad, official sources said Tuesday.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa has promised to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a “peaceful transition of power” following widespread protests against him over the country’s unprecedented economic crisis.

The 73-year-old leader fled his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it on Saturday and wanted to travel to Dubai, officials said.

As president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, and he is believed to want to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.

But immigration officers were refusing to go to the VIP suite to stamp his passport, while he insisted he would not go through the public facilities fearing reprisals from other airport users.

The president and his wife spent the night at a military base next to the main international airport after missing four flights that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates.

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Rajapaksa’s youngest brother Basil, who resigned in April as finance minister, missed his own Emirates flight to Dubai early Tuesday after a similar standoff with airport staff.

Basil tried to use the paid concierge service for business travellers, but airport and immigration staff said they were withdrawing from the fast track service with immediate effect.

“There were some other passengers who protested against Basil boarding their flight,” an airport official told AFP. “It was a tense situation, so he hurriedly left the airport.”

Basil, a US dual citizen, had to obtain a new passport after leaving his behind at the presidential palace when the Rajapaksas beat a hasty retreat to avoid mobs on Saturday, a diplomatic source said.

– Hasty retreat –

Official sources said a suitcase full of documents had also been left behind at the stately mansion along with 17.85 million rupees in cash, now in the custody of a Colombo court.

There was no official word from the president’s office about his whereabouts, but he remained commander-in-chief of the armed forces with military resources at his disposal.

One option still open to him would be to take a navy vessel to either India or the Maldives, a defence source said.

If Rajapaksa steps down as promised, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will automatically become acting president until parliament elects an MP to serve out the presidential term, which ends in November 2024.

Rajapaksa is accused of mismanaging the economy to a point where the country has run out of foreign exchange to finance even the most essential imports, leading to severe hardships for the 22 million population.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51-billion foreign debt in April and is in talks with the IMF for a possible bailout.

The island has nearly exhausted its already scarce supplies of petrol. The government has ordered the closure of non-essential offices and schools to reduce commuting and save fuel.

(AFP)

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Trump mulls closure of US embassies in Africa

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6 hours ago

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April 17, 2025

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US embassy, Abuja

Trump mulls closure of US embassies in Africa

The Trump administration is reportedly considering shutting down nearly 30 embassies and consulates worldwide—including several in Africa—as part of a broader plan to streamline America’s diplomatic presence abroad.

This is according to an internal document from the US State Department, obtained by CNN.

Among the proposed closures are American embassies in Lesotho, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.

A consulate in South Africa is also listed for potential shutdown.

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These developments come amid a sweeping attempt by the administration to shrink the size of the US federal government, with influence from the Elon Musk-backed Department of Government Efficiency.

In total, the document recommends closing 10 embassies and 17 consulates around the globe, including missions in Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.

Africa, however, features prominently on the list—raising concerns about the potential diplomatic and developmental fallout for the continent.

While it’s unclear whether US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has approved the recommendations, the document indicates that American diplomatic operations in affected countries would be consolidated into neighboring nations’ missions.

Trump mulls closure of US embassies in Africa

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Titanic: Found ladies watch for auction at £50,000

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2 days ago

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April 15, 2025

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Titanic: Found ladies watch for auction at £50,000

A lady’s pocket watch discovered among the belongings of one of the passengers who drowned on the Titanic’s doomed maiden voyage could fetch up to 50,000 euros (66,000 dollars) at auction.

Hans Christensen Givard, a 27-year-old Danish second-class passenger, was one of 1,500 people killed when the ship collided with an iceberg in 1912.

Givard was heading to the United States with two other companions who died in the catastrophe.

The watch was discovered when Givard’s body was recovered from the North Atlantic, and he was buried in Halifax, Canada.

The pockets contained a savings book, keys, some cash in a wallet, a silver watch, a compass, and a passport.

The gold ladies’ pocket watch, which showed signs of saltwater corrosion, was also retrieved.

All of his goods were restored to his brother in Denmark, and his relatives are now selling the watch.

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The tragic incident of Givard led curator Jesper Hjermind and his niece, journalist and U.S. resident Mette Hjermind McCall, to publish the book Titanic, De Danske Fortaellinger (Titanic, The Danish Stories), which mentions the pocket watch.

Claes Goran Wetterholm, the world’s greatest specialist on the Scandinavian aspect of the Titanic tale, also showed it in Copenhagen in 2012.

The watch will be auctioned on April 26 by Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes, Wiltshire.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said, “This piece is documented in the official list of Hans’s effects compiled by the authorities in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the weeks after the Titanic disaster and has remained in his family ever since.

“It was one of the centrepieces of the display of Titanic memorabilia in the Tivoli in Copenhagen in 2012, which illustrates its importance.

“The watch’s movement is frozen in time at the moment the cold North Atlantic waters consumed not only its owner but the most famous ocean liner of all time, Titanic, on April 15, 1912,” he added.

Titanic: Found ladies watch for auction at £50,000

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US judge stops Trump move to revoke 500,000 immigrants’ legal status

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3 days ago

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April 15, 2025

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U.S President Donald Trump

US judge stops Trump move to revoke 500,000 immigrants’ legal status

A federal judge on Monday blocked US President Donald Trump’s administration from quickly revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti.

The ruling by District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston is the latest order against Trump’s rapid push to carry out mass deportations, particularly targeting Latin Americans.

In March, the administration said it was moving to revoke the legal status of some 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who came to the United States under a “parole” program initially launched by former president Joe Biden in October 2022.

“The court grants emergency relief staying the Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans,” Talwani wrote in her order.

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The parole program allowed entry to the United States for two years for up to 30,000 migrants per month from the four countries, which have grim human rights records.

In her order, Talwani said the Trump administration had acted on a flawed interpretation of immigration law, with expedited removal applicable to non-citizens entering the United States illegally, but not those authorized to be in the country, such as through the parole program.

Under Trump’s revocation, the immigrants would have lost their legal protection effective April 24, just 30 days after the Department of Homeland Security published its order in the Federal Register.

Trump has vowed to deport “millions” of undocumented migrants in his second term, after running an election campaign that focused on illegal immigration.

Among other measures, he has invoked rare wartime legislation to fly hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, which is imprisoning the migrants.

 

US judge stops Trump move to revoke 500,000 immigrants’ legal status

AFP

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