Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka detains nearly 15,000 in drug crackdown

Sri Lanka's police announced yesterday the arrests of nearly 15,000 people during a week-long military-backed anti-narcotics drive, a crackdown denounced by rights activists.

Police said their operation, code-named "Yuktiya" or "Justice," led to the seizure of almost 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of narcotics, including 272 kg of cannabis, 35 kg of hashish and nine kilograms of heroin.

Dutch to return stolen Sri Lankan treasures

The Netherlands returned formal ownership to Sri Lanka of six colonial-era treasures on Aug. 28, including a more than 275-year-old cannon inlaid with gold, silver, bronze and rubies.

At a ceremony at the cultural ministry in Colombo, Dutch deputy minister for culture, education and science, Gunay Uslu, signed over the ownership of the objects to Sri Lanka, local officials said.

Sri Lanka to restructure domestic debt

Sri Lankan authorities have declared a five-day closure of financial markets from June 29 ahead of a controversial move to restructure the government's domestic debt amounting to more than $51 billion.

The restructuring affects government bonds in line with an IMF bailout agreed in March, after Sri Lanka defaulted on its foreign debt in April last year and declared bankruptcy.

Sri Lanka bailout conditional on tackling corruption: IMF

Sri Lanka must not allow entrenched corruption to undermine a bailout for its bankrupt economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday after signing off on a $3 billion loan for the crisis-hit nation.

The IMF approved its long-delayed rescue program on March 20 after China, the South Asian nation's biggest bilateral lender, offered debt relief assurances.

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