Sri Lanka

Wickremesinghe said the government's aim is to create a surplus in the primary budget by the year 2025 and to bring down public debt.

If the northeast Indian Ocean is of strategic interest to Australia, then the current economic and political crisis in Sri Lanka ought to be a pressing concern for Canberra. 

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised to step down, while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place.

One member of the Sri Lankan diaspora reflects on the agony of watching his motherland lurch from crisis to crisis. 

The president's selection of Wickremesinghe a five-time former prime minister, is an attempt to end the violence and restore international credibility.

Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, backed by the ruling coalition led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was re-elected deputy speaker after having resigned in April.

A majority vote in the 225-member Parliament would be needed to remove Rajapaksa and the Cabinet from power. 

MP (and former president) Sirisena says Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to a national council and a new prime minister; the prime minister's spokesperson said that had not been communicated yet.

The Delhi-driven subregional arrangement faces a number of challenges but stands as a noteworthy endeavor to coordinate on maritime safety and security in the Indian Ocean region.

Amid increased Chinese activity, India and Sri Lanka focus on their shared strategic interests in the Southern Indian Ocean region.

Sri Lankans for the past months have been enduring shortages of fuel, food, and other essentials and daily power outages.

On Sunday, after large protests, all 26 Cabinet ministers resigned. President Rajapaksa's proposed unity government was refused and protests continue.