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Sri Lanka

PROTESTERS and a key trade group in

Sri Lanka called for a new government to take control of the crisis-hit country yesterday as the president called for calm a day after clashes killed eight people, pushing his brother to quit as prime minister. Sri Lanka has been suffering its worst economic crisis. The defence ministry ordered troops to shoot at any people damaging property or threatening lives. But protesters continued rallying for the president to quit. Military troops patrolled Colombo yesterday. Police said 38 houses and 47 vehicles were set on fire across the country. |

South Korea

SOUTH Korea’s new president took office yesterday, calling on North

Korea to “genuinely” move toward denuclearisation even as Pyongyang shows signs of preparing for a new nuclear test. Yoon Suk-yeol, 61, offered to work with the international community to craft an “audacious plan” to improve North Korea’s economy in return for denuclearisation. Yoon’s offer comes as US, South Korean and Japanese officials warn that Pyongyang is gearing up for its seventh nuclear test. Yoon will meet US President Joe Biden next week when he visits Seoul. |

Afghanistan

ABOUT a dozen women protested in the Afghan capital yesterday against the Taliban’s new edict that females must fully cover their faces and bodies when in public. Afghanistan’s supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a mandate ordering women to cover up fully. “Justice, justice!” chanted the protesters, many with uncovered faces, in central Kabul. After a short procession, the march was halted by Taliban fighters. Akhundzada’s decree, which also orders women to “stay at home” if they have no important work outside, has triggered international condemnation. | AFP