Cash-strapped Pakistan has decided to lend Sri Lanka a $200 million loan for the purchase of rice and cement. The decision was made during a recent visit of the Sri Lankan trade minister to Islamabad, a report said. However, the terms and duration of the loan were being finalised by the authorities from both the countries, it added. Sri Lanka will use the amount for the import of rice and cement from Pakistan. Sri Lanka’s secretary to the treasury Sajith Attygalle confirmed that Islamabad and Colombo have agreed on the $200 million credit line in principle while the details of the credit is yet to be worked out, according to the Colombo-based Daily Mirror newspaper. The amount will be used to import cement, basmati rice and medicines manufactured in Pakistan, the publication added. Sri Lanka has been facing a shortage of cement which has led to skyrocketing prices.
More than 100 killed in Syria prison attack
At least 120 people have been killed in ongoing battles between US-backed, Kurdish-led forces and ISIL (ISIS) fighters after an attack on a Syrian prison. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “at least 77 IS members and 39 Kurdish fighters, including internal security forces, prison guards and counter-terrorism forces have been killed” in the attack. ISIL claimed responsibility for the prison break on its Amaq media mouthpiece. A video it released purported to show armed men infiltrating the prison and raising the group’s black flag as they stormed the Kurdish-run Ghwayran jail in Hasakeh city. At least seven civilians were also killed in the fighting. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it tightened its siege, aided by US-led troops, and that 17 of its soldiers had been killed.
Kenyan Airways vows to stop transporting monkeys
Kenya Airways has announced it will not renew its contract with a Mauritius breeding farm to transport monkeys from the Indian Ocean Island to the United States (US) to be used in laboratory experiments. Kenya Airways Chairman Michael Joseph confirmed that the airline shipped the long-tailed Macaques from the island nation of Mauritius to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. From there, the monkeys were placed on a truck that later crashed in rural Pennsylvania. One of the monkeys was corralled at the scene. three others became the subjects of a lengthy search by Pennsylvania State Police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which located and euthanized the animals. "As a conservationist, I am equally horrified even though I am assured that ... every international guideline has been followed," Joseph told People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA in an email.
Italy's 80-year-old president sworn in for a second term
Italian President Sergio Mattarella received an astounding 55 rounds of applause from an otherwise divided parliament after he was sworn in to a second term in office. Mattarella, 80, agreed to remain in office after Italy’s fractious parties failed to agree on a successor, citing a sense of responsibility given the ongoing pandemic and efforts to relaunch the economy. Mattarella’s decision to remain in office as head of state is expected to allow the current government, headed by Premier Mario Draghi, to finish its mandate, which expires next year. The role is largely ceremonial, but can also require institutional knowledge and deft negotiations to navigate political crises.
