Aranayaka / AFP Sri Lankan troops were digging through tonnes of mud on Thursday to search for more than 100 people reported missing after landslides buried two villages, claiming at least 24 lives. The government vowed to dig “as long as it takes” but hopes were fading of finding survivors in the landslides that hit a mountainous area late ...

Brazil can’t seem to catch a break. It’s suffering the worst economic slump in decades; its president may be thrown out of office; it’s contending with the zika virus. Now, to add to these indignities, come the huge subsidies to pay for this summer’s Olympics. The costs exceed $10 billion, with only a fraction to be covered by revenues from ...

  Taiwan is between a rock and a hard place. It needs China for economic reasons, but continues to be apprehensive about Beijing’s “assertive policy”. The future path of Taiwan’s independence-leaning president-elect Tsai Ing-wen is fraught with economic challenges as the island’s economy has been contracting year-on-year for three straight quarters. Beijing’s fears that Tsai may not sustain the ‘one ...