Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours

PTI Updated: September 20, 2024 17:13 IST
the-week-pti-wire-updates

    
     FGN16: LANKA-ELECTION-CURTAIN RAISER
     *Sri Lanka gears up for crucial presidential polls
     Colombo: Sri Lanka is gearing up for a crucial presidential election on Saturday, marking the island nation's first major poll since its worst economic meltdown in 2022.
    
     FGN19: PAK-DEBT
     Cash-strapped Pakistan faces USD 100 billion loan repayment in four years
     Islamabad: Cash-strapped Pakistan is facing a daunting task of repaying a staggering USD 100 billion external debt over the next four years, the government has said, an amount which is nearly 10 times its current USD 9.4 billion foreign exchange reserves.
    
     FGN15: LANKA-INTERNATIONAL-LD OBSERVERS
     International observers arrive in Sri Lanka for presidential election monitoring
     Colombo: A group of election observers from the European Union and the Commonwealth have arrived in Sri Lanka to monitor the presidential election on Saturday.
    
     FGN10: US-QUAD-INDIA
     US says it sees India as leader within Quad
     Washington: The US sees India as a leader within the Quad and is grateful for New Delhi's role in the four-nation grouping, a top White House official has said.
    
     FGN6: US-QUAD-PRIORITIES
     Quad summit to have significant announcements in areas like maritime security and critical and emerging technologies
     Washington: The Quad summit in Delaware will feature ambitious announcements in multiple areas such as maritime security, high-quality infrastructure and critical and emerging technologies to demonstrate the group's endurance, a top White House official has said.
    
     FGN4: UK-KIRTAN
     In UK's first, kirtan recognised by music exam board as 'Sikh Sacred Music'
     London: For the first time in the UK, kirtan is recognised as part of the graded music examination system, with students able to access a formal curriculum and texts for “Sikh Sacred Music” starting Friday.*

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)