COLOMBO — Sri Lanka is targeting 3 million tourist arrivals in 2026, a top official said on Monday, after a record 2.36 million last year, as the country seeks to boost revenue and support recovery from Cyclone Ditwah.

Famous for its pristine beaches, ancient temples and Ceylon Tea, tourism is Sri Lanka’s second-largest foreign exchange earner with $3.2 billion in revenues in 2025.

The tourist arrival target, which is an ambitious 27% increase over the previous year, will help Sri Lankans recover from Cyclone Ditwah, which hit the island nation at the end of November killing 645 people, said Vijitha Herath, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism.

Torrential rains and hundreds of landslides damaged over 110,000 houses as well as key roads, railroads, and bridges causing $4.1 billion in damage according to World Bank estimates.

Growth, which was projected at 3.1% for 2026, was reduced to 2.9% by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December. An IMF delegation is expected in Colombo this month to conduct the fifth review of a $2.9 billion program with Sri Lanka.

“We are proud that Sri Lanka still managed to record the highest-ever tourism numbers. We are hopeful that tourism revenue will also continue to grow and this will help our economy at a crucial time,” Mr. Herath told reporters.

Sri Lanka is also eyeing about $500 million in investment in the tourism sector in 2026 after attracting $329 million from 126 projects last year, said Buddhika Hewawasam, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority.— Reuters

CAIRO — A delegation led by Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the leader of Yemen’s main separatist group STC, will soon travel to Saudi Arabia, two sources told Reuters on Monday, a potential sign of progress towards ending a conflict between separatists and Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

The conflict, which began early last month, has triggered a major feud between the Gulf powers, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, and fractured a coalition fighting Houthi forces.

The Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and Gulf countries intervened the following year in support of the internationally recognized government, splitting Yemen into rival zones of control.

The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council has for years been part of that government, which controls southern and eastern Yemen and is backed by Gulf states, but last month STC forces suddenly seized swathes of territory.

Al-Zubaidi’s visit would come days after the internationally recognized government said late on Friday it had asked Saudi Arabia to host a forum to resolve the southern issue. Riyadh agreed and extended invitations to southern factions.

The STC welcomed the call for dialogue, potentially signaling that all sides now see negotiation as the eventual means of ending the brief conflict.

Government forces backed by Saudi airstrikes on Friday and Saturday took back control of the strategically important Hadramout and Mahra provinces in the east of Yemen.

The crisis triggered the biggest split in decades between formerly close allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as years of divergence on critical issues came to a head, threatening to upend the regional order.— Reuters

TOKYO — An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 hit the western Chugoku region of Japan on Tuesday, followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The epicenter of the first earthquake was in eastern Shimane prefecture, the agency said, adding that there was no danger of a tsunami.

Chugoku Electric Power, which runs the Shimane Nuclear Power Station about 32 kilometers (20 miles) away, said operations were continuing as usual at its No.2 unit. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no irregularities following the quake.

The plant’s No.2 unit restarted in December 2024 for the first time since all of Japan’s nuclear power plants were shut down in the aftermath of the March 2011 disasters in Fukushima.

The earthquake had a seismic intensity of upper-5 on Japan’s 1-7 scale, strong enough to make movement difficult without support.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas. Japan accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

West Japan Railway said it had suspended Shinkansen bullet-train operations between Shin-Osaka and Hakata following the quake. — Reuters

WASHINGTON/HOUSTON — The administration of President Donald Trump is planning to meet with executives from US oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production after US forces ousted its leader Nicolas Maduro, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The meetings are crucial to the administration’s hopes of getting top US oil companies back into the South American nation after its government, nearly two decades ago, took control of US-led energy operations there.

The three biggest US oil companies – Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron – have not yet had any conversations with the administration about Mr. Maduro’s ouster, according to four oil industry executives familiar with the matter, contradicting Mr. Trump’s statements over the weekend that he had already held meetings with “all” the US oil companies, both before and since Mr. Maduro was seized.

“Nobody in those three companies has had conversations with the White House about operating in Venezuela, pre-removal or post-removal to this point,” one of the sources said on Monday.

The upcoming meetings will be crucial to the administration’s hopes to boost crude oil production and exports from Venezuela, a former OPEC nation which sits atop the world’s largest reserves and whose barrels can be refined by specially designed US refineries. Achieving that goal will require years of work and billions of dollars of investment, analysts say.

It is unclear what executives will be attending the upcoming meetings, and whether oil companies will be attending individually or collectively.

The White House did not comment on the meetings but said it believed the US oil industry was ready to move into Venezuela.

“All of our oil companies are ready and willing to make big investments in Venezuela that will rebuild their oil infrastructure, which was destroyed by the illegitimate Maduro regime,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers.

Exxon, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Trump told NBC News the US may subsidize oil companies to enable them to rebuild Venezuela’s energy infrastructure.

Asked if the administration had briefed any oil companies ahead of the military operation,  Mr. Trump said, “No. But we’ve been talking to the concept of, ‘what if we did it?'”

“The oil companies were absolutely aware that we were thinking about doing something,”  Mr. Trump told NBC News. “But we didn’t tell them we were going to do it.”

He told NBC News it was “too soon” to say whether he had personally spoken to top executives at the three companies.

“I speak to everybody,” he said.

CBS News, citing an unnamed source, said executives from the three were expected to meet on Thursday with Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

One oil industry executive told Reuters the companies would be reluctant to talk about potential Venezuela operations in group settings with the White House, citing antitrust concerns that limit collective discussions among competitors about investment plans, timing, and production levels.

BIG PLANS, BIG PROBLEMS
US forces on Saturday conducted a lightning raid on Venezuela’s capital, arresting  Mr. Maduro in the dead of night and sending him to the United States to face narcoterrorism charges.

Mr. Trump said hours after Mr. Maduro’s capture he expects the biggest US oil companies to spend billions of dollars boosting Venezuela’s oil production, after it dropped to around a third of its peak over the past two decades due to underinvestment and sanctions.

But those plans will be hindered by lack of infrastructure, along with deep uncertainty over the country’s political future, legal framework and long-term US policy, according to industry analysts.

Chevron is the only American major currently operating in Venezuela’s oil fields.

Exxon and ConocoPhillips, meanwhile, had storied histories in the country before their projects were nationalized by former President Hugo Chavez.

“I don’t think you’re going to see any company other than Chevron, who’s already there, you know, commit to developing this resource,” said one oil industry executive, who asked not to be named discussing the issue.

Conoco has been seeking billions of dollars in restitution for the takeover of three oil projects in Venezuela under Mr. Chavez. Exxon was involved in lengthy arbitration cases against Venezuela after it exited the country in 2007.

Chevron, which exports around 150,000 barrels per day of crude from Venezuela to the US Gulf Coast, meanwhile, has had to carefully maneuver with the Mr. Trump administration in an effort to maintain its presence in the country in recent years.

Investors were optimistic, betting Washington’s move against Venezuela’s leadership would allow US firms access to the oil reserves. A US embargo on Venezuelan oil remained in full effect, Mr. Trump said.

The S&P 500 energy index rose to its highest since March 2025, with heavyweights Exxon Mobil rising 2.2% and Chevron jumping 5.1%.— Reuters