Briefly

UNITED STATES

Trump taps Rollins as agriculture chief

President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday that he will nominate former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be his agriculture secretary, the last of his picks to lead executive agencies and another choice from within his established circle of advisers and allies. The nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans when Trump takes office on Jan 20. Rollins is a longtime Trump associate who served as White House domestic policy chief during his first presidency.

SRI LANKA

Pact reached on IMF's review of reform

The International Monetary Fund staff and the Sri Lankan government have reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies to conclude the third review of Sri Lanka's economic reform program supported by the IMF's Extended Fund Facility, the IMF said in a news release on Saturday. The IMF said once the review is approved by IMF management and completed by the IMF Executive Board, Sri Lanka will have access to about $333 million in financing. This would bring the total IMF financial support disbursed under the arrangement to about $1.33 billion, the IMF said.

CANADA

Govt apologizes for killing of sled dogs

The Canadian government officially apologized on Saturday to an Indigenous community for the killing of several hundred sled dogs by police more than half a century ago. Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree delivered the apology in Nunavik, in Quebec Province. In addition to the apology, the Canadian government will pay 45 million Canadian dollars ($32 million) in compensation. In 2019, the Canadian government apologized to the Nunavut Inuit for the police killings of sled dogs in an area further north in the province.

Agencies Via Xinhua