DHAKA -- Bangladeshi National Film Award winning actress Bidya Sinha Saha Mim has been appointed as the newest National Ambassador for the UN agency for children in Bangladesh.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in a program in Dhaka Thursday made the announcement, saying Mim joins prominent personalities around the world who use their voice and prominence to advocate for the rights of children. (Bangladesh-Actress-UNICEF)

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JAKARTA -- Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta was inaugurated and sworn in early Friday morning as the president of Timor Leste for the period of 2022 to 2027, making it the second time for him to lead Southeast Asia's youngest nation.

Ramos-Horta, 72, is also known as one of Timor Leste's founding fathers. His inauguration came on the celebration of Timor Leste's Independence Day, which falls on May 20. (Timor-Leste-President-Inauguration)

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COLOMBO -- Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka's Long-Term Foreign-Currency (LTFC) Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to "RD" (restricted default) from "C".

The credit rating agency announced the downgrading on Thursday.

On April 13, Fitch downgraded Sri Lanka to a "C" rating after the South Asian country announced that it had suspended debt servicing of several categories of its external debts, including bonds issued in the international capital markets and foreign currency-denominated loan agreements or credit facilities with commercial banks or institutional lenders. (Sri Lanka-Credit Rating)

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SYDNEY -- The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) announced on Friday afternoon the nation's first "probable" case of the monkeypox virus, which has been spreading through Europe.

The case comes from a NSW man in his 40s who recently returned from Europe.

The disease usually occurs in the African continent, but has been spreading across the globe in May of 2022 in non-endemic countries, predominantly in Britain. (Australia-Monkeypox)