INTERNATIONAL NEWS - A move to grant women in Sri Lanka the same rights as men to buy alcohol legally has been overruled by President Maithripala Sirisena.
He told a rally he had ordered the government to withdraw the reform, which would also have allowed women to work in bars without a permit.
He said he had only found out about the move from the newspapers.
The government announced on Wednesday it was amending a 1955 law, agreeing that it discriminated against women.
Critics have accused the president of not taking gender equality seriously.
"This is not just about this archaic sexist law but the archaic sexist system in which this law is just one more tool of control," wrote one Sri Lankan blogger.
