International Affairs

With little more than two months to go before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, a major Japanese medical association is calling for the cancellation of the event due to the current surge of new COVID-19 infections.

China expects a key announcement on vaccines for Sri Lanka during the next few days.

WASHINGTON - Israel’s air and artillery assaults against Palestinian militants will “continue as long as needed,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday.

Next consignment of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines will arrive in Sri Lanka on May 25 (Tuesday), says State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana.

The British government is hoping to vaccinate up to a million people a day in a bid to keep the country on track for a gradual relaxation of coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

චීනයෙන් ගෙන්වන ,අමුද්‍රව්‍යවල මිල ඉහළයාම හේතුවෙන් කොරෝනා පාලනයට යොදාගන්නා ඖෂධ නිෂ්පාදනයට බාධා පැමිණ ඇතැයි වාර්තා වේ.

Foreign Ministry in a statement has said Sri Lanka remains deeply concerned over escalating violence between Palestine and Israel.

VATICAN CITY - The people of Myanmar must not despair in the face of evil or allow themselves to be divided, Pope Francis said on Sunday at a special Mass for the Myanmar community in Italy.

මෙරට ජනතාවට දෙවන මාත්‍රාව ලෙස ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් ඇස්ට්‍රාසෙනිකා එන්නත ලබාදීම සඳහා එන්නත් සොයා ගැනීමේ කටයුතු ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය තවදුරටත් සිදුකරමින් තිබෙනවා. ඒ අනුව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට හිග වී ඇති ඔක්ස්ෆර්ඩ් ඇස්ට්‍රාසෙනිකා එන්නත් මාත්‍රා ප්‍රමාණය මෙරටට ලබාගත හැකිද යන්න සම්බන්ධයෙන් අවසන් තීරණය අදින් පසුව ලැබීමට නියමිතයි. ඒ, රටවල් කිහිපයක් සමග සිදුකළ සාකච්ඡාවල ප්‍රතිපල ලැබීමට නියමිත බැවින්.

The World Health Organization warned Monday that while global infection and death rates are declining, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, contrary to the behavior in some nations where high numbers of people have been vaccinated.

The Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an advisory for Maldivians traveling to Sri Lanka, as the country now requires all in-bound travelers to complete a 14-day quarantine at a location of the Sri Lankan government’s choosing, Raajje TV reported.

The World Health Organization Friday questioned wealthy nations moving to vaccinate low-risk groups, such as children, against COVID-19, while some poor and middle-income countries do not have enough vaccine for health care workers.

WASHINGTON -  Announcing that the United States is taking additional steps to help the world combat the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden on Monday said the country will be sending 20 million more doses of its COVID-19 vaccines abroad by the end of June.

All Sri Lankans residing and working in Israel have been advised to be vigilant and to avoid large gatherings and unnecessary travelling considering the growing tensions due to the riots and clashes between Israel and Palestine in the Gaza Strip, Sri Lankan embassy in Tel Aviv announced.

The World Health Organization appealed to wealthy countries Friday to scrap plans to vaccinate young people with COVID-19 vaccine in favor of donating it to poorer countries.  

ඉන්දියාව මෙන්ම ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙත් වසංගතයේ බරපතළ අවදානමක් නිර්මාණය වෙමින් පවතින බව ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය ප්‍රකාශ කරයි.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - An explosion inside a mosque on the outskirts of the Afghan capital, Kabul, killed at least 12 people during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the Eid al-Fitr holiday during a cease-fire.

MALE (AFP): Rich Indians can no longer escape their country’s raging pandemic by holidaying in the Maldives, after the island paradise said on Wednesday it would ban travel from South Asia as it battles a surge in COVID-19 infections.