International Affairs

The World Bank has approved $ 80.5 million additional financing to help Sri Lanka access and distribute fairly COVID-19 vaccines and to strengthen the country’s vaccination system and pandemic response, the organisation said in a statement yesterday.

LONDON - The UK government on Wednesday became the first country to announce it will regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways, with the first such cars possibly appearing on public roads as soon as this year.

WHITE HOUSE - The United States is pledging to send oxygen to India as soon as possible and tens of millions of vaccine doses abroad in stages, in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and intense pressure on America for significant help.

GENEVA - The International Council of Nurses warned Thursday that the world was facing a nursing crisis and could expect a significant shortage — perhaps a reduction by half — in the global nursing workforce of 27 million in the next few years.

European leaders and other American allies say President Joe Biden has done much in his first 100 days in the White House to start rebuilding confidence in U.S. leadership.

Italy began lifting COVID-19 restrictions on bars, restaurants, theaters and museums in much of the country Monday, as one of the nations hit earliest and hardest by the coronavirus pandemic tries to reopen.

BRUSSELS - European Union countries introducing their own COVID vaccination certificates would have to grapple with a myriad of disjointed systems if the bloc fails to build a shared one, a senior official said on Wednesday.

චීන ආරක්‍ෂක අමාත්‍ය ජෙනරාල් වෙයි ෆෙන්ග්හි දෙදින නිල සංචාරයක් සදහා අද දිවයිනට පැමිණීමට නියමිතව තිබෙනවා. දිවයිනට පැමිණීමට නියමිත චීන ආරක්‍ෂක අමාත්‍යවරයා ලබන 29 වනදා තෙක් මෙරට රැදි සීටීමට නියමිත අතර ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්‍ෂ මහතා ඇතුළු රජයේ ඉහළ පෙළේ නායකයින් සමග සාකච්ඡා පැවැත්වීමට නියමිතයි.

දින 14ක නිරෝධායන කාලය ගත කිරීම සඳහා මෙරටට පැමිණෙන ඉන්දියානුවන් හේතුවෙන් මෙරට නිරෝධායන හෝටල් තුළ සේවය කරන සියලුම සේවක සේවිකාවන්ගේ ජීවිත දැඩි අවදානමකට ලක්ව ඇතැයි මහජන සෞඛ්‍ය පරීක්ෂකවරුන්ගේ සංගමය සඳහන් කරයි.

Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday (28) for official talks.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has told the United Nations (UN), Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress in controlling the spread of COVID-19.

A number of countries have issued travel advisories on Sri Lanka after the country was placed on a coronavirus alert last week.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that a variant of COVID-19 feared to be contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been found in over a dozen countries.

In the wake of the escalation of Covid-19 cases across the region, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will initiate a dialogue with his counterparts of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan today on pandemic-related cooperation, poverty alleviation and other support needed at this hour, a Minister said.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has offered to provide essential medical supplies to rival India, which is in the grip of a devastating nationwide coronavirus surge and struggling to meet critical hospital needs, including medical oxygen.

Sri Lanka will get 1,440,000 doses of vaccines to provide immunity against Covid under COVAX facility, which is mainly funded by the United States.

The World Bank yesterday reassured Sri Lanka of its support to build back better from the COVID-19 impact.

COVID-19 has shaken India, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his monthly radio address Sunday, as he urged citizens to get their shots and not be swayed by what he called “any rumor about the vaccine.”