International Affairs

Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication Chairman Basil Rajapaksa yesterday said the Government plans to make Sri Lanka the first COVID-19 free country in South Asia.

A World Health Organization panel of immunization experts Wednesday recommended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for all ages and in regions where variant strains of the virus are prevalent.

විදේශවලින් දරුවන් හදාවඩා ගැනීමට ලබාගැනීම වහාම ක්‍රියාත්මකවන පරිදි අත්හිටුවීමට නෙදර්ලන්තය පියවර ගෙන තිබේ. මේ සම්බන්ධ අපයෝජන රැසක්, නිල පරීක්ෂණයකදී හඳුනාගැනීම මෙම පියවර ගැනීමට හේතුවී ඇත.

The Hindu: Sri Lanka faced no pressure from China with regard to the East Container Terminal (ECT) project, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has said.

The United States is imposing consequences on the leaders of the coup in Myanmar, President Joe Biden said Wednesday, reiterating that the military must relinquish power it seized “and demonstrate respect for the role of the people” as “expressed in their November 8 election.”

කැනඩා මහ කොමසාරිස් ඩේවිඩ් මැකිනොන් සහ මෙරට විදේශ අමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා අතර විශේෂ හමුවක් පවත්වා තිබේ.

During his four years in office, President Donald Trump and his Republican administration repeatedly highlighted so-called "infrastructure weeks" that ultimately resulted in few big projects moving down the line.

ඉන්දියාවේ නිෂ්පාදිත ඇස්ට්‍රා සෙනෙකා එන්නත් ලක්ෂ 16ක් මේ මස අවසානයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබාදෙන බව ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය දැනුම් දී ඇත. ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානයේ කොවැක්ස් වැඩසටහන යටතේ මෙම ඇස්ට්‍රා සෙනෙකා එන්නත් ලබාදීමට නියමිතය.

The Core Group on Sri Lanka has confirmed it will be submitting a Resolution on Sri Lanka at the upcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s assurance given to allow burial of those who succumbed to COVID-19.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has called on the United Nations (UN) to halt forced cremations in Sri Lanka.

'The Speaker told Daily Mirror the parliamentary authorities would arrange a special session for him to address the House if there was a request for it, and said the matter was discussed at the party leaders’ meeting yesterday.

Christians bury their dead, too, and some in Sri Lanka have also been hurt by the move, which came despite World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines which permit burials for people who die from COVID.

Cabinet has approved the proposal made by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Finance to seek a $ 180 million (over Rs. 34 billion) ‘COVID-19 Emergency and Crisis Response Facility’ from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday it is reviewing the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in light of a South African study indicating the drug offers minimal protection against the new South Africa variant of the virus.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s statement on the reversal of the mandatory cremation policy of the Government received swift welcome from US Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz.

Leading carriers from the Middle East including global giant Emirates are stepping up flights to Colombo following the opening of borders and resumption of international tourism in Sri Lanka late last month.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday the United States will return to the U.N. Human Rights Council as an observer.