International Affairs

JOHANNESBURG - The United States announced this week that it will share an additional 20 million coronavirus vaccine doses with other countries, in addition to the 60 million it has already committed. The unanswered question: where will the vaccines go?

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.

සටන් විරාමයක් සදහා ජාත්‍යන්තරයෙන් බලපෑම් එල්ල වුවද ඊශ්‍රායලය සහ පලස්තීන හමාස් සටන්කාමීන් අතර ඊයේ දිනයේදී ගැටුම් හටගෙන තිබෙනවා. පලස්තීන සටන්කාමීන් ඊශ්‍රායලයේ දකුණු ප්‍රදේශයට එල්ල කළ රොකට් ප්‍රහාරවලින් දෙදෙනෙකු මියගොස් ඇති බවයි විදෙස් මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා කළේ.

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.

Sri Lanka has made a request to the US for Covid vaccines which the US had announced will be made available to other countries.

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.

Sri Lanka remained deeply concerned over escalating violence between Palestine and Israel, the Foreign Ministry said.

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.

MUMBAI - In India, the health care crisis triggered by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is shifting from big cities to small towns and rural areas. But as ill-equipped medical infrastructure in villages leaves people struggling to cope with the deadly virus, health experts say combating its spread in rural areas has emerged as the country’s new challenge.

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.

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.