International Affairs

BANGKOK, THAILAND - A large haul of precursor chemicals in Laos since the end of last year has revealed` the new recipe being used by the methamphetamine cooks of Asia and the routes crime groups are using to get raw materials from Chinese factories, through Thai ports and into the narcotics labs of the Golden Triangle.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said Sunday that bilateral ties with India cannot return to normal until the neighboring country restores the semi-autonomous status of the disputed Kashmir region.

VOA NEWS - Australia’s southern state of Victoria will enter into a one-week “circuit breaker” lockdown beginning Thursday as it deals with a new and growing outbreak of COVID-19 cases.

Although the airport will be opened from June 1, people who have been in Vietnam for 14 days will not be allowed to enter the country temporarily, Aviation and Export Zones Development State Minister D. V. Chanaka said.

HANOI, VIETNAM - Vietnam has discovered a new coronavirus variant that's a hybrid of strains first found in India and the U.K., the Vietnamese health minister said Saturday.

President Joe Biden said Wednesday he has directed the US intelligence community to redouble their efforts in investigating the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic and report back to him in 90 days.

චීනය නිපදවන සයිනොපාම් එන්නත (SINOPHARM) ලබාදෙන්නේ හොඳම මිලට සහ වේගවත්ම බෙදාහැරීමක් ඔස්සේ බව චීනය පවසයි.

The burning ship at the centre of an environmental catastrophe off Sri Lanka was denied access at two ports, according to an article published in shipping industry news site https://splash247.com.

GENEVA - The U.N. Children’s Fund is calling for urgent action to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in South Asia who are missing out on routine life-saving vaccinations because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in a technical note informed Sri Lanka that there is no need for the recipients of AstraZeneca vaccines to restart the full course of vaccination, in case the administration of their second dose is substantially delayed beyond the recommended 8-12 weeks.

Refers to heavy global commitments; says no private supply; warns of counterfeits if sourcing from outside parties

New research provides encouraging signs that COVID-19 vaccines may continue to provide protection even as the coronavirus mutates into variants.

ROME (AFP): Italy extended Sunday an entry ban for people coming from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as a continued precaution against the more transmissible Indian variant of the novel coronavirus.

The Ministry of Finance and the World Bank recently signed a new grant from the European Union to support the Agriculture Sector Modernisation Project (ASMP). This grant is part of the EU’s EUR 25 million support to the $ 125 million project and will be administered by the World Bank.

Repatriated Kuwaitis from Amman, wearing protective face masks, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), are seen after arriving at Kuwait Airport - Reuters

South Korean officials announced Sunday that a million doses of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines would arrive in the country this week from the United States, doubling its earlier pledge.

AFP: Bangladesh has joined China and South Korea by approving a currency swap to bail out Sri Lanka, which is facing its worst foreign exchange crisis, officials said Wednesday.

The situation in pandemic-ravaged South Asia is “unlike anything our region has seen before,” the regional director of UNICEF said Tuesday.