International Affairs

Leaked documents obtained by VOA reveal China asked Myanmar’s military government late last month to tighten pipeline security during ongoing anti-coup protests, suggesting growing tension in what seemed to be a cozy relationship between the neighboring nations.

WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of Japan, India, and Australia met virtually Friday for a summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, where they discussed strategies to counter China’s rising influence in the Indo-Pacific region, including an offer to match Beijing’s ambitious vaccine diplomacy.

The Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry yesterday said the invitation extended to the Foreign Minister of Myanmar was to attend the 17th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting to be hosted virtually on 1 April in Colombo.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Since the Myanmar military overthrew the country’s democratically elected government on February 1, thousands of coup protesters have resisted the junta daily, despite the increasing bloodshed.

The World Health Organisation, in an internal discussion held recently has said that it will honour its commitment made to Sri Lanka to provide 1.4 million doses of the anti COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX facility by end of May, which will secure Sri Lanka enough dosages to begin its second round.

The Bangladesh High Commission in Colombo observed the International Mother Language Day (IMLD) 2021 recently with due solemnity and fervour.

The Foreign Ministry yesterday said Government concerns over the sale of the national flag being sold as a doormat on Amazon have been conveyed to both the Sri Lankan Embassy in China and the Chinese Embassy in Colombo.

Establishing a dedicated capacity at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to collect and preserve evidence about grave rights violations in Sri Lanka will cost an estimated $ 2 million, UNHRC member states were informed this week.

Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona met with China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Luo Zhaohui on 3 March.

State Minister of Money, Capital Markets and State Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal yesterday said he found the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) reaction to Sri Lanka getting a $ 1.5 billion swap from China “surprising”, and reiterated the Government could maintain a sound macroeconomic framework without support from the multilateral lender.

The European Union's drug regulator, the Europe Medicines Agency (EMA), has given conditional approval to Johnson & Johnson's single dose COVID-19 vaccine.

The head of the World Health Organization has emphasized the need for global coordination in working to end the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking to VOA Africa's Linord Moudou via Sky, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said equitable distribution of the vaccine is key. Below is an edited transcript.

The UNHRC draft resolution on Sri Lanka in its third revision contains a strengthened paragraph on the implementation of the 13th Amendment and sets the stage for the country’s human rights record to be in the international spotlight every six months.

The U.N. secretary-general said Thursday that more than 88 million people were suffering from acute hunger in countries affected by conflict and instability at the end of 2020, and at least 34 million of them face possible famine this year.

More women continue to enter politics and government at the highest levels, but there is still widespread gender inequality globally for women in government and legislatures, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations said Wednesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday approved Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, while also firmly endorsing AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as some countries continued to suspend its use.

The core group led by the United Kingdom (UK) has revised the draft resolution on Sri Lanka calling for, among others, to implement the recommendations made by the UN Special Rapporteurs who visited Sri Lanka after 2015, Daily Mirror learns.

Sri Lanka has begun negotiations with Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute, that produces the Sputnik V vaccine, to finalise a price to purchase the vaccines for the local population as the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) envisages to purchase at least seven million doses.