International Affairs

The COVAX facility is in talks with India to try and expedite the next tranche of vaccines for Sri Lanka.

පාස්කු දින සැමරුම් පවා අවහිර කරමින් යුරෝපයේ බොහෝ රටවල් මේ වන විට කොරෝනා වෛරසය වෙලාගෙන තිබෙනවා. ඒ අතරින් කෑපි පෙනෙන තත්ත්වයක් අලුතින් මතුව ඇත්තේ නැගෙනහිර යුරෝපා කලාපයේයී. ඊට හේතුව වන්නේ එම කලාපය තුළ ඉකුත් වසරේදී කොරෝනා වෛරසය දරුණු ලෙස පැතිර නොයෑමයි. එහෙත් මේ වන විට පෝලන්තය, හංගේරියාව, යුක්ක්‍රේනය, ස්ලෝවැකියාව, චෙක් ජනරජය ඇතුලු රටවලින් කැපී පෙනෙන ලෙස ආසාදිතයින් වාර්තා වෙමින් තිබෙනවා. එන්නත්කරණය සිදු වෙමින් ඇති පසුබිමකද මෙලෙස රෝගීන් වැඩි වීම කැපී පෙනෙන තත්ත්වයක් බවයි විදේස් මාධ්‍ය වාර්තා කළේ.

Sri Lanka has dropped 14 places in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021.

The ferry that collided with a cargo vessel and sank on Sunday in the Shitalakhsyaa River is pulled out from the river with a crane, during rescue operations in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, April 5, 2021.

India’s biggest cities braced for stricter lockdowns and other Covid-19 curbs on Saturday after infections hit a six-month high, as a month-long surge continued in the country third worst hit by the pandemic.

Sri Lanka will take part in a joint military exercise along with India, Bangladesh and Bhutan from April 4 to 12, in the first such multi-nation venture with neighbouring countries.

India’s health ministry said Monday that it has recorded an all-time high 103,558 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily tally this year in the South Asian nation.

The Bangladesh government on Saturday decided to impose a week-long nationwide lockdown from Monday as COVID-19 cases and deaths surged across the country.

Reuters: Europe’s medicines regulator reiterated its backing of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, saying no particular group of age, sex or a previous medical history was especially susceptible to blood clotting after receiving the shot.

A user in a low level hacking forum on Saturday published the phone numbers and personal data of hundreds of millions of Facebook users for free online.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says his National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government ensured the release of fishermen detained by Sri Lanka.

GENEVA - A new study warns developing countries will have difficulty recovering from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic without relief from crushing debt burdens keeping them mired in poverty. The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) is releasing the study ahead of next week’s World Bank-International Monetary Fund meetings.

ROME - Pope Francis celebrated a second Easter as the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of easing in Italy and has again forced a nationwide lockdown. The pope urged access to care and to vaccines for everyone, especially in low-income countries. He also decried “too many wars” that are still raging in the world.

WASHINGTON - The United States, South Korea and Japan agreed in high-level security talks Friday to work together to keep up pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis celebrated a surprise Holy Thursday Mass with the cardinal he fired last year, extending an extraordinary gesture to Cardinal Angelo Becciu by celebrating the liturgy that commemorates Jesus' Last Supper with his apostles before his crucifixion.

India’s health ministry said Sunday that it recorded 93,249 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24-hour period, the highest daily tally this year in the South Asian nation.

NEW DELHI - A Chinese push to create civilian settlements along disputed borders in the Himalayan region has emerged as a major new concern for India as, analysts in India say, it replicates Beijing’s strategy to consolidate claims in the South China Sea.

පසුගිය වසරේ පැවති මහමැතිවරණය නිදහස් හා සාමකාමී වාතාවරණයක් තුළ පැවති බව අමෙරිකානු රාජ්‍ය දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව පවසනවා.