International Affairs

Reuters: Preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1, or Brazilian, variant, a source with knowledge of the study told Reuters yesterday.

Demonstrations against Myanmar’s military junta took place across the country again Thursday in the wake of what the United Nations described as “the bloodiest day” since the February 1 coup.

The newly-appointed Sri Lanka Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand C.A. Chaminda I. Colonne assumed duties on 1 March, at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand [concurrently accredited to the Kingdom of Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)].

WASHINGTON - China’s eastern province of Shandong has reversed a long-standing rule restricting movement from rural areas to the cities in an effort to boost urban consumption and close the social division between the province’s urban and rural dwellers.

ඉන්දියානු ගුවන් හමුදා ප්‍රධානී එයාර් චීෆ් මාර්ෂල් රාකේෂ් කුමාර් සිං බාදවූරියා මහතා ඊයේ (03) පස්වරුවේ අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ දී අගමැති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හමු විය.

The Government yesterday expressed confidence that India would stand with Sri Lanka on the “right side” at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions and support it to defeat the resolution that is set to be moved next week.

AMMAN, JORDAN - Pope Francis is making the first-ever papal visit to the biblical land of Iraq, arriving he says as a “pilgrim of peace" for all Iraqis, although the country’s beleaguered, dwindling Christian community will take special encouragement and comfort from his presence.

A leading Muslim organisation in Sri Lanka will this week send an official letter of concern to the global Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the World Muslim Congress, seeking their intervention to urge the Sri Lankan government to allocate a decent land for the burial of Muslim COVID-19 victims.

JOHANNESBURG - The global COVAX vaccine distribution plan aims to deliver tens of millions of vaccine doses to low-income countries -- many of them in Africa – in the coming months, top global health officials say, describing this as a turning point in the quest to quash the coronavirus pandemic.

China will endorse a US $ 500 million loan and a currency swap arrangement of two billion Yuan (around US $ 600 million) within the next couple of weeks, informed sources said.

ඉන්දීය අගමැති නරේන්ද්‍ර මෝදි ඊයේ පැවති ඉන්දීය සමුද්‍ර සමුළුව අමතමින් නිවේදනය කර සිටියේ ඉන්දියාව සිය සමුද්‍රීය මෙහෙයුම් පුළුල් කරමින් “සාගර මන්තන්” නමින් වාණිජ ගමනාන්ත අධීක්ෂණ මධ්‍යස්ථානයක් ආරම්භ කර ඇති බවයි

Top U.S. officials are warning that countries around the world can no longer hide from the ramifications of an ever more ambitious and aggressive China.

The Government of Japan provided a total sum of $ 636,363 (approx. Rs. 120 million) through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) to Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH) for humanitarian demining activities in Northern Sri Lanka.

Commenting on the UK statement of February 25, 2021 in Geneva on Sri Lanka at Human Rights Council by Lord Tariq Ahmad, President of the UK all party British Sri Lanka Parliamentary group Lord Naseby said he was astounded how the UK or any other Member of the Core group could possibly welcome the High Commissioner’s so called ‘detailed & most comprehensive report on Sri Lanka.

කොළඹ දකුණු වරායේ බටහිර බහාලු පර්යන්තය ඉන්දීය අදානි සමාගම සහ වරාය අධිකාරිය සමග එක්ව සංවර්ධනය කිරීම සදහා කැබිනට් අනුමැතිය හිමිවුණා.

LONDON - Confidence in COVID-19 vaccines is growing, with people's willingness to have the shots increasing as they are rolled out across the world and concerns about possible side effects are fading, a 14-country survey showed on Friday.

Freedom of the press is a fundamental principle of any democracy, as is accountability for those who commit atrocities, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives said yesterday, responding to a powerful commentary penned by slain Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge’s daughter Ahimsa.

Sri Lanka has raised strong objections with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), accusing the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of disregarding a request to publish the response of the Government to a damning report formally submitted to the Council last week.