International Affairs

WHITE HOUSE - Declaring that "war in Afghanistan was never meant to be a multigenerational undertaking," President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that "it is time to end the forever war" and said he would withdraw all U.S. troops from that country by September 11.

The United States (US) has briefed the Sri Lankan Government on the commitment of US President Joe Biden to democracy.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has apprised the Colombo-based senior diplomatic representation of the European Union (EU) on political and economic developments in Sri Lanka.

Australia has gifted Sri Lankan police five drones to monitor people smuggling between the two countries.

The United States (US) has briefed the Sri Lankan Government on the commitment of US President Joe Biden to democracy.

Iran began a 10-day lockdown Saturday to tame a fourth wave of coronavirus infections, while in Bucharest about 1,000 people marched in protest of COVID-19 restrictions and in Paris, more than 100 people were fined while eating at a restaurant that broke rules against large gatherings.

Security has been intensified in Tamil Nadu after Sri Lanka announced a ban on eleven Islamic terror groups, the Indian media reported.

REUTERS: Coronavirus infections in the South Asia sub-region surpassed the grim milestone of 15 million on Saturday, a Reuters tally shows, led by India’s record daily infections and vaccine shortages.

GENEVA - The World Health Organization is warning that COVID-19 cases and deaths are rising globally, partly because of complacency setting in that vaccines will stop the spread of the disease. The latest WHO report confirms more than 133.5 million cases of coronavirus infections, including nearly 3 million global deaths.

China's Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe will arrive in Sri Lanka later this month to hold bilateral discussions with Government leaders and officials, making it one of the highest level visits undertaken by a Chinese government official since the Rajapaksa government was sworn into power, the Daily Mirror learns.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on Friday (9) met the Colombo-based senior diplomatic representation of the European Union (EU) to further strengthen ties.

Britain's Prince Charles paid a personal tribute Saturday to his "dear papa" Prince Philip, saying the royal family missed him enormously and that the 99-year-old would have been amazed at the touching reaction around the world to his death.

WASHINGTON - The State Department's new guidance encouraging diplomatic outreach to Taiwan is seen by some China analysts as a way to encourage and promote closer ties without fundamentally changing Washington's overall stance on China's territorial claims to the island.

Despite the heavy toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sri Lanka’s economy and the lives of its people, the economy will recover in 2021, though challenges remain, says the latest World Bank Sri Lanka Development Update: Economic and Poverty Impact of COVID-19 released on Saturday.

State Minister of Money, Capital Market and Public Enterprise Reforms Ajith Nivard Cabraal and Sultanate of Oman Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs Sayyid Asaad bin Tariq al Said held a special meeting yesterday.

Sri Lanka today signed a USD 500 million loan agreement with the China Development Bank today, Sri Lankan Embassy in China said.

විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන මහතා යුරෝපා සංගම් තනාපතිවරුන් සහ අමෙරිකානු තනාපතිවරිය අතර හමුවක් පවත්වා තිබේ.

On the streets of Rome, frustrations with pandemic curbs boiled over this week as desperate protesters, many of them restaurant owners and small-business owners, complained that restrictions and repeated lockdowns aimed at suppressing the transmission of the coronavirus are ruining them.