International Affairs

The international lobbying spree by the government gathered momentum yesterday with 21 countries speaking in favour of Sri Lanka and 15 against during an Interactive Dialogue at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Daily Mirror learns.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has vowed to support judicial proceedings in other countries against perpetrators of grave human rights violations in Sri Lanka, after the Government had effectively closed the door to achieving justice locally for alleged war time abuses.

Eighteen countries have pledged to speak on behalf of Sri Lanka during the ongoing session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), a top source said.

While advocating that delivering on the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil community is in the best interests of Sri Lanka, India calls upon Sri Lanka to take necessary steps for addressing such aspirations, including through the process of reconciliation and full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) yesterday urged swift action from the Government to guarantee and respect the right of burial for Muslims in the country dying of the coronavirus.

Addressing the High-Level Segment of the 46th Session of the UNHRC virtually yesterday (23), Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunewardena said the Government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had co-sponsored resolution 30/1 which was “against” Sri Lanka and made commitments that were undeliverable and not in conformity with the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Months of lockdowns and pandemic restrictions are taking their toll on Europeans, with many chafing at the prolonged limitations on public life. With vaccine distribution now starting to pick up after a sluggish start in most countries, calls are mounting for an easing of restrictions.

The U.S. government has determined that a one-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is safe and offers partial protection against the disease.

A scheduled meeting between visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and two Muslim MPs, namely MPs Rauff Hakeem and Rishad Bathiudeen, has been cancelled on “security grounds.”

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලයේ මෙවර සැසිවාරයට ඉදිරිපත්ව ඇති මානව හිමිකම් හා වගවීම් පිළිබඳ විමර්ශන හා වාර්තාවලදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට සහාය ලබාදෙන ලෙස ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඉන්දියාවෙන් ලිඛිතව ඉල්ලීමක් කර ඇතැයි ඉන්දියාවේ එන්ඩීටීවී, ටයිම්ස් ඔෆ් ඉන්ඩියා (Times of India) ඇතුළු පුවත් සේවා රැසක් වාර්තා කරයි.

At a dog training center in Myakka City, Florida, Heather Junqueira, founder of BioScent, brings a four-year-old beagle, Noel, into a room with stainless-steel canisters, several containing samples of COVID-19.

The European Union and the World Health Organization teamed with the international advocacy organization Global Citizen on Tuesday to host a virtual panel discussion on global recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Secretary of State Blinken says resolution will address “lack of accountability for past atrocities”

දෙදින නිල සංචාරයක් සදහා මෙරටට පැමිණි පාකිස්ථාන අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය ඉම්රාන් ඛාන් මහතා මීට ටික වේලාවකට පෙර පාකිස්ථානය බලා පිටත්ව ගොස් තිබේ.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, ජිනීවා මානව හිමිකම් කවුන්සිලය අද අමතනවා. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ නියෝජිතයා ලෙස සමුළුව ඇමතීම සිදු කරන්නේ විදේශ අමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධනයි. ඔහු අන්තර්ජාලය ඔස්සේ මෙවර මානව හිමිකම් සමුළුව ඇමතීම ද විශේෂත්වයක්. රජය විසින් අමාත්‍ය දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධනගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් යුතුව නම් කරන ලද කමිටුව ද අන්තර්ජාලය ඔස්සේ සමුළුවට සහභාගිවීමට නියමිතයි.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday highlighted dialogue, technology and trade as the top three ways for South Asia to tap its full potential, inviting Sri Lankan businesses to invest in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and insisting that wealth creation was the best way to lift millions, in both countries, out of poverty.

Bilateral discussions between visiting Pakistan Prime Minister - Imran Khan and Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa commenced a short while ago.

The UN’s Chief Human Rights Envoy Michelle Bachelet called on states to rebuild better after the coronavirus pandemic ravaged through the world, by applying human rights principles and building public trust through effective democratic institutions, a free press and participatory governance.