International Affairs

BBC: Coca-Cola is to test a paper bottle as part of a longer-term bid to eliminate plastic from its packaging entirely.

TAIPEI - China’s central bank has partnered with SWIFT, the European-based global system for financial messaging and cross-border payments, to set up a joint venture — a move that observers say shows China’s ambitions to take the digital version of its currency, the yuan, global.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s assurance given to allow burial of those who succumbed to COVID-19.

The World Health Organization says debilitating post-COVID-19 symptoms in patients will have an impact on global health because of the magnitude of the pandemic.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday all hypotheses regarding the origins of COVID-19 remain open, following his discussions with investigative team members about the findings during their visit to China.

Christians bury their dead, too, and some in Sri Lanka have also been hurt by the move, which came despite World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines which permit burials for people who die from COVID.

BEIJING - The European Union on Saturday called on China to reverse its ban on the BBC World News television channel imposed in apparent retaliation for Britain's pulling of the license of state-owned Chinese broadcaster CGTN.

චන්ද්‍රයාගේ ගමන් මඟ අනුව සෑම වසරකම පෙබරවාරි මාසයේදී සමරණ චීන අලුත් අවුරුද්ද නොහොත් “චීන චන්ද්‍ර මංගළ්ලය” අදයි.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s statement on the reversal of the mandatory cremation policy of the Government received swift welcome from US Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz.

A new trial is to test how well the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine works in children.

Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication Chairman Basil Rajapaksa yesterday said the Government plans to make Sri Lanka the first COVID-19 free country in South Asia.

A World Health Organization panel of immunization experts Wednesday recommended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for all ages and in regions where variant strains of the virus are prevalent.

The Sri Lanka-China friendship National Nephrology Hospital is to be opened soon to the general public.

The Hindu: Sri Lanka faced no pressure from China with regard to the East Container Terminal (ECT) project, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has said.

The United States is imposing consequences on the leaders of the coup in Myanmar, President Joe Biden said Wednesday, reiterating that the military must relinquish power it seized “and demonstrate respect for the role of the people” as “expressed in their November 8 election.”

The Government of Japan provided a total sum of $ 620,379 (approx. Rs. 115 million) to Skavita Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Project (SHARP) for humanitarian demining activities in northern Sri Lanka.

During his four years in office, President Donald Trump and his Republican administration repeatedly highlighted so-called "infrastructure weeks" that ultimately resulted in few big projects moving down the line.

ඉන්දියාවේ නිෂ්පාදිත ඇස්ට්‍රා සෙනෙකා එන්නත් ලක්ෂ 16ක් මේ මස අවසානයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබාදෙන බව ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය දැනුම් දී ඇත. ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානයේ කොවැක්ස් වැඩසටහන යටතේ මෙම ඇස්ට්‍රා සෙනෙකා එන්නත් ලබාදීමට නියමිතය.