International Affairs

මතබේදයට තුඩු දී ඇති MCC ගිවිසුම සම්බන්ධයෙන් තීරණය ගැනීමේ නිදහස ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සතු දෙයක් බව මෙරට සංචාරය කළ අමෙරිකානු රාජ්‍ය ලේකම් මයික් පොම්පියෝ මහතා පවසයි.

China yesterday issued a statement making its views clear on the upcoming visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his remarks to the effect Sri Lanka needs to make difficult but necessary decisions on its foreign relations. China also offered some advice to the US in terms of strengthening bilateral ties with Sri Lanka.

Spain has declared a state of emergency and enacted a new round of lockdowns countrywide as it battles a resurgence of coronavirus infections.

Sri Lanka Embassy in Oman and the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka (EDB) jointly organised a B2B virtual meeting between manufacturers of fiberglass and acrylic products of the two countries.

WASHINGTON - The United States has confirmed the death of a high-ranking al-Qaida official in Afghanistan, describing it as a major setback for the group despite some initial confusion in reporting about his seniority.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the death of al-Qaida’s Abu Muhsin al-Masri on Monday, saying U.S. forces provided support during the Afghan-led operation in the country’s eastern Ghazni province.

The White House later offered its own confirmation, praising the Afghan operation to take out al-Masri as “welcome news.”

The comments from U.S. officials come two days after Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) first announced al-Masri’s death in a tweet late Saturday, describing him initially as the number two official with the al-Qaida affiliate, al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The NDS also said al-Masri was close to al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, and that he had been living in Afghanistan under Taliban protection.

In response to the tweets from Afghanistan’s NDS, U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Director Christopher Miller told the Reuters News Agency late Saturday that the killing of al-Masri “is a major setback” for al-Qaida, though he declined to share additional details.

But multiple U.S. and international counterterrorism officials tell VOA that while still significant, al-Masri’s death is not the blow that has been depicted in some accounts.

Specifically, they say reports that indicate al-Masri was second in line to Zawahiri are wrong, confusing him with another al-Qaida official who sometimes uses the al-Masri alias.

They say the al-Masri killed in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province is Abu Muhsin al-Masri, also known as Husam Abd al-Ra’uf, a senior leader who most recently had been assigned to work with the Taliban on operational cooperation and the coordination of safe havens for al-Qaida fighters.

STATE DEPARTMENT - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper departed for India Sunday to strengthen bilateral security cooperation as Washington looks to confront Chinese geopolitical and economic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

NEW DELHI (Reuters): The United States and India must work together to confront the threat posed by China to security and freedom, U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday, as he prepared for talks with Indian leaders.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a news conference organized by Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus, in Geneva, July 3, 2020.

ලබන බදාදා (28 දා) ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවට එන ඇමරිකානු රාජ්‍ය ලේකම් මයික් පොම්පියෝ ඉන්දීය සාගර කලාපය තුළ චීන විරෝධී ආරක්ෂක ජාලයක් ස්ථාපිත කිරීම සඳහා සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට නියමිත බව රජයේ ඉහළ පෙළේ ආරංචි මාර්ග අනාවරණය කළේය.

United States (U.S.) Secretary of State Michael R.Pompeo arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday (27) for a brief visit.

කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගතයට මුහුණ දීම සඳහා සමාජ ආරක්ෂණය ශක්තිමත් කළ යුතු බව එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ආසියානු හා පැසිෆික් සමාජ හා ආර්ථික කොමිසමේ (UNESCAP) ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිත්‍ය නියෝජිත තානාපති සමන්තා කේ. ජයසූරිය මහත්මිය පුකාශ කළාය.

Sudan becomes the latest formerly hostile Middle Eastern neighbor to normalize relations with Israel by way of a Trump administration deal.

Face coverings, social distancing and rigorous hand-washing still will be required for some time. How long depends on factors including how good the vaccines are and how long protection lasts — questions that will not be answered when the first shots arrive.

Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, will provide scheduled services to Sri Lanka, Kuwait, and Bahrain, effective 25 October, and increase frequency to destinations in Oman.

An international treaty banning nuclear weapons has been ratified by a 50th country — Honduras — allowing it to enter into force after 90 days, a U.N. official said Saturday.

NEW DELHI (AFP): US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in New Delhi on Monday, kicking off a four-country Asia tour that he has said would focus on the “threats” posed by China.

Air Force Commander Air Marshal Sumangala Dias, who is to retire shortly, has been nominated as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Canada. His name, along with the names of eight others, has been forwarded to the High Post Committee of Parliament for confirmation.

 Washington (Reuters): The United States urging Sri Lanka to make “difficult but necessary” decisions to secure its economic independence for long-term prosperity, said the superpower stands ready to partner with Sri Lanka for its economic development and growth.

In an apparent reference to Sri Lanka’s ties with China, the Principal Deputy Assis