International Affairs

Sri Lanka ranked 64th out of the 107 countries in the 2020 Global Hunger Index (GHI), with a score of 16.3 and a level of hunger that was termed ‘moderate’.

LONDON - Human traffickers are capitalizing on the coronavirus pandemic to target people ranging from jobless migrants to out-of-school children, two U.N. specialists said, warning that the fallout from COVID-19 had driven the crime further underground.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව පාලනය කිරීම සඳහා චීනය ණය උගුලක් අටවා ඇති බවට ඇමරිකාව කළ ප්‍රකාශය ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කළ බව චීන විදේශ අමාත්‍යාංශයේ ප්‍රකාශක ෂාඕ ලිජියන් පෙරේදා (14 වැනිදා) පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවක දී සඳහන් කර ඇත.

Reuters: Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 400,000 for the first time late on Friday, a record one-day increase as much of Europe enacts new restrictions to curb the outbreak.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the 20th Virtual Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting (CFAMM) in the sidelines of the 75 UN General Assembly, called for innovative thinking, collective and integrated strategies to address the multi-dimensional and cross cutting challenges in the wake of the COVID -19 pandemic.

Consul General of India (Hambantota) Dipin P.R called on the Governor of the Uva Province

Thousands of demonstrators continued to protest Thailand’s prime minister in Bangkok Sunday, defying a ban on gatherings of more than four people.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters): Strong international cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines could speed up the world economic recovery and add $ 9 trillion (6.9 trillion pounds) to global income by 2025, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.

Minister of Water Supply Vasudeva Nanayakkara (left) and Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka Charge d’affaires Hu Wei after signing a Supplementary Agreement to the MoU on water research and technology cooperation

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - A suicide bomber has detonated his explosives-packed vehicle outside a provincial police headquarters in central Afghanistan, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 150 others.

Afghan officials condemned Sunday’s attack in Firozkoh, the capital of Ghor province, as an act of terrorism, saying mostly civilians were among the victims. The powerful blast also damaged nearby government offices, they said.

Map of Firozkoh Afghanistan
Mohammad Omer Lalzad, the head of the provincial hospital, told VOA that “a number of injured people are in critical condition.” Lalzad said he expected the death toll to rise.

No group has claimed responsibility, although the Afghan Interior Ministry blamed Taliban insurgents.

The acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan condemned the attack.

“Innocent Afghans were again killed today through a senseless bombing in #FerozKoh in #Ghor province. This destruction and bloodshed must stop. Afghans deserve to live their lives in peace,” Ross Wilson tweeted.

Deal violations

Meanwhile, the insurgent group Sunday accused the U.S. military of violating a February peace deal between the two sides by carrying out “excessive airstrikes” in Taliban-held areas in southern Helmand province and elsewhere in the country.

Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Islamist Taliban, said the agreement signed in Doha, Qatar, Feb. 29 prohibits American forces from launching airstrikes in areas other than combat zones or during active fighting.

“All contents of the U.S.-Islamic Emirate [Taliban] agreement are unambiguous, but the opposite side has violated its commitments on numerous occasions, are engaging in provocative actions and bombing non-combat zones,” Ahmadi said.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Friday accused Russia of mounting a worldwide disinformation campaign aimed at eroding public confidence in Western coronavirus vaccines, calling the action "reprehensible" at a time when countries should be coming together to tackle a pandemic that's killed more than a million people.

ISLAMABAD - The United States says it has agreed with the Taliban “to reset actions by strictly adhering to” the terms of an agreement reached between the two adversaries earlier this year to close the war in Afghanistan.

Sri Lanaka's ambassador designate to Japan, China and designated representatives to UN mission in New York and Geneva paid a courtesy call on HE Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Oct-16th 2020.

Daily cases of COVID-19 have reached record highs around the world, particularly in Europe and the Americas, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Lockdowns have been used to control the coronavirus around the world. Now a WHO official has questioned the success of them.

Thousands of protesters were in the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, again Saturday in defiance of a government crackdown as they continue to push for the ouster of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉන්දීය මහ කොමසාරිස් ගෝපාල් බාග්ලේ මැතිතුමා ඊයේ (15) දින පස්වරුවේ ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා හමුවිය.

The head of Britain’s domestic spy agency outlined Wednesday a cauldron of threats the country is facing, including from Islamist militancy to rising right-wing extremism, but he emphasized the biggest long-term challenge is presented by China.