International Affairs

The Foreign Ministers of Sri Lanka and the Philippines have agreed to focus on new strategies to further strengthen the existing economic, political, social and international relations between the two countries.

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - In a dramatic turn of events, a man convicted and later acquitted in the 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl admitted a "minor" role in his death, upending 18 years of denials, the Pearl family lawyer said Wednesday.

UN Human Rights experts yesterday urged the Sri Lankan Government to end its policy of forced cremation of the COVID-19 deceased, saying it ran contrary to the beliefs of Muslims and other minorities in the country, and could foment existing prejudices, intolerance and violence.

The United Nations has made public a damning report on Sri Lanka and has proposed targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans against credibly alleged perpetrators of grave human rights violations and abuses.

කොවිඩ්-19 සඳහා චීන රජයෙන් එන්නත් මාත්‍රා ලක්ෂ 3ක් පරිත්‍යාගයක් ලෙස ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ලබාදෙන බව මෙරට චීන තානාපති කාර්යාලය පවසයි.

The Sri Lankan Government confirmed its intent on revisiting the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) with a view to making the appropriate amendments, a joint statement by the Sri Lanka-EU said.

In a controversial move the Sri Lankan government has decided to commence dipomatic ties with Liechtenstein, a Central European country with a population of less than 40,000.

A level playing field and working with divers’ partners could see more beneficial foreign investment come in to Sri Lanka, US Ambassador for Sri Lanka and Maldives Alaina B. Teplitz said yesterday.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for massive and speedy COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in both developed and developing countries, urging rich nations to make their excess doses available to poorer ones.

The European Union (EU) and Sri Lanka held their 23rd meeting of the Joint Commission on 25 January, via video conference.

The World Health Organization director-general on Tuesday continued to press his case against what he calls "vaccine nationalism,” saying poor countries have had to “watch and wait,” while wealthy nations forge ahead with vaccination programs.

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the world to come together to fight the coronavirus pandemic and warned against a “new Cold War” in a speech Monday at the World Economic Forum, held virtually this year because of the pandemic.

U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called on states on Wednesday to impose “targeted sanctions” on former Sri Lankan military commanders implicated in alleged war crimes during the final years of a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009.

WASHINGTON - For the first time since his inauguration, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, expressing concerns about the arrest of dissident Alexei Navalny, Moscow’s cyber-espionage campaign and bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, two senior Biden administration officials said.

NEW DELHI - In an unusual diplomatic initiative, India has donated millions of doses of the British-developed AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine being produced in the country to neighboring South Asian nations.

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden signed a series of actions Wednesday to combat climate change, saying they will restore “scientific integrity and evidence-based policymaking” across the U.S. government.

The European Union (EU) yesterday called on the Sri Lankan Government to notify its import restrictions to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) stressing that open and fair trade requires a level playing field, something which has not been the case as a result of the limits in place since April 2020.

The world is on the verge of reaching 100 million COVID-19 infections, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center statistics. More than 2 million people have died from the virus.