International Affairs

The first coronavirus vaccine will begin arriving early Monday in U.S. states after the government approved a vaccine late Friday for emergency use as the COVID-19 death toll approached 300,000.

Sri Lanka’s second wave of COVID-19 pandemic is expected to worsen the contraction of the economy in 2020, the latest outlook on Asia by the multilateral lender ADB has warned.

GENEVA - Ahead of Human Rights Day on Thursday, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights warned that the politicization of the coronavirus pandemic was undermining a range of such rights, from economic, social and cultural rights to civil and political rights.

Norwegian Ambassador Trine Jøranli Eskedal and Deputy Head of Mission Hilde Berg-Hansen, called on WFP Sri Lanka Country Director Brenda Barton, for a joint celebration of WFP being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Ambassador of Cuba in Sri Lanka Juana Elena Ramos Rodriguez have discussed deepening cooperation between the two countries, a statement by the Foreign Ministry said.

LONDON - Scientists and doctors say the mass coronavirus vaccination campaign that started in Britain this week represents a major milestone in the fight against COVID-19, although big challenges remain in producing and distributing enough vaccines to end the global pandemic.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a $ 9 billion vaccine initiative—the Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX)—offering rapid and equitable support to its developing members as they procure and deliver effective and safe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says “vaccine nationalism” is on the rise as wealthier nations line up to buy millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines at the expense of much poorer nations.

Korea extended its fullest support to the Government of Sri Lanka especially in coordinating the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Republic of Korea today donated COVID-19 test kits to Sri Lanka to mark the 43rd Anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka, the Korean Embassy in Sri Lanka said.

The event was held at the Foreign Ministry in Colombo and was attended by Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya, Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage and Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Santhush Woonjin JEONG.

Delivering the welcoming remarks, Rohana Ambagolla Director General of East Asia, stated that the donation of PCR test kits reflects the unwavering commitment of the Republic of Korea to take our bilateral relations to new heights.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says action and money are needed to ensure coronavirus vaccines are available around the world as Western nations approve them.

After nine hours of deliberation Thursday, a special panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use a coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.

Indian doctors have found lead and nickel in the blood of patients who have succumbed to a mysterious illness in the southern part of the country.

European Union leaders say the most likely outcome after months of fractious haggling with London is that Britain will leave the bloc at the end of the year without a trade and security deal — an upshot that will have serious economic repercussions on both sides of the English Channel and could poison relations between the EU and the British for years to come.

සැලකිය යුතු ආසාත්මිකතා ඇති අය “ෆයිසර් / බයෝ එන්ටෙක්“ කොවිඩ් එන්නත ලබා නොගත යුතු බව බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ඖෂධ නියාමන ආයතනය පවසයි.

2021 වසර මිනිසා මුහුණ දෙන මහා ව්‍යවසනකාරීම වසර’ වනු ඇති බව ලෝක ආහාර වැඩසටහනේ ප්‍රධානී ඩේවිඩ් බීස්ලි විසින් එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ මහා මණ්ඩලයට අනතුරු අඟවා තිබේ. සමස්ත ලෝකයම කොවිඩ් 19 වයිරසයට එරෙහිව සටනට පිවිස සිටින අවස්ථාවේ ආහාර නොමැතිව සාගතයට ගොදුරු වූවන් සංඛ්‍යාව මේ වන විට මිලියන 270ක් දක්වා වර්ධනය වී ඇති බවද ඩේවිඩ් බීස්ලි සඳහන් කරයි.

The United States launched a new Rs. 3.6 billion ($ 19.5 million) initiative to help small businesses and economically empower Sri Lankan women.

Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay said India was ready to support Sri Lanka to get the Rajagala archaeological reserve declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Bahrain has become the second country in the world after the UK to approve Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.