WORLD
Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to return to Sri Lanka on Aug 24
Former Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Rajapaksa's cousin Udayanga Weeratunga, who appeared before an investigation into a procurement of MiG aircraft during the civil war against Tamil rebels, said that the former President would return to the country. Gotabaya was the powerful Defence Secretary during the last stages of war.
Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif may meet Chinese President Xi Jinping: Sources
Since taking office in April, Sharif is yet to embark on a trip to China, something that is seen as very unusual given the fact that Beijing has been one of the top priority destinations for any new government set-up in Islamabad in the past. While many believe that the reason is due to the strict Covid-19 protocols being followed by Chinese government, the cause of the delay however may not only be limited to just the pandemic.
Russia says India can make a significant contribution to stabilise Afghanistan
Addressing the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security in the Russian capital on Tuesday, President Putin stated that the situation in the world is changing dynamically and the contours of multipolar world order are being formed. He emphasised that Russia is "actively and proactively" working together with "its allies, partners and like-minded people", to improve the existing mechanisms of international security and create new ones.
Pets must be isolated from people infected with monkeypox: WHO
According to Dr. Rosamund Lewis, WHO Technical Lead on monkeypox, the first human-to-dog transmission of the virus is new but not surprising, The Washington Post reported. "It has not been reported that dogs have been infected before. So, on a number of levels, this is new information. It's not surprising information, and it's something that we've been on the watch out for," Lewis was quoted as saying.
Nearly 14 million US kids infected with Covid
Almost 371,000 of these cases have been added in the past four weeks, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying. Approximately 6.4 million reported cases have been added in 2022, it said. For the week ending August 11, almost 87,000 child Covid cases were reported. There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the AAP.
World's biggest cities face worst air quality: Report
The report, Air Quality and Health in Cities, released by HEI's State of Global Air Initiative, provides a comprehensive and detailed analysis of air pollution and global health effects for more than 7,000 cities around the world, focusing on two of the most harmful pollutants; fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
Sri Lanka won't extend state of emergency
After the improvement of the situation Wickremesinghe sees no necessity to extend the measure, the presidential office said in a statement. The state of emergency gives broad powers to security forces to make arrests, reports dpa news agency. It has been in effect for a month and is officially due to end this Thursday.
Over half a million tonnes of grain exported from Ukraine: UN
Since Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN agreed to open the Black Sea route at the end of July, 36 passages have been approved, the UN said on Tuesday, adding that 21 ships left Ukraine for the Bosporus and 15 moved through the strait in the direction of the war-torn country. A total of 27 freighters were searched in Turkey as stipulated by the agreement, reports dpa news agency.
Trump demands release of unredacted affidavit, even as Ingraham says America may be done with him
Trump demanded release of the full unredacted affidavit underlying the FBI raid on his Florida residence. Laura Ingraham said it could be time to start looking for someone who has Trump's politics, but not the baggage, should he decide to run again in 2024. "The country, I think, is so exhausted," she told podcaster Lisa Boothe of The Hill. "They're so exhausted by the battle, the constant battle, that they may believe that, well, maybe it's time to turn the page if we can get someone who has all Trump's policies, who's not Trump," Ingraham said.
Russia's defence ministry signs deals for Sarmat ballistic missiles, S-500
The contract on the production and delivery of Sarmat missiles was signed by Deputy Defence Minister Alexei Krivoruchko and CEO of the Makeyev State Rocket Center Vladimir Degtyar at the Army 2022 international military-technical forum, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the TASS news agency. The deal for the supply of the latest S-500 air defence system was signed by Krivoruchko and Almaz-Antey Deputy CEO.
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