2021

AFGHANISTAN: President Ashraf Ghani on Monday blamed Aghanistan's fast-deteriorating security situation on a "sudden" decision by the United States to withdraw its troops, but said his government had a plan to bring conditions under…
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KOREA: The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said on Sunday that a planned military exercise between Seoul and Washington would “becloud” relations, state-run media reported. The warning comes amid a surprise…
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INDONESIA: Indonesia's devastating second coronavirus wave, which saw the Southeast Asian country become the epicentre of Asia's COVID-19 outbreak, has peaked, its health minister said Monday. Driven by the highly transmissible…
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UK: Britain will begin offering a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 32 million Britons starting in early September, The Telegraph reported Sunday. The shots will be available in as many as 2,000 pharmacies with the goal of getting…
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TURKEY: Dozens of villages were evacuated in tourist hotspots in southern Turkey on Sunday as wildfires that have claimed eight lives raged for a fifth day, while blazes also hit Greece, Italy and Spain. Fanned by soaring…
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AFGHANISTAN: Fighting is raging around three major cities in south and west Afghanistan, as Taliban militants seek to seize them from government forces. Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar saw continued clashes on Sunday. The…
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US: A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations set more than a year ago before vaccines were available. The Sunshine…
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UN: India has begun its Presidency of the UN Security Council with a generous dose of Indian grain power. T.S. Tirumurti, the Indian permanent representative (PR) to the UN who is known to his counterparts as just “Tiru”, will…
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AUSTRALIA: Troops hit the streets of Sydney, Australia on Monday to enforce its prolonged lockdown, as stay-at-home orders in Australia's third-largest city Brisbane were extended to curb a worsening outbreak. About 300…
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Avanthi Colombage, Country Manager, Sri Lanka and Maldives, VISA; Rajendra  Theagarajah, Senior Visiting Fellow, Pathfinder Foundation; Basil Rajapaksa, Finance Minister; K. Balasundaram, Director/CEO, MMBL, Pathfinder and Mamta Ameera…
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