COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has set up a new division in the police to address legal issues faced by investors and exporters and to provide them with additional security in the future, the country's Export Development Board (EDB) quoted a state minister as saying on Friday.
WASHINGTON: Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, on Friday, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the presidential race.
YANGON: A tornado ripped through two villages in Kungyangon township of Yangon region, destroying 71 houses, an official from the Yangon Rescue Organisation said on Friday.
JAKARTA: A 6.0-magnitude earthquake rocked off Indonesia's eastern Maluku province on Friday morning without triggering giant waves, the country's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency said.
SEOUL: South Korea's cybersecurity authority has issued a joint advisory with its US and UK counterparts against a North Korean cyber group's espionage campaign, targeting classified information in defence, aerospace, nuclear and engineering sectors.
ALGIERS: The National Independent Authority for Elections (ANIE) validated the candidacy requests of three individuals for the presidential election scheduled for September 7 in Algeria, state-run television ENTV reported.
BUCHAREST: The World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors has approved a development loan totalling 599.1 million euros ($650.5 million) for Romania to support its economic and environmental sustainability.
COLOMBO: Hours after the Election Commission announced the date for the presidential elections in Sri Lanka, incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday announced that he would be contesting the polls as an independent candidate.
CALIFORNIA: Fire crews in California and Oregon battled the largest active wildfires in their respective states this year as thousands of residents were under evacuation orders, while smoke from the blazes triggered health alerts across the western United States.
MANILA: A fire broke out in a crowded residential area in the Philippine capital, Manila, before dawn on Friday, killing an elderly man, the Bureau of Fire Protection said.
BEIJING: About 6,28,600 people in east China's Fujian Province had been affected by Gaemi, the third typhoon of this year, with some 2,90,000 residents relocated so far, said local authorities.
WASHINGTON: US Republican senator Marco Rubio on Thursday said he has introduced a bill -- US-India Defense Cooperation Act -- to enhance the strategic diplomatic, economic, and military relationship with New Delhi to counter China.
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has once again rejected allegations of the Tamil minority 'genocide' charge by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and claimed the accusation was 'arising from local domestic vote bank politics.
TERSKOL: Two teams representing the Indian Armed forces have planted India's tri-colour on the summit of Europe's highest mountain, Mt. Elbrus, during the Third 'Climb for Peace' event of the International Military Sports Council (CISM).
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Thursday to close the remaining "gaps" in the push for a Gaza ceasefire deal, the White House said quoting media reports.
TEHRAN: Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has criticised the US Congress for hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and applauding his speech amid ongoing Israeli actions against Palestinians.
UNITED NATIONS: As global temperature records tumbled three days in a row this week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for international action to limit the impact of heat and save lives.
SYDNEY: Two people were killed after two helicopters crashed in Western Australia on Thursday, police said.
SYDNEY: A female driver remained in critical condition on Thursday after her car collided with a bus carrying students in Western Australia's capital Perth.
CANBERRA: The Australian government on Thursday announced sanctions on some Israelis involved in settler violence in the West Bank, the first time the country has imposed such punishment against Israelis over settlement activity.
SYDNEY: Two helicopters were reported to have collided in midair on Thursday in Western Australia, with injuries unknown at the current stage.
VIENNA: The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretariat said that it received compensation plans from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia for their overproduced oil volumes in the first half of 2024.
HANOI: At least two people were killed and five others went missing in flash floods in Vietnam's northern mountainous province of Dien Bien, Vietnam News Agency reported.
ULAN BATOR: Three men aged between 24 and 45 who went swimming, drowned and died on the spot in a lake in northern Mongolia, the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said Thursday.
VIENTIANE: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in Laotian capital of Vientiane on Thursday afternoon to participate in the Foreign Ministers' Meetings under the ASEAN framework in the format of ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), taking place from July 25-27.
TEHRAN: Iran's Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib said his forces have recently arrested 20 foreign "terrorists," including two Islamic State (IS) ringleaders, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
NOUAKCHOTT: At least 15 people were killed after a boat carrying 300 passengers capsized near Nouakchott, Mauritania's capital, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed.
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations and its partners have launched a flash appeal seeking more than $136 million to assist people impacted by Malawi's devastating drought.
SAN FRANCISCO: Wildfires continue raging across the western United States, prompting thousands to evacuate, together with the highways' shutdown.
WASHINGTON: The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has said that it sent out fighter jets to intercept two Chinese and Russian bombers off the coast of Alaska from China and Russia.
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden has said he is "passing the torch to a new generation" as he explained his abrupt departure from the 2024 presidential race to Americans for the first time on Wednesday night, in an Oval Office address capping over 50 years in politics, media reported.
AMMAN: A total of 3,162 Syrian refugees left Jordan in the first six months of this year to return to their homeland, marking a 63-per cent increase compared to the same period in 2023, the state media reported.
OSLO: Norway has aligned with the European Union (EU) in imposing sanctions against Israeli extremist settlers in the West Bank, a government statement said.
JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo is expected to commence performing his official duties in the country's new capital Nusantara located on Kalimantan Island on July 28.
MEXICO CITY: The number of people killed after three containers exploded at a tequila distillery in the western Mexican town of Tequila has risen to six, local authorities said.
WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday told US lawmakers in a joint meeting of Congress that he was confident of securing the release of all hostages from Hamas's captivity and said "give us the tools and we will finish the job".
WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, has an 18 percentage point lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump in favourability ratings among Indian Americans, according to a poll by Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVOTE).
WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the post of US President, has a 19 percentage point lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump in favourability ratings among Indian Americans, according to internal polling by the Harris campaign.
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Cabinet has approved a new Bill that will provide for investigation into fixed assets of 1,600 government institutions, a state minister said on Wednesday.
DARWIN: An Italian Air Force Eurofighter 2000 Typhoon jet crashed on Wednesday during the ongoing multi-nation Exercise Pitch Black - Australia's biggest international air combat training activity - after encountering an "unknown issue" during a training flight.