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24 COVID-19 DEATHS SRI LANKA WON THE ‘WAR’ REPORTED, AS 2,269 NEW BUT LOST THE LAW CASES CONFIRMED MAY 14 - 16, 2021 VOL: 4- ISSUE 247 . ‘WHY DO WE DESERVE TO DIE?’ THE LEGENDARY DIVA 30 GLOCAL PAGE 03 REALITY CHECK PAGE 05 COMMENTARY PAGE 07 LITERARY LIVES PAGE 09 Registered in the Department of Posts of Sri Lanka under No: QD/130/News/2021 In pandemic milestone US lifts indoor mask guidance for vaccinated people WASHINGTON - Federal health officials on Thursday (13) ad- vised Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus that they could stop wearing masks or maintaining social distance in most settings, the clearest sign yet that the pandemic might be nearing an end in the United States. The new recommendations caught state officials and businesses by surprise and raised a host of difficult questions about how the guidelines would be carried out. But the advice came as welcome news to many Americans. “We have all longed for this moment,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.” Permission to stop using masks also offers an incentive to the many millions who are still holding out on vaccination. Providers are administering about 2.09 million doses per day on average, about a 38% decrease from the peak of 3.38 million reported in mid-April. President Joe Biden hailed the new recommendations as a “mile- stone” and urged Americans to roll up their sleeves for vaccinations. Still, Biden urged Americans not to turn on those who were not yet vaccinated. “Please treat them with kindness and respect,” he said. The agency said that vaccinated Americans would have to con- tinue to abide by existing state, local or tribal laws and regulations and follow local rules for businesses and workplaces. But many lo- cal officials and business operators will be hard-pressed to maintain mask requirements now that the federal agency has spoken. -NYT Netanyahu poised to gain political -MOHAMMED ABED / AFP Palestinians walk after performing Thursday and Friday (14) amid gifts and sweets. But casting a pall (12) with Pakistani Prime Minister lifeline as violence flares Eid al-Fitr prayers amidst debris rising hostilities between Israel on the festival, already subdued Imran Khan on the occasion of Eid. JERUSALEM - Civil unrest between Jews and Arabs in Israel near the al-Sharouk tower, which and Palestinians, in the second due to the raging pandemic, was The king "stressed Saudi Arabia's dealt a strong blow on Thursday (13) to efforts by Prime Minister housed the bureau of the Al-Aqsa celebration in the shadow of the deadly violence between Israel and strong condemnation of the Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu’s main political rival Yair Lapid to form a new television channel in the Hamas- coronavirus pandemic. The three- Palestinians, with fears growing that measures in Jerusalem and the government and unseat the Israeli leader. controlled Gaza Strip, after it day festival, which marks the it could spiral into full-blown conflict. acts of violence carried out by Naftali Bennett, head of the ultranationalist Yamina party and a was destroyed by an Israeli air end of the holy fasting month of Echoing the mood in much of the Israel... (and) affirmed that the kingmaker after an inconclusive March 23 parliamentary election, strike, in Gaza City, on Thursday Ramadan, is traditionally celebrated Muslim world, Saudi Arabia's King kingdom stands by the Palestinian said he was abandoning coalition talks with Lapid, the opposition (13). Muslims around the world with mosque prayers, family feasts Salman voiced scathing criticism people," the official Saudi Press leader, preferring a wider unity government. marked a sombre Eid al-Fitr on and shopping for new clothes, of Israel in a phone call Wednesday Agency reported Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, has three weeks left in a 28-day mandate from Israel’s president to try to form a governing coalition. If he fails, a new election - Israel’s fifth in two years - is likely. A “rotation” deal in which Lapid and Bennett would take turns as UN Security Council to meet Sunday prime minister had been mooted, but it would need the backing of Arab legislators for a parliamentary majority. Bennett was quoted by Israeli media as saying the current strife with Israel’s 21% Arab minority would make such a government un- on Mideast after US delay feasible. Israel-Gaza cross-border hostilities have been accompanied by UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security for the diplomacy to have some effect,” he and men,” Blinken said. “We’ve been very violence in mixed communities of Jews and Arabs in Israel. Syn- Council will hold a virtual public meeting said, before the meeting was set for Sun- clear that rocket attacks must cease,” he agogues have been attacked and street fights have broken out, Sunday (16) to address the soaring vio- day. said. prompting Israel’s president to warn of civil war. lence between Israel and the Palestinians, The United States, Israel’s key ally, has Security Council sessions, held by vide- Mansour Abbas, who heads the United Arab List party, said on diplomats said Thursday (13). defended the Jewish state’s deadly offen- oconference due to the pandemic, require Channel 12 TV that Bennett phoned him to say a so-called “govern- The United States, which had blocked sive in response to rocket fire from the support of all 15 members. ment of change” with Lapid, leader of the centrist YeshAtid faction, an originally scheduled Friday (14) ses- Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas Early Friday, Israel bombarded Gaza was now “off the table”. sion and proposed a meeting early next which controls the Gaza Strip. with artillery and air strikes as part of the In a televised address, Lapid voiced regret at Bennett’s decision week, agreed to move the session - re- But President Joe Biden’s administra- ongoing operation against Hamas, the but said he would continue his efforts to put together a coalition. quested by Tunisia, Norway and China - tion has also voiced alarm over civilian military said. Israeli political commentators gave him little chance of success. to Sunday, the same sources said. casualties and earlier pushed Israel to In Gaza, more than 100 people have -Reuters/Agencies The United States said earlier Thursday hold off on evictions of Palestinians in been reported killed since Monday (10) it wanted to give time for diplomacy. Jerusalem, the immediate trigger for the -- including 27 children -- and more than Secretary of State Antony Blinken, flare-up. 580 people wounded as heavy bombard- Colonial pipeline said to have asked about the scrapping of Friday’s ses- Blinken spoke Wednesday (12) to Israe- ment has rocked the crowded coastal sion, had said the United States was not li Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enclave and brought down entire tower blocking a meeting but wanted to hold it and Palestinian President Mahmud Ab- blocks. paid roughly $5 million in ransom later. bas, and a senior State Department offi- Inside Israel, seven people have been “We are open to and supportive of an cial, Hady Amr, was en route Thursday to killed since Monday, including one six- to hackers open discussion at the United Nations,” the region. year-old, after a rocket struck a family WASHINGTON — The operator of a critical fuel pipeline on the Blinken told reporters in Washington. The United States is seeking “an end home. East Coast paid extortionists roughly 75 Bitcoin — or nearly $5 mil- “I think we’re looking at early next to the violence which continues to claim -AFP lion — to recover its stolen data, according to people briefed on the week. This, I hope, will give some time the lives of innocent children, women -Read more on Page 4 transaction, clearing the way for gas to begin flowing again but com- plicating President Joe Biden’s efforts to deter future attacks. Colonial Pipeline made the ransom payment to the hacking group Dark Side after the cybercriminals last week held up the company’s Trending News Quote for Today business networks with ransomware, a form of malware that en- crypts data until the victim pays. Dark Side is believed to operate Nepal: Ousted Prime Minister, KP Shar- Armenia: Acting Prime Minister Nikol- He who angers you conquers you. from Eastern Europe, possibly Russia. ma Oli, is reappointed after the political Pashinyan accuses Azerbaijani troops of cross- -Elizabeth Kenny The company pre-emptively shut down its pipeline, which opposition failed to secure the majority of ing the southern border and trying to stake Word for Today stretches from Texas to New Jersey and delivers nearly half of the lawmakers’ support. claim to territory, in a new escalation of ten- transport fuels for the Atlantic coast, setting off a cascading crisis Myanmar: A Japanese journalist ar- sions between the arch foes. Ubiety [yoo-bahy-i-tee] -noun- the that led to panic buying at gas pumps. property of having a definite loca- The president on Thursday (14) cautioned it would take time to rested while covering the aftermath of Australia: The country calls for the World the Myanmar coup is to be deported, To- Health Organization to be given greater pow- tion at any given time; state of exist- resolve shortages. “They should be reaching full operational capac- ing and being localized in space ity as we speak,” Biden said. “But we want to be clear: We will not kyo says, after charges against him were ers to investigate outbreaks after an independ- feel the effects at the pump immediately.

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