WORLD

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called a snap meeting of federal and state leaders next week as he faces pressure to reinstate compensation pay for casual workers forced to isolate due to COVID-19 amid a fresh wave of infections. A renewed surge in cases fuelled by the BA.4/5 Omicron coronavirus variants have put Australia`s health system on alert with the total number of people admitted to hospitals from COVID-19 not far away from record levels seen earlier this year.

"I've said to the (state leaders) that we`ll meet from time to time. And it`s appropriate that we meet on Monday. We`re not meeting today because I`m here," Albanese told reporters in Fiji on Friday after a meeting of the Pacific leaders.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa telephoned the speaker of the Parliament and said that he will send his resignation later in the day.

Gotabaya on Tuesday had said that he will resign and pave way for the new government.

Reportedly, Gotobaya has got asylum in Singapore and as per the sources he is presently in the Maldives and will be taking a flight to Singapore later this evening.

It has also been reported that currently, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is staying within a resort in the country the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, with nightly costs between US$ 5,903 and US$ 8,760.  The resort owner is alleged to have a close relationship with the Maldives foreign minister Abdullah Shahid.

Priti Patel - widely expected to become another Indian-origin candidate in the race for the post of Conservative Party leader and the next British prime minister - on Tuesday ruled out a bid, saying she was "grateful" for the encouragement but her focus remains on her current job as Home Secretary.

"I will not be putting my name forward for the ballot of MPs," said the 50-year-old Gujarati-origin senior Cabinet minister, just hours before nominations closed.

In a statement, Patel said she will not be standing for the Tory leadership. She is not backing any other candidates, but she does not rule out doing so later in the contest.

Sri Lanka Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Monday told news agency ANI that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is still in the country. The Speaker added that he made a mistake in the BBC interview in which he said that the President has left the island and is in a nearby country.

Rajapaksa has officially conveyed to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will resign on July 13 as previously announced, the Prime Minister's office said on Monday, days after protesters stormed the leaders' homes in rage over their mishandling of the country's worst economic crisis.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe also said he was willing to resign and make way for an all-party government to take over. Protesters breached his private residence and set it on fire, according to his office.

In an unprecedented move, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday sacked Kyiv's ambassador to five countries - India, Germany, Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.

It was not known why Zelenskyy, who has asked his envoys to gather international support for Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia, took the step and whether the diplomants would be given new jobs.

"This rotation is a normal part of diplomatic practice," said Zelenskyy, as reported by Reuters.