Colombo, July 11 (IANS) There were 1103 road accidents that caused 1154 fatalities in Sri Lanka during the first six months of 2024, State Minister of Transport Lasantha Alagiyawanna told journalists on Thursday at a press conference held at the Presidential Media Centre.

Alagiyawanna said the National Council for Road Safety has allocated 50 million rupees (about 165,000 US dollars) to Sri Lanka Police to purchase speed control equipment.

The transport ministry will also issue a gazette with new road speed limits within the next two weeks, he said, reports Xinhua news agency.

Road Safety Clubs will be established at the school level to inculcate the importance of obeying road rules, the state minister said.

Accidents involving motor vehicles are common in Sri Lanka. There were 2,557 deaths in 2,200 fatal traffic accidents in Sri Lanka in 2023.

–IANS

as/

Gaza, July 11 (IANS) Hamas said on Thursday that it has not received any new information from mediators regarding the ceasefire negotiations this week.

“We have not yet been informed by the mediator brothers of anything new regarding the negotiations with the aim of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange,” said Hamas in a statement.

The Gaza-ruling faction accused Israel of continuing the policy of procrastination to gain time to thwart this round of negotiations, as it did in previous rounds, adding that “this does not deceive the Palestinian people and their resistance.”

On Wednesday, a meeting between Egyptian, Qatari, US and Israeli delegations was held in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to push towards reaching a ceasefire between the two warring parties, reports Xinhua news agency.

For months, mediators from Egypt and Qatar, have been trying to broker an agreement to end the conflict in Gaza that has been going on for over nine months, and to return the more than 100 Israeli hostages still being held there.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 50 people and wounded 54 others across the enclave, bringing the total death toll to 38,345 and injuries to 88,295 since the onset of the conflict in early October 2023, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Thursday.

–IANS

as/

Washington, July 11 (IANS) US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan on Thursday said a “bet on Russia as a long-term, reliable partner is not a good idea” for India or any other country and now that Russia has become a “junior partner” to China, Moscow will side with China in any conflict between the latter and India.

Sullivan, who was in India in June for a meeting with his counterpart Ajit Doval to discuss the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, was responding to a question during an interview on MSNBC about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow earlier in the week – followed closely by the US government and news media as, among other things, it coincided with the ongoing NATO summit here that has been dominated by concerns about Russia and its growing ties with China, Iran, and North Korea.

“We’ve made clear to every country in the world including India that a bet on Russia as a long-term, reliable partner is not a good bet,” he said.

“And that’s especially true, in our view, for India because Russia is becoming closer to China. In fact, it’s becoming the junior partner to China. And in that way, they would side with China over India any day of the week. And … Prime Minister Modi, of course, has profound concerns about the potential for Chinese aggression against India. Which we have seen over recent years.”

Sullivan went on to essentially lay out what has been the Biden administration’s overall approach to India’s long-term relationship with Russia — that is part of a “long game”.

“We’ll keep making that case. But countries like India do have a historic relationship with Russia. So none of this is going to change dramatically overnight. This is playing the long game. It is making investments in democratic partners and allies around the world including countries like India and we think that that will pay off as we go forward.”

India’s long-term ties with Russia have been an issue that the US has sought to deal with a mix of privately expressed misgivings to public statements of understanding.

State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said on Tuesday the US has privately conveyed its concerns in private conversations, including one that took place within 24 hours of the Prime Minister’s meeting with President Vladimir Putin. But he did not share details of this conversation.

Occasionally, the US response hovers between frustration and anger. India’s purchase of Russian-made S-400 air defence systems, for instance, caused considerable consternation. Some US lawmakers called for sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which seeks to punish Russia by threatening countries that buy Russian goods of a sizable value with secondary sanctions.

US officials have said India’s Russian arms acquisitions are an impediment to interoperability between the militaries of India and the US and there is fear of US technology landing up in Russian hands.

“We are seeking to develop a much deeper and stronger technological relationship between the United States and India,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who had accompanied Sullivan on the June visit to India, when asked about arms transfers at a news briefing on his return.

“We have been clear which areas are affected by the continuing relationship between India and Russia militarily and technologically. I think we will take what steps we can to mitigate some of those engagements, and we have expressed some concerns, but at the same time we have confidence and trust in India and we’re seeking to advance our partnership in technology even in the context of those enduring ties.”

On the larger issue of India’s ties with Russia, he said: “I do want to underscore that the United States and India are both great powers. We have many areas of alignment, but it is not surprising that there would be areas where we’ve had perhaps different perspectives, views, historical ties. And I think in the context of our strategic partnership, I think what’s been important is our ability to share views on areas where we occasionally have disagreements, do those respectfully, and seek where possible to narrow those areas where there are differences.”

–IANS

yrj/vd

Moscow, July 11 (IANS) The expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) into Ukraine is an “unacceptable threat” to Russia’s security, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

Peskov’s remarks came following a joint declaration adopted Wednesday at the NATO summit in Washington, which stated that “Ukraine’s future is in NATO.”

Peskov said that the alliance is “de-facto fully involved in the Ukrainian conflict,” adding that its military infrastructure is progressively moving towards Russia’s borders, reported Xinhua news agency.

“From the very beginning, we said that NATO expansion into the territory of Ukraine is an unacceptable threat to us, our existence, our security,” Peskov said.

He said the measures adopted at the summit compel Russia to take appropriate steps to contain the bloc since it may threaten the country’s national security.

“This will require us to form thoughtful, coordinated and effective response measures to contain NATO,” the spokesperson said.

–IANS

as/

Hanoi, July 11 (IANS) A total of 2,222 fires happened in Vietnam in the first six months of this year, killing 57 people and injuring 45 others, according to the country’s Police Department of Fire Prevention, Fighting and Rescue.

The fires caused property losses of some 127.9 billion Vietnamese dong (5.03 million U.S. dollars), local media reported Thursday.

The number of fires and deaths has increased compared to 2023. Majority of the fires were reported at residential areas with 823 cases, said the report, according to Xinhua news agency.

Among the 2,222 fires reported nationwide, 1,299 cases have their causes clarified, mostly due to electrical system failure, or careless use of fire and heat sources.

–IANS

as/