Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has resigned following weeks of protests demanding that he and his brother, the president, step down over the country's worst economic crisis in decades. Rajapaksa said on Twitter that he submitted his resignation to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The resignation follows attacks by Rajapaksa supporters on peaceful protesters demanding that the brothers leave office. There was no immediate comment from the president, who has so far refused to resign. A severe foreign currency shortage has resulted in acute shortages of imported essentials such as fuel,

Vice President Kamala Harris has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House says. It's a sharp new reminder of the persistence of the highly contagious virus even as the U.S. eases restrictions in a bid to revert to pre-pandemic normalcy. Neither President Joe Biden nor first lady Jill Biden was considered a ``close contact'' of Harris in recent days. The White House said Tuesday that Harris tested positive on both rapid and a PCR tests, and said she ``has exhibited no symptoms.'' Harris will isolate at her residence but continue to work remotely, and would only return to the White House o

Netflix shares plunged more than 33 per cent in early trading on news its customer base fell by 200-thousand subscribers during the January to March quarter.In response, the streaming service is looking at cracking down on password sharing and creating a low-cost subscription supported byadvertising.Netflix shares have lost more than half of their value so far this year, wiping out about 150-billion-dollars in shareholder wealth in less than four months.

Moderna hopes to produce a COVID-19 booster shot that produces more antibodies capable of fighting several variants, including Omicron.Today's COVID-19 vaccines are all based on the original version of the virus.But it continues to mutate, and Moderna's goal is to produce a combination shot that specifically targets Omicron and includes 32 of that variant's mutations.

At least 10 people were shot and eight others injured when a gunman filled a rush-hour subway train with smoke and opened fire Tuesday morning. Police were still searching for the shooter.There were no life-threatening injuries and the attack was not being investigated as terrorism. Officials said at least 16 in all were injured in some way in the attack at the 36th Street station in the borough's Sunset Park neighborhood. According to multiple law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation, preliminary information indicated that the gunman who fled was wearing a construction vest and a

The motion picture academy has banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. The move comes after a meeting Friday of the academy's board of governors to discuss a response to Smith's actions. The academy in a statement called Smith's actions ``unacceptable and harmful.'' Smith pre-emptively resigned from the academy last week during the run-up to the meeting and said he would accept any punishment the academy handed down. The academy also apologized for its handling of the slap and allowing Smith to

A missile hit a train station where thousands of people had flocked to flee in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said 50 people died Friday's strike. They also warned they expect to find more evidence of war crimes in areas abandoned by Russian troops. Photos from the scene showed bodies covered with tarps on the ground and the remnants of a rocket with the words ``For the children'' painted on it in Russian. The office of Ukraine's prosecutor-general said about 4,000 civilians were in and around the station. Most were women and children heeding calls to leave the area before Russia launc

The U.N. General Assembly has voted to suspend Russia from the U.N.'s leading human rights body over allegations of horrific rights violations by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, which the United States and Ukraine have called tantamount to war crimes. Russia is the second country to have its membership rights stripped at the Human Rights Council, which was established in 2006. In 2011, the assembly suspended Libya when upheaval in the North African country brought down longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. The vote on Thursday was 93-24 with 58 abstentions. Defence Minister Anita Anand says the 93-to

President Joe Biden on Monday called for war crimes trial against Russia President Vladimir Putin and said he’d seek more sanctions after reported atrocities in Ukraine."You saw what happened in Bucha," Biden said. He added that Putin "is a war criminal" Biden’s comments to reporters came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha, one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found. Zelenskyy called the Russian actions "genocide" and called for the West to apply tougher sanctions against Russia.The bodies of 410 civilians