Regional Director of WHO's South-East Asia Region on Sunday called on member countries to strengthen surveillance and public health measures for monkeypox, with the disease being declared a public health emergency of international concern by the global health body.

Colombo: More than 1,000 valuable artefacts, including items of vintage and antique value have reportedly gone missing from Sri Lanka's Presidential Palace and Prime Minister's official residence at Temple Trees here after irate anti-government protesters occupied these premises earlier this month, police said on Saturday.

Geneva: The World Health Organisation said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an extraordinary situation that now qualifies as a global emergency, a declaration Saturday that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and worsen the scramble for scarce vaccines.

Colombo: Two men died in cash-strapped Sri Lanka on Friday while waiting in serpentine queues to purchase fuel as widespread shortages and soaring inflation levels continue to heap misery on citizens.

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate Friday said it has attached gems, jewellery and bank deposits worth Rs 253.62 crore of some Hong Kong-based companies of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi as part of a money laundering probe.

As the World Health Organisation's emergency committee convenes Thursday to consider for the second time within weeks whether to declare monkeypox a global crisis, some scientists say the striking differences between the outbreaks in Africa and in developed countries will complicate any coordinated response.

 Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Thursday sworn in as Sri Lanka's eighth president and will face the tough task of leading the country out of its economic crisis and restoring order after months of mass protests.