
COLOMBO, Aug 17 (Reuters) – Sri Lankans went to the polls on Monday to elect a new parliament in what amounts to a referendum on ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s [pictured above] comeback bid, with the reformist alliance that swept him from
by Reuters17 Aug 2015, 2:09 AM PST0

Contents: Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leader Malik Ishaq killed in gunfight in Pakistan; Bizarre Mullah Omar death announcement seals fate of Afghan peace talks; Mullah Omar’s impossible conditions for Afghan peace talks
by John J. Xenakis30 Jul 2015, 4:00 AM PST0

Contents: Australia accused of paying people smugglers to take migrants to Indonesia; Pakistan shuts down ‘Save the Children’ and threatens other NGOs; France’s Dominique Strauss-Kahn acquitted of ‘aggravated pimping’
by John J. Xenakis13 Jun 2015, 8:44 AM PST0

The principle of non-violence is central to Buddhist teachings, but in Sri Lanka some Buddhist monks are being accused of stirring up hostility towards other faiths and ethnic minorities. Their hard line is causing increasing concern.
by Breitbart News31 May 2015, 8:14 AM PST0

Sharmila Seyyid, a Muslim woman journalist and human rights activist from Sri Lanka, received so much backlash from a comment in a BBC appearance that she left her home country. She did not receive a warm welcome in India, which forced her into hiding. Now outlets are pressuring both countries to protect Seyyid.
by Mary Chastain28 Apr 2015, 5:57 PM PST0

India and China battle for strategic influence in the Indian Ocean; Questions continue to swirl in Russia over assassination of Putin’s opponent
by John J. Xenakis18 Mar 2015, 4:00 AM PST0

There are many important lessons to be learned from the spectacle of a drunken man at the Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka picking a fight with an elephant, chief among them: do not pick fights with an elephant. Particularly an elephant already known to have killed someone, as onlookers warn in this video.
by John Hayward14 Mar 2015, 7:39 AM PST0

Germany commemorates the firebombing of Dresden; What’s the value of a
human life?; Generational Dynamics and prolactin
by John J. Xenakis14 Feb 2015, 6:27 AM PST0

More than half a million people attended a seafront mass in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka, on Wednesday, as Pope Francis announced that Reverend Joseph Vaz had been canonized as a saint. Vaz was a 17th century Indian missionary who revived the faith in Sri Lanka during a time of anti-Catholic persecution by Dutch colonists, who were Protestant Calvinists.
by John J. Xenakis15 Jan 2015, 6:34 AM PST0

All Christians ask is for the freedom to carry out their mission, Pope Francis said in his homily at a Mass attended by a half million people.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.14 Jan 2015, 4:45 AM PST0

In his interreligious meeting with more than 1,000 representatives of Sri Lanka’s four major religious communities—Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian—Pope Francis called on leaders to denounce acts of violence committed in the name of religion.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.13 Jan 2015, 6:46 AM PST0

On arriving to Sri Lanka Tuesday morning, Pope Francis was adorned with a garland of yellow and white flowers around his neck and greeted by a children’s choir that serenaded him in English and Italian.
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D.13 Jan 2015, 4:32 AM PST0