The article examines the controversy surrounding the planting of a purported Sri Maha Bodhi sapling at Vadunnagala, an ancient Buddhist archaeological site in northern Sri Lanka, by politician Sarath Weerasekara. It links
When Chinese state television microphones recently caught President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin discussing the idea of living to 150 — or perhaps forever — the world reacted with astonishment
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Jung Chang, the celebrated author of Wild Swans, has warned that the growing neglect of reading will “brutalise” society, arguing that books are essential for nurturing empathy and preserving humanity. Speaking to
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A week of brutal sectarian violence in Syria’s southern Sweida province in July effectively ended the presence of Bedouins in most Druze-majority areas, and months later, their path home remains unclear. The
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In Afghanistan today, the mere mention of the Taliban’s “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” — the so-called religious police — is enough to send women and girls trembling. Ostensibly tasked
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New satellite imagery has revealed activity consistent with mass graves in El-Fasher, the Sudanese city seized by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month, according to a report released Thursday by
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The United Nations Security Council is set to vote in the coming days on a resolution that would formally end the conflict in Gaza and establish the framework for the territory’s future
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The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has awarded the 2025 Democracy Service Medal to the 11th Panchen Lama, Jetsun Tenzin Gedhun Yeshi Trinley Phuntsok Pal Sangpo — better known as Gedhun Choekyi
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The U.S.-UK technology deal announced in September 2025 promises to accelerate Britain’s AI sector, but critics warn it will happen at the expense of national tech sovereignty. It reflects the steady trend of U.S.
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On October 29, 2025, Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI) Khagrachari District branch formed a human chain to protest and demand a ban on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), claiming that it was an
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A new era in human reproduction In a gleaming fertility clinic somewhere in California’s Silicon Valley, a doctor peers through a microscope at a translucent sphere—barely larger than a grain of sand.
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The centuries-old tradition of British barristers wearing tightly curled horsehair wigs in criminal courts is facing a subtle but significant shift. Updated guidelines issued by the Bar Council now allow barristers in
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Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations. ~ George Orwell Introduction In considering the epistemic and teleological dimensions of the observance of 2 November
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The Republic of Maldives has taken a bold and unprecedented step in global tobacco control, becoming the first nation in the world to implement a generational ban on tobacco. Effective from November
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Latvia has voted to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, a treaty designed to protect women from violence, after a 13-hour parliamentary debate on Thursday. The decision comes amid growing political divisions and
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The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether leaders of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation misused donations totaling tens of millions of dollars during the racial justice protests of 2020, according
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