The recent floods that have wreaked havoc on the Eastern Province has left in its wake much misery and suffering as many people have lost their provisions and sources of livelihood. This has particularly affected the Ampara and Batticaloa districts. Badly affected areas include Kalmunai, Sainthamaruthu, Maruthamunai and Nindavur as well as certain parts of Sammanthurai, Natpattimunai, and Pandiruppu. The …

Parliament speaker becomes interim leader after president of 23 years, facing a mass uprising, lands in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has said that Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's president for more than 23 years, and his family are in the kindgom, a day after they fled a mass uprising in their country. The departure came as a dramatic climax to weeks of violent …

Many of the young Israeli men and women who gathered a few weeks ago in the spacious hall of the Muqata in Ramallah must have wondered about the identity of the dark-haired woman who had a place of honor at the dignitaries' table, between MK Shlomo Molla and former MK Colette Avital. Some of them were still in diapers when Hanan …

East Flood Situation – An Interview with Chief Minister of Eastern Province

The Obama administration's $78 billion cut to US defense spending is a mere "pin-prick" to a behemoth military-industrial complex that must drastically shrink for the good of the republic, a former Reagan administration budget director recently told Raw Story. "It amounts to a failed opportunity to recognize that we are now at a historical inflection point at which the time has arrived for …

Pope Benedict XVI urges Islamabad to repeal blasphemy law, saying it is a pretext for violence against minorities.   It is rare for a pope to use a public speech to ask a country specifically to change one of its laws [Reuters]     Pope Benedict XVI has called for Pakistan to repeal its anti-blasphemy law and demanded that governments …