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Newly-elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake dissolves the Parliament and calls for snap elections on November 14.
2024-09-24

In his exhortation "Laudate Deum", Pope Francis speaks out against climate change denial and in favor of fighting the climate crisis.
2023-10-4

The Health Sciences Authority approves the use of the Moderna vaccine for people aged above 18 in Singapore, becoming the first country in Asia to do so.
2021-02-3

Pope Francis rules against ordaining married men as priests, a possible measure to counter the shortage of Catholic priests. He also ruled against allowing women to be ordained as deacons.
2020-02-12

Off the northern coast of Somalia, Somali pirates hijack the "Aris 13", a United Arab Emirates-owned oil tanker, kidnapping eight Sri Lankan crew members. This is the first hijacking of a large commercial vessel in five years.
2017-03-14

From the Diocese of Tonga, Catholic Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi is welcomed at the Co-Cathedral of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus in Honolulu, Hawaii. Appointed by Pope Francis, Mafi is the first and youngest cardinal from the small South Pacific nation of Tonga.
2016-01-16

Cuba announces it will release more than 3,500 prisoners in a goodwill gesture ahead of next week's visit by Pope Francis.
2015-09-11

Thousands of Sri Lankans protest against a United Nations report calling for both sides involved in the civil war to be investigated for possible war crimes.
2011-05-2

Protesters try to enter the United Nations compound in Colombo, Sri Lanka, calling for the United Nations to abandon an inquiry into alleged human rights abuses in the final stages of the civil war between the government and Tamil rebels that ended last year. Staff are unable to leave until being assisted by Sri Lankan police.
2010-07-6

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announces that Tamils will be given greater say in matters of governance, proposing power sharing agreements.
2010-01-12