Sources: BBC
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States is elected to the papacy on the fourth ballot and takes the name Leo XIV. He is the first pope from North America and the second from the Americas, after Pope Francis. A dual citizen of the United States and Peru, he also becomes the second South American pope. 2025-05-8
Amazon begins suspending orders on various products manufactured in China and other Asian economies amid trade war fears. 2025-04-9
Rajapaksa subsequently flees the country on a military aircraft to the Maldives, formally ending his rule of Sri Lanka. His brother, former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, also flees the country. 2022-07-12
Pope Francis appoints Italian nun Alessandra Smerilli as Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, becoming the first woman to do so. 2021-08-26
Sri Lanka reopens to foreign tourists after a nearly 10-month pandemic closure, however tourists are required to receive multiple testings and follow quarantine measures that have been put in place. 2021-01-21
The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka sentences former member of parliament Ranjan Ramanayake, who is affiliated with the opposition United National Party, to a four-year "rigorous imprisonment" over his remarks claiming that most judges in the country were "corrupt". 2021-01-12
Holy See Press Director Matteo Bruni announces that Pope Francis will make his first international apostolic visit in 15 months after accepting the invitation of the Republic of Iraq and the local Catholic Church to visit the Middle Eastern country of Iraq from 5–8 March 2021. 2020-12-7
Voters in Sri Lanka go to the polls for a general election with the ruling United National Party holding on to power. 2015-08-17
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
The home of an opposition activist is bombed in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo days ahead of the presidential election. 2010-01-22