Country: Sri Lanka

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Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena waves to supporters as he leaves the election secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 9 January 2015 (photo: picture-alliance/AP/Eranga Jayawardena)

Interview with Basil Fernando on the election in Sri Lanka

Nurturing a spirit of reconciliation

Maithripala Sirisena was the surprise winner of last week's presidential election in Sri Lanka. He was swept to power on a platform of political reform and an end to corruption. Sirisena has promised to transfer many of the president's executive powers to parliament. Only days after his election, he took steps to increase press freedom. Roma Rajpal Weiss spoke to Basil Fernando, Sri Lankan activist and former director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, about the significance of Sirisena's victoryMore

Anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar and Sri Lanka: Surge of radical Buddhism in South AsiaInterview with Asma Jahangir, winner of the Right Livelihood Award: "Every restriction is based on religion"Indian Muslims' attitudes to the election of Narendra Modi: Apprehension and hope
A boy salvages belongings from a burned-down building in Htan Kone village in Myanmar's northern Sagaing region on 25 August 2013 (photo: Reuters)

Anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar and Sri Lanka

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Surge of radical Buddhism in South Asia

Nationalist Buddhist monks in Myanmar and Sri Lanka are playing a key role in instigating hatred and provoking violence towards the Muslim minorities in both countries, claiming that such action is necessary in order to protect Buddhist race and culture. By Roma Rajpal WeißMore

The Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar: In the shadow of an iconRohingya Muslims in Myanmar: The spectre of ethnic violence reappears Islam in Sri Lanka: Peaceful prospects for the Moors

In brief

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. Rawabi opened its doors to the first residents a year ago. Today, there are around 1,200 residents, but more are expected to move in the next months as the first school opens in September

Rawabi - the West Bank's first planned city

Rawabi (″the hills″ in Arabic) – vision of Nablus-born entrepreneur and billionaire Bashar al-Masri – is the first planned Palestinian city and the largest private sector project in Palestinian history. Mockingly referred to by some as ″the first Palestinian settlement", Rawabi is not without its critics, who argue it merely serves to sugarcoat the Israeli occupation.

The development has also faced difficulties connecting to the water supply: infrastructure had to be built across Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank under Israeli civil and security control – the necessary permits were eventually granted, but the main access road remains unauthorised. By Ylenia Gostoli