Search results for

Puzzle-solving genius kids form a pint-size crime-fighting Mod Squad in this month's Backseat Book Club pick. Trenton Lee Stewart, author of The Mysterious Benedict Society, takes questions from young readers about the book's twists, turns and creative conundrums.

Major Indian cities are changing their names. Bombay is now Mumbai, while Madras is Chennai. Bangalore -- world famous for its IT boom and call centers -- may be in for a change as well. It's considering the new name Benda Kalaru, or City of the Boiled Bean.

Sri Lanka's hard-line prime minister has been elected in a tight presidential race. The vote was seen as a referendum to push for the island's faltering peace process and rescue the tsunami-hit economy.

Thousands of people trying to leave Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula are trapped by ethnic conflict. The peninsula is held by the Sri Lankan government. The territory just to the south is in the hands of Tamil Tiger rebels.

In the last six months alone, extra-judicial executions, suicide bombings and fighting have claimed many hundreds of lives in Sri Lanka. The death of a Hindu Tamil priest underlines the sheer viciousness of the conflict.

The winning photographs star different species from around the world, all highlighting the interplay between animals and humans. The two grand titles went to shots of a horseshoe crab and barn owls.

The highly sophisticated, multibillion-dollar defense system has been under constant redevelopment since its inception in the early 2000s. Here's how it works.

Human rights violations continue in Sri Lanka despite the end of the war: 250,000 Tamils are still incarcerated. In the last week, a journalist has been jailed for 20 years of hard labor, a U.N. official has been expelled for criticizing the government, and a dispute has broken out over TV footage broadcast on television that purports to show a Sri Lankan soldier executing Tamils.

It's been a month since the civil war ended in Sri Lanka. Government troops defeated the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels, who they fought for nearly three decades. Tensions remain high on the island, and human rights activists say they're worried about the future of democracy in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan government forces are battling with Tamil Tigers in northern Sri Lanka. The fighting has driven some out the northern city of Jaffna. And others, who were gone when the fighting started, are waiting to get back home.