Proposal to ban the burqa in Sri Lanka viewed by many as attempt to appease Sri Lanka’s Buddhist majority.
![A burqa is an outer garment worn to cover the entire body and the face and is used by some Muslim women [Chamila Kareunarathne/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56138345.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Proposal to ban the burqa in Sri Lanka viewed by many as attempt to appease Sri Lanka’s Buddhist majority.
![A burqa is an outer garment worn to cover the entire body and the face and is used by some Muslim women [Chamila Kareunarathne/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56138345.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Refugees at Jedaa Camp say they are being forced to evacuate as nearly 2,400 families stare down an uncertain future.
![Aid groups and international agencies have warned that the shutdown of the camp could leave hundreds without food and shelter in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and harsh winter [File: Amina Ismail/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2020-12-11T151145Z_282050061_RC23LK9RF0QU_RTRMADP_3_IRAQ-SECURITY-DISPLACED-e1612190895720.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Portuguese public hospitals in worst affected areas running out of intensive care beds.
![The cases, which come a day after a new lockdown was put in place, bring the total number of cases in a country of just over 10 million people to 539,416 [AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/000_8YK2WN.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
A road map for post-war Afghanistan and a nationwide ceasefire are part of the agenda of Tuesday’s talks.
![The first round of talks, which kicked off in September, ended last month after the rivals agreed on procedural rules. [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/7R404921.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Anger mounts after at least 15 Muslims, including 20-day-old baby, are cremated against family wishes.
![Municipal workers carry the coffin of an unclaimed body of a COVID-19 victim to a crematorium in Colombo in this December 10 photo [Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/000_8WU3GG.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Elyas Dayee, a radio journalist, killed in a blast in Helmand days after another journalist was killed in Kabul.
![Elyas Dayee's journalist friend said it was a "great loss for the country"[Twitter]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Emmav7QWEAEMesC.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
How will Biden’s election as the US president affect the Afghan peace process, which was pushed by his predecessor.

Moscow says planes carrying peacekeepers are travelling to region after peace deal reached.
![Service members of the Russian peacekeeping troops stand next to a tank near the border with Armenia [Francesco Brembati/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-11-10T121001Z_255669117_RC2C0K9S38QW_RTRMADP_3_ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN-RUSSIA-PEACEKEEPERS-e1605020490821.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
President-elect Joe Biden declared it was “time to heal” a divided America in his first speech after winning election.

Afghanistan reels from attack on Kabul University that left at least 22 people, including 18 students, dead.
![Gunmen went on a rampage through the campus firing indiscriminately in the worst attack on the elite university [Mohammad Ismail/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-11-03T065348Z_2009866911_RC2IVJ9CXUDR_RTRMADP_3_AFGHANISTAN-ATTACK.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)