Sri Lankan authorities arrested a senior Buddhist monk on Saturday for the alleged sexual abuse of an underage girl, police said, marking the highest-profile case involving clergy in the country. Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, was arrested at a private hospital in the capital Colombo where he had sought treatment over the weekend amid an investigation into … Read more
Twenty-two Sri Lankan monks returning from Thailand were arrested on Sunday at the main international airport with a record 242 pounds of powerful cannabis, officials said. A Sri Lanka Customs spokesman said the group, returning home after a four-day vacation in the Thai capital, had Kush — a potent, plant-based strain of cannabis — hidden … Read more
ROSEMEAD, Calif. — Katherine Nguyen stood with hands folded and head bowed at the altar of a Buddhist temple in Southern California. Before her were tooth and finger bone relics believed to belong to Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism who is said to have attained enlightenment in India about 2,500 years ago. “To be … Read more