Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the civil war-era defense secretary, is considered a hero to many majority Buddhists but the prospect of his winning Saturday's presidential election terrifies some minorities.
A fragile web of cross-guarantees on corporate debt could unleash a chain of private defaults in China's industrial heartland. But workers are confident they'll be bailed out, again.
The worst killing fields in Sri Lanka's civil war were the Tamil north. Ten years later, the man who ordered bombings there is frontrunner in the presidential election.
Protests have intensified in Hong Kong after one activist was shot and a pro-Beijing supporter set on fire. The demonstrations are in their fifth month.
NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Emily Lau, a pro-democracy activist and former member of the legislative council, about whether Monday's violent clashes in Hong Kong mark a turning point in the protests.
The chief executive of Hong Kong signaled that she is prepared for a crackdown as the U.S. State Department called on the government to address the "underlying concerns" of protesters.
A look at the U.S. military still in Syria shows what it's doing after weeks of uncertainty over the mission. The uncertainty continues and so does the ISIS violence.