Rev. Danny Fisher

The Agence France-Presse reports that Sri Lanka’s president celebrated the national Buddhist holiday of Boson by granting pardons to 585 imprisoned military deserters. Boson marks the introduction of Buddhism to the country in the second century C.E. Today, about 70% of Sri Lanka’s population identifies as Buddhist.

In other Sri Lanka news, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that an international investigation is needed to “examine the military actions of the government and defeated Tamil Tiger rebels during the civil war.”