Norwegian envoy Eric Solheim arrived in northern Sri Lanka for crucial talks with the reclusive leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels today, amid fears the island could return to civil war after four years of relative calm.

Sri Lanka’s president today asked Norway’s peace envoy to set up new talks with Tamil rebels in hopes of staving off a civil war, but the separatists continued to brace for a possible return to battle

Sri Lanka’s president and a top Norwegian peace envoy are meeting today in a desperate attempt to prevent the nation’s slide back into civil war as separatist rebels prepared for a possible return to the battlefield.

A top Tamil Tiger rebel negotiator returned to Sri Lanka today amid new efforts by Norwegian peace brokers to revive stalled peace talks and prevent the island from sliding back to war.

The clergyman seeking to become the first openly gay bishop in America’s Anglican Church was “surprised and dismayed” by eleventh-hour allegations questioning his reputation, a spokesman said today.

US Episcopal leaders delayed a vote on whether to confirm the church’s first openly gay elected bishop after allegations emerged that he inappropriately touched a man and posted a pornography link on a youth website, a church spokesman said.

US Episcopal leaders delayed a vote tonight on whether to confirm the church’s first openly gay elected bishop after allegations emerged that he inappropriately touched a man and posted a pornography link on a youth website, a church spokesman said.

A Norwegian peace envoy has arrived in the Sri Lankan capital to renew efforts to resume peace talks between the government and Tamil Tigers to end the country's protracted civil war.