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Buddhist prayer opens state Senate to show diversity Wednesday, November 28, 2007 By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau HARRISBURG -- A Buddhist leader, making a first-ever appearance before the state Senate yesterday, said he's OK with opening legislative sessions with a prayer as long as leaders of all faiths get a chance to speak and they don't try to proselytize. Anthony Stultz of Harrisburg, who for 20 years has been a Buddhist "sensei," meaning "venerable priest or teacher," opened the Senate session yesterday with a brief prayer, the first time an official of that faith has been asked to do...

In the present situation in southern Thailand, where an assailant can look into the eyes of his victim as he slays him, delegitimising violence with peace cultures alone may not be sufficient. On Jan 22, two men on a motorcycle used a long knife to slit the throat of a 64-year-old Buddhist monk. The monk had just returned from his early morning alms round. Then, on Jan 24, three more monks were attacked, leaving two dead. A young novice aged only 13 died in hospital after being struck about the head by a youth on a motorcycle wielding a machete,...

The government orders the move amid fears of fresh violence in the restive provinces bordering Malaysia BANGKOK - Thailand ordered massive school closures across its Muslim-majority south yesterday as the region grappled with an eruption of violence against government targets and Buddhist monks. Bird flu and southern violence: Thaksin's toughest challenges The Thai PM feels that he is being tested to the limit. All 248 schools in Narathiwat province were closed and at least 40 per cent of schools in two other provinces were shut down after emergency meetings on the crisis. 'We have decided to close all schools in...

TWO Buddhist monks and a policeman have been killed in Muslim-majority southern Thailand in attacks believed to be linked to separatist unrest in the region, the government and police said today. "Two monks were killed while they were walking to receive alms and one monk was seriously hurt at about 6am" this morning (local time) in separate but simultaneous attacks, police in Yala said. "A policeman was also shot dead late Friday in Ying-or district in neighbouring Narathiwat province." Thailand's southern region was rocked by a series of attacks on government targets earlier this month which left six people dead.