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Maithripala Sirisena visits Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gaya, Feb 17 (ANI): Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena, on Tuesday (February 17) visited one of the holiest Buddhist sites in India, where Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment. He paid floral tributes to Lord Buddha statue in the Mahabodhi Temple. The Sri Lankan President also prayed under the Bodhi tree, a sacred fig near the Mahabodhi Temple which is said to be a descendent of the one Buddha sat under for three days and nights in the sixth century BC, before finding enlightenment. Sirisena, who is in India for a four-day visit, signed a nuclear energy agreement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. This is Sirisena’s first visit abroad after he assumed office last month by defeating his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa in a hotly contested elections. Feb 17, 2015
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Egypt bombs Islamic State targets in Libya after militant group released mass beheading video

Egypt, Feb 16 (ANI): Egyptian warplanes launched air strikes against Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday, hours after a video of mass killing of Christians was published on the Internet, enraging Cairo. Egypt's military said in a statement on state television that it had carried out an air strike against Islamic State targets in Libya at dawn on Monday, a day after the group released a video appearing to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians there. The attack focused on Islamic State camps, training sites and weapons storage areas in Libya, where Islamist militants have thrived amid chaos. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has repeatedly said militants based in Libya pose a serious security threat to Egypt, a strategic US ally that is fighting insurgents in the Sinai who have pledged allegiance to Islamic State. The video released earlier showed 21 Egyptian Christians, who had gone to Libya in search of jobs, being marched to a beach, forced to kneel, and then beheaded. Feb 16, 2015