Sri Lanka stories

POO PAPER - A Sri Lankan conservationist has found a way to recycle elephant poop into high-quality recycled paper. In the process, he not only provides a livelihood for hundreds of rural Sri Lankans, but puts a profit in the protection of local pachyderms.

THE ELEPHANT WOODSTOCK - Every year, they come to feed, frolic, fight and mate in full view of joyous spectators. Earlier, as many as 50 elephants at a time paraded through the streets of Kandy for the spectacular Perahera, but hundred more make the annual trek to "The Gathering."

Colombo - Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga came to power promising to end the long war and civil unrest. She's repaired the economy and driven back the Tamil Tigers, but will she be able to bring paradise back to old Ceylon?

Arthur C. Clarke - in a tiny corner of South Asia, the crusty science fiction writer continues to tap out his vision of the future, scripting his own "Final Odyssey."

Colombo - Could this be the birthplace for a new dawn of safe energy production? A pair of Sri Lankans hope to make deserts bloom with their innovative scheme to harvest energy with the Solar Chimney.

Colombo - decades of civil war have taken a terrible toll on tourism.

JAFFNA - meanwhile, the war has devastated the northern province, where Tamil Tigers operated freely and reporters were refused entry. A peak at the war-torn province on the first unescorted visit by a journalist since the government stormed the rebel stronghold.

* all pictures, unless otherwise credited, by Ron Gluckman