麻豆社

Personal stories behind the news from all over the world. With Matthew Bannister.

Missing Sri Lankan journalist; Cycling the Americas; Avatars in Love

Sri Lankan journalist vanishes
Sri Lankan journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda has been missing since the end of January. His articles for the Lankanews website were often outspoken in their criticism of the government and he disappeared two days before the Presidential elections. During the campaign he had written pieces supporting the opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka. Prageeth's wife Sandhya tells Outlook why she is so worried about him.

Mountain peaks and tarantulas
The Scottish cyclist Mark Beaumont has just completed his epic thirteen thousand mile journey from Alaska near the top of North America to Argentina at the bottom of South America. He already holds the World Record for cycling solo around the globe. On his latest journey, he also got off his bike and climbed two of the highest peaks in the Americas - and faced grizzly bears and tarantulas.

Virtually in Love
Stacy and Izha didn't just meet on the internet - they met in the virtual world "Second Life". Stacy was in the United States and Izha in Australia, but they were able to create virtual persona for themselves and begin a romance in the three dimensional online world. Within a month of meeting online, they were a couple, dressing up as pirates and going sailing or spending time building and decorating their virtual home. Within six months, Stacy sold all her possessions and flew to Australia to be with Izha. They are now married and have a young baby.