08/01/2014INDONESIA Indonesian Muslims slate the "Caliphate" and ISIS: We need peace and coexistence by Mathias Hariyadi A video posted on YouTube by an unknown Indonesian Islamic guerrilla calls the "brothers and sisters" of Southeast Asia to join the Islamic State in Iraq and fight for the creation of a Muslim caliphate. In recent days, hundreds of people gathered to invoke “holy war." Moderate Islamic leader: "Only a fool would make such a choice, we strongly condemn these senseless actions." Jakarta
(AsiaNews) - Civil society and the
two largest Islamic organizations in Indonesia have roundly condemned the
Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIS) and the actions of its leader, the "Sheik" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Kiai Hajj
Malik Madani, a...
08/01/2014BANGLADESH Tensions high in Boldipukur: Mission threatened by Nozrul Islam Unknown assailants warn the parish to withdraw the complaint filed after the attack on the church and the convent. The violence was not over money or an attack "in hatred of the faith." "It is likely - say local sources - that it was an attempt to intimidate nuns and priests and convince them to close a legal dispute over land ownership"
08/01/2014NORTH KOREA - CHINA Pyongyang excommunicates China: a decadent and unprincipled country An editorial in the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper is the latest step in the cooling of bilateral relations. The Kim regime displeased at Xi Jinping’s decision to visit South Korea first. A source on the border: "If things go wrong, so much the better for us. Government will stop trade with China and the plunder of our natural resources .Ordinary people have never benefited from these relations".
08/01/2014TAIWAN Gas explosion in Kaohsiung: 24 dead by Xin Yage There are also 270 wounded. Streets ripped apart, with huge craters, cars and people thrown into the air by the explosion. The dead include four firefighters. An eyewitness account.
07/31/2014TIBET - CHINA - NEPAL Thousands of people attend 14th Shamar Rinpoche's cremation in Nepal Despite pressure from Beijing, the Nepali government allows the funeral to take place, granting the deceased his last wishes. Kathmandu's initial refusal was due to fear of possible anti-China protests from the Tibetan community in exile, which however did not occur.
07/31/2014RUSSIA - UNITED STATES For Orthodox Church, Moscow can do what it wants in state-religion relations Speaking about the US State Department report on international religious freedom, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society Relations, said "We have the right to create our model."
07/31/2014ISRAEL - PALESTINE With nearly 1,400 dead in Gaza, Netanyahu pledges to destroy every tunnel As more rockets land in Israel today, operations continue in Gaza. Talks in Egypt about a possible truce produce little results. Re-opening the Eretz crossing to connect Gaza to the West Bank is one of the goals. The Pentagon releases new ammunitions to Israel, which has called up 86,000 reservists.
07/31/2014INDIA Andhra Pradesh: a new church in memory of Sister Ida, the "golden mother" of Vegavaram by Benigna Menezes* The diocese of Vijayawada inaugurated the place of worship, which is dedicated to Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, in the village of Chainatalanarva. Fr Raju, Sister Ida's "adoptive son", is the local parish priest. The nun spent 63 years in the service of children and lepers in India where she was among the first missionaries of the Immaculate to arrive.
07/31/2014LIBYA - PHILIPPINES Tripoli priest calls for the repatriation of Filipino workers whose lives are risk Filipinos, who number 13,000, are targeted by Islamic extremists. For the parish priest at Mary Immaculate Church, they should be considered "war refugees", and be "evacuated by ship". Two religious congregations recall nuns in Libya because it "is risky to stay here."
07/31/2014LEBANON - PALESTINE - IRAQ Only cultural resistance can oppose brute force at work in Gaza and Mosul by Fady Noun Against brute force we really only have the reaffirmation of what makes us strong, namely our fierce attachment to the happy acceptance, full of life, of others - with its joys and pains - and resistance to all forms of fundamentalism, be it Sunni, Shia or Jewish.
07/31/2014SOUTH KOREA Korea, discovered corpse "not the Sewol owner" Announced by a group of parliamentarians who visited the forensic laboratory for the autopsy and identification of the body (found in June) and recognized (in July) as belonging to Yoo Byung-eun. Doubts about fingerprints and the stature of the body. Experts: "Science cannot explain everything, but of course the authorities have handled the case badly." 57% of Koreans "do not trust" the government.
07/31/2014INDIA Madhya Pradesh: government "encourages" radical Hindus to persecute Christians by Nirmala Carvalho Reported to AsiaNews by Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). In June and July there have been numerous attacks against the minority. In all cases the extremists are using the weapon of the "anti-conversion law" to threaten the faithful and Christian religious leaders.
07/31/2014PHILIPPINES - ASIA Two Chinese activists and Pakistani Foundation among “Asian Nobel” winners The Foundation, which assigns the Magsaysay Award, the most famous of the continent, has announced the 2014 winners: a Chinese journalist who challenges abuse of power, an environmental activist and a group of industrialists who promote women’s education in Pakistan. An Indonesian anthropologist, the director of the National Museum of Afghanistan and a Filipino teacher who works with the tribals also awarded.
07/31/2014CHINA Xinjiang in lock down following riots The catalyst that sparked the violence in the province, which killed dozens of people, is still unknown. Military patrol streets and authorities shut down communications with the outside world. Formal charges of "separatism" against Ilham Tohti, a scholar who defends the Uyghur minority.
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