Moscow, Duma elections: navalnists ready for 'smart vote'

‘The Congregation for Religious is examining the religious congregations and associations created in this period.” Among the latter, many have been placed under external control. Positions of governance in lay groups are a “call to serve” that runs up against a hunger for power and disloyalty.

Christians “are weavers of dialogue where hostility is growing; models of fraternal life where society is experiencing tension and hostility; bringers of the sweet fragrance of hospitality and solidarity where personal and collective selfishness too often prevails, protectors and guardians of life where the culture of death reigns.”

“Judgement and prejudice only increase distances. Hostility and sharp words are not helpful. Marginalizing others accomplishes nothing. Segregating ourselves and other people eventually leads to anger. The path to peaceful coexistence is integration,” said Francis. What is more, “Bombarded by virtual messages, we risk losing our real roots,” he added. “To grow disconnected from life, or to fantasize in a void, is not a good thing; it is a temptation from the evil one. God wants us to be firmly grounded, connected to life.”

"How many generous persons suffered and died here in Slovakia for the name of Christ! Theirs was a witness borne out of love of him whom they had long contemplated. To the point that they resembled him even in their death. I think too of our own time, in which there is no lack of opportunities for bearing witness.”

“Even as battles for supremacy are waged on various fronts, may this country reaffirm its message of integration and peace,” said Pope Francis. “[M]ay Europe be distinguished by a solidarity that, by transcending borders, can bring it back to the centre of history.” For the pontiff, the Church must teach “inner and responsible freedom”. She must know “how to be creative by immersing herself in history and culture;” she must know “how to engage in dialogue with the world, with those who confess Christ without being one of ‘us’, with those who are weary of the religious quest, even with those who do not believe.”

Francis closed the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress. "The cross is never in trend of fashion: today as in the past. Rather it it heals within. It is before the Crucified One that we experience a beneficial inner struggle, the bitter conflict between 'thinking according to God' and 'thinking according to men'." "The threat of anti-Semitism still lurks in Europe and elsewhere".

A visit among peoples who "have suffered a regime repressive of faith and religious freedom". A journey of a spiritual nature to nations with political policies are far removed from the ideas of Francis, especially with regard to reception of migrants and refugees. In the Hungarian capital the closing of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, with the theme "All my springs are in You".

Kremlin and Chinese have invested heavily in Guinean mines, supporting deposed President Alpha Condé.  The role of the Russians in the international traffic of cocaine, which also passes through Guinea. Suspicions that the US and Europe favored the coup to weaken Russia and China.

Russian security services accuse Ukrainians of sabotaging gas pipelines near Simferopolis. Tatar activists arrested. Russians launch plans to desalinate water and guarantee water supplies to the population. Kiev wants to take back the peninsula.

"So many people in the world, so many, millions, who do not have the right to eat, do not have the right to education, do not have the right to work: they are the new slaves, they are those who are on the peripheries, who are exploited by everyone. Even today there is slavery: let us think about this a little. We deny these people human dignity."

Two figures close to Putin's regime present themselves at the St. Petersburg elections with the same name and face of an opposition candidate: Boris Višnevskij. The original is a supporter of Aleksej Naval'nyj. The "fake" candidates are nothing new in Russia: the aim is to confuse the electorate.

Presented at the Vladivostok Economic Forum. Transforming the Kurili Islands into an off-shore area. Urban development of Eastern Siberia, with cities of over a million inhabitants. The Kremlin bets on Chinese and Japanese cooperation. Russians aim to make the Arctic route the main link between Europe and Asia.

Economic problems accentuated by the pandemic will falling cost of energy resources heavily felt. Inflation at record levels; agriculture affected by drought. In 2020, 96% of financial reserves will be used to meet debts. Clash with Moscow on the spread of Kazakh.

Moscow has been treating the Afghan Islamists as reliable interlocutors for years. Compared to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, the Afghan Emirate offers a more acceptable and repeatable model: a mix of patriotism and Islamism. The Kremlin will struggle to contain any extremist regurgitation.