The scientific journal Lancet relaunches a statistical study according to which by 2100 only six countries in the world would exceed the replacement threshold of 2.1 children per woman. But already by 2050 India, Bangladesh and Pakistan would see their current birth rates drop by more than a third.
Today's news: At least 15 Palestinians killed in Israeli raid on Nuseirat refugee camP; In India, water reservoirs are at their lowest levels in five years; Pyongyang launches "super-large" rockets capable of hitting Seoul; Villagers in Laos accuse Chinese company of polluting the Mekong.
"Let us offer our supplications for the purification of the Church and the good of the nation". The initiative was decided during the Assembly of the Bishops' Conference, concerned about the 'unprecedented religious polarisation that is damaging social harmony and endangering democracy itself'. From 19 April to 1 June, almost one billion voters will be called to vote.
Today's news: in Gaza, according to the UN, a surge in deaths from starvation is 'imminent'; South Korean president's warning: fake news and artificial intelligence a 'threat' to democracy; Indian police arrest five people for the assault on Muslim university students at a hostel in Gujarat; Burmese junta bombing in Rakhine kills at least 23 civilians, including women and the elderly.
In the year when the Islamic holy month and Lent overlap, Profs Gaetano Sabetta and Nadjia Kebour of the Pontifical Urbaniana University and Jesuit Fr Victor Edwin have coordinated an initiative of interfaith dialogue between Rome and India as a way to learn to “disagree better”, respecting each other.
Today's news: only 51.7% of South Koreans want to get married, 28.3% intend to have children 'with certainty'; Hanoi reports annual crop losses of three billion dollars, Mekong Delta in crisis; Elections in India scheduled between 19 April and early June; The Israeli government instituted the annual national day of remembrance of the 'catastrophe' on 7 October; Russian President Putin re-elected with 87.17% of the vote.