Village chiefs and residents attacked a house church in a village in southern Laos. The faithful, whose community is recognised by the government, were meeting for the Sunday service. Despite their complaint, the police have not yet punished the attackers. The region has already been the scene of sectarian persecution in the past.
Today's news: at least 10 police officers killed in an attack (unclaimed) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province; Israel ready to welcome 65,000 more workers from India, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan; A huge dam being planned threatens to cause Luang Prabang to lose its Unesco designation; Appeals to the Taliban government for the release of two Afghan activists.
Today's news: China tries to push Iran to curb Houthi attacks in the Red Sea; Under threat of going underwater within the next 25 years, elections are held in Tuvalu;Taiwan initiates compulsory conscription extended to one year in response to the Chinese threat; The earth continues to shake on the border between Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China; The precision landing of its space lander on the Moon boosts the ambitions of Japan's space programme.
Today's news: India won't withdraw troops from the Maldives, after archipelago's president seeks relations with Beijing; Seoul court approves seizure of funds from a Japanese company to compensate for wartime labour exploitation; Israel denies the attack on the UN shelter in Gaza that also drew a rebuke from Washington; Fuel runs out in Laos.
Today's news: Two of the three hostages featured in the Hamas video dead; North Korean hackers share clandestine money laundering networks with fraudsters and traffickers in Southeast Asia; An Iranian court handed down an additional 15-month sentence to Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi; Tajikistan and Uzbekistan 'do not recognise' the outcome of the vote in Taiwan.
Today's headlines: Laos’s debt tops 112 per cent of its GDP. Chechnya starts to take in Palestinian refugees. Malaysia wants to attract more wealthy foreign retirees. All of Japan’s prefectures, except Tokyo, will see a population decline by 2050 over 2020. China blocks some flights between Russia and China.
