Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi attended the Caritas regional conference. The cardinal spoke out against attempts at ethnic and religious cleansing in the region. For the president, the priority is to counteract intolerance and conflicts.

A UN report accuses the Israeli military in connection with its action against protestors in the Strip. The report is based on confidential information from military sources. It will not have any effects, source tells AsiaNews. Meanwhile, Israel goes to the polls in April with Netanyahu's leadership at risk.

The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) challenges a UN investigation, done with the government. More than 6,000 acres are under poppy cultivation near military camps and government militias bases in Tanai. A “distorted picture of the link between conflict and opium is being conveyed”.

The right-wing group Rastriya Prajatantra Party has launched a campaign in all the provinces. Hindu monarchy was abolished in Nepal in 2006. The new Penal Code which came into force in 2018 punishes all religious conversions.

At Mass in Santa Marta, the pontiff recalls that "the mercy of God is there, but so is His anger". "Do not think – he warns – that we can get away with it forever. Do not wait to be converted to the Lord and do not delay from day to day because suddenly the wrath of the Lord will break out".

There should be “No exception, no special treatment". The prelate responds to the president, who is against deporting undocumented Chinese because it might lead to Filipinos deported from China. About 74 per cent of the 533 foreigners arrested in the Philippines in 2018 were Chinese.