by Nirmala Carvalho | INDIA

"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.


The Malaysian cabinet is sending one of its ministers to China to propose investments in a rare-earth refinery. It is unclear whether Beijing will make an exception to its ban on the export of technologies for the extraction and separation of rare earths. A local plant is also designed to cut a thriving illegal trade in critical minerals.

| 18/03/2024
| CHINA – MALAYSIA
by Melani Manel Perera

Yesterday a hundred women received free medical treatment and counselling provided by the Dabindu Collective and the Seeduwa Health District, including, among others, breast check-ups, pap smears, and blood tests. As a result of the country’s economic woes and the need to work, many Sri Lankans have not been able to seek medical care or undergo check-ups.

| 18/03/2024
| SRI LANKA
by Santosh Digal

Renamed the 'Lasallian Institute for Evangelisation and Catechesis', it has been training religion teachers for public schools in the capital and other areas of the country since 1952. Archbishop Fisichella praised its commitment "in the development of leadership in catechesis and faith education".

| 18/03/2024
| PHILIPPINES

An investigation reveals the effects of an amendment passed in November affecting thousands of people. The seizures are aimed at creating 'reserve building areas', a temporary measure to speed up recovery. Citizens protest: 'We are able to repair our homes'. 

| 18/03/2024
| TURKEY
by Vladimir Rozanskij

After the plebiscite re-election of the Russian president in the midst of the war even the former Soviet republics of Central Asia are wondering about the repercussions. Many experts believe that in the new mandate there will be a renewed interest of Moscow in the whole area. The knot of Asian migrants.

| 18/03/2024
| RUSSIA - CENTRAL ASIA

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. 

| 18/03/2024
| ASIA TODAY
Editor's choices
 
On the ninth anniversary of his death, a Eucharistic celebration marked the end of the local investigation towards the beatification of the young man who died protecting others during a deadly Islamist attack in Youhanabad. “We pray for this grace ...
| 15/03/2024
| PAKISTAN
 
Baek Kwang-soon, 53, is being held on espionage charges. The Love Rice Sharing Foundation, a Protestant charity he works for, says that “all sorts of Russians, Thai and North Korean workers” are “in need, and we provide them with clothes, ...
| 13/03/2024
| RUSSIA - SOUTH KOREA
 
Inaugurated by Modi in the foothills of the Himalayas, it will facilitate connections in Arunachal Pradesh, including military links to the de facto border with the People's Republic of China. Claiming sovereignty over the region, Beijing issued ...
| 12/03/2024
| CHINA - INDIA
 
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council is set to fast track the approval of a national security bill tabled today that imposes unprecedented restrictions to all forms of freedom in the former British colony, including life in prison for “treason” ...
| 08/03/2024
| HONG KONG - CHINA
 
The worst case is Myanmar, where both the regular army and armed resistance make extensive use of landmines. Almost half of the countries that are not signatories to the UN treaty are in Asia or the Middle East. In Southeast Asia region, Cambodia has ...
| 01/03/2024
| ASIA
 
by Dario Salvi
The 2024 Niwano Peace Prize, the “Nobel Prize for Religions" was given to a Sufi Muslim, who teaches at the American University in Washington, for his "holistic contribution to the cause of peace”. After the Hamas attack sparked Israel's ...
| 27/02/2024
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST
 
An image of Christ on the cross painted in Stanley Prison by the Catholic businessman on trial under the National Security Act is on display at the Catholic University of Washington. Meanwhile Agnes Chow from Canada recounts her imprisonment in Hong ...
| 27/02/2024
| HONG KONG - UNITED STATES
 
by Santosh Digal
The archbishop of Goa was elected today in Bangkok by the heads of the continent's Bishops' Conferences. Next January he will become the third Indian to head the collegial body, taking over from Card Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, who led the organisation ...
| 22/02/2024
| ASIA
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”