| SOUTH KOREA

The four-day World Cities Summit Mayors Forum ended today in the South Korean capital. Delegations from around the world attended the event with sustainable urban development at the centre of their discussions. For Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, the forum provided him with an opportunity to show the results of his latest social welfare programmes to reduce inequalities.

by Melani Manel Perera

The lack of measures against incursions into the Sri Lankan seas with trawl nets, which are banned in India, is blamed. "Our work is not protected, sometimes we even find ourselves attacked" the unions protest. The Navy: 17 fishing boats stopped since the beginning of 2023.

| 26/09/2023
| SRI LANKA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

With a joint statement, the autonomist leaders of Tatars, Circassians, Scandinavians, Baskirs and activists of other minorities reject the results of the local elections held throughout the country two weeks ago. The vote heavily influenced by the repression of every alternative voice to Putin is defined as a "shameful political farce" in a "Russian Federation that has no future"

| 26/09/2023
| RUSSIA
by Nirmala Carvalho

The Hindu nationalist who heads the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights this time targeted a well-known evangelical preacher, Ajay Lall, accusing him conversions and even "human trafficking" at an educational establishment he runs. This is similar to the campaign against Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur, in the same state which goes to the polls in state elections in a few weeks.

| 25/09/2023
| INDIA

Ronson Chan gets five days in jail for obstructing public officials and disturbing the peace in September 2022. For the presiding judge, a fine was not enough. For activists and critics, this is another attack against press freedom and represents an attempt to intimidate journalists.

| 25/09/2023
| HONG KONG – CHINA
by Steve Suwannarat

Thais over 60 make up about 21 per cent of the population, proportion expected to rise to 38.5 by 2050. On average, they get 600 and 1,000 baht (US$ 16-28) per month, but changes proposed by the former military-led government and the current progressive opposition are deemed inadequate.

| 25/09/2023
| THAILAND

While Israel’s parliament is on recess for high holidays, one committee expedites one a bill advanced by Ben-Gvir and Levin to allow the police to use cameras for the identification and proactive or retroactive analysis of images. Activists and critics fear the law will be used in an abusive and twisted manner.

| 25/09/2023
| ISRAEL – PALESTINE
Editor's choices
 
Jailed on 31 December 2020, Lai will go on trial under the national security law on 18 December after repeated postponements. His son Sebastian is concerned about his health. A group of 67 human rights organisations write to Biden asking him to bar Hong ...
| 26/09/2023
| HONG KONG – CHINA
 
Bishop Yang Yongqiang of Zhouchun and Yao Shun of Jining are on the list of members released today a couple of weeks before the synod opens. They were picked by the local Church in agreement with the authorities and appointed by Pope Francis. ...
| 21/09/2023
| CHINA - VATICAN
 
by Dario Salvi
The cardinal relects on the the tumultuous weeks since the withdrawal of the presidential decree under pressure from self-styled leaders (in the pay of Tehran). A  "more subtle" threat hangs over the community, but with the same logic as Isis: drive ...
| 19/09/2023
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST
 
by Alessandra De Poli
In August, the UN Food and Agriculture Agency reported a 9.8 per cent price hike over July despite an overall drop in food prices. Rice is vulnerable to extreme climate events, like those that devastated Pakistan and China last year, but the recent increase ...
| 12/09/2023
| ASIA
 
The archbishop of Bologna continues the mission entrusted to him by Pope Francis. If, as some media reports suggest, he will meet Premier Li Qiang, this will be the first high-level meeting between a top Church official and the head of government of ...
| 12/09/2023
| CHINA – VATICAN
 
During Biden's visit, Vietnam announced a historic strategic partnership with the United States almost 50 years after the Vietnam War. Since 2017, many big tech companies have left China in favour of its communist neighbour in Southeast Asia, investing ...
| 11/09/2023
| VIETNAM – UNITED STATES
 
by Andrea Lembo *
At the funeral of the auxiliary bishop of Tokyo, the PIME missionary, who replaced him at the helm of the Shinsei Kaikan Catholic Cultural Centre, remembered the prelate who loved to refer to God through the typically Japanese image of hot spring water. ...
| 06/09/2023
| JAPAN
 
On the same day that Pope Francis praised Mongolian culture and traditions, the authorities in China’s Inner Mongolia region, where a fifth of the population is Mongolian, described them as “historical nihilism” in the name of sinicisation. ...
| 05/09/2023
| CHINA – MONGOLIA – VATICAN
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”