Dario Salvi

Over the weekend, the auxiliary from Baghdad celebrated the first communions of 210 boys and girls. A moment of deeply felt celebration, after months of closures and restrictions for the new coronavirus. The catechism, trips and community meetings explore the legacy of the pontiff’s visit. A large gathering of young Chaldeans from all over the country is being studied.

The outgoing premier has a few days left to break the alliance that will oust him from power. Death threats and attacks on supporters of the future executive. Lapid: "If the leadership uses violence and incitement against members of the Knesset, then we need change." The March of flags has been cancelled, but right-wing parliamentarians want to parade.

A Syrian Catholic priest in Damascus remembers “a man of God in the difficult time of war”. The prelate fought against the flight of Christians and remained in the face of jihadi advance. He worked in favour of education, essential for the future of the community. A Christian journalist and activist was recently kidnapped in the area.

Twins Muna El-Kurd and Mohammed El-Kurd, aged 23, were held for a few hours, interrogated and released. Their family is among those who are in danger of being thrown out of their homes in East Jerusalem. An al-Jazeera journalist who was following the protests was also arrested.

United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to roll out third dose with Pfizer to those who have previously received two of Sinopharm. China’s vaccine would not have stimulated adequate antibody production. The Turkish president also receives a third dose, but does not reveal the product. Outcry from opposition: he already on his third dose, ordinary people still waiting for their first.

Camilla Haddad, 98, was hidden and cared for by the family of Elias Abu Ahmed when the Islamic State captured Mosul. Yesterday, she met with the Chaldean patriarch in Baghdad. Brotherhood and friendship between Christians and Muslims are echoed in Pope Francis’s ‘Fratelli Tutti’. A change in attitude is underway in Iraq.

The fifth round of indirect negotiations between the parties has ended. A sixth is expected to begin next June 10th. US spokesman "does not rule out" an agreement maybe as early as next week, but mutual "trust" is needed. Iranian negotiator: differences not insurmountable.

As Lapid's exploratory mandate expires, Bennett and Mansour Abbas reach an agreement for the new executive. The coalition will consist of eight different parties, including nationalists and Arabs. It will have to pass in Parliament, but the numbers are tight. From July Israel will also have a new president, former Labor leader Isaac Herzog.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs orders that loudspeakers be set at a third of their maximum volume. Parents complain that the high volume disturbs their children’s sleep. In some mosques, full sermons are broadcast over loudspeakers, not only the call to prayer. Not all mosques are heeding the order, which has sparked criticism and controversy.

As of today schools and non-essential activities closed. Of the 2,800 victims registered since the beginning of the health emergency, more than 40% recorded in May. Infections are also on the rise in Thailand and Vietnam, where a new variant has emerged. Restrictions also in Singapore.

Yamina and Yesh Atid are in the final stretch to form a new government that would include the extreme right and the left. The outgoing prime minister calls this the “fraud of the century.” For a rabbi in the peace camp, nothing is certain about the number needed for a majority; in his view, term limitations should be imposed.

New attack by Card. Raï on politicians incapable of forming a government to guarantee stability to the nation. Fears of the impending withdrawal of subsidies, which could trigger further price hikes. International conference and neutrality to save a collapsing nation.