Franco Pisano

Rahman Mohammad Hasibur said he was locked in a room with 20 other workers for 43 hours. They could use the bathroom only by calling a guard to escort them. Some of the men had a fever and the room was hot and poorly ventilated.

The Party will have to draft a new five-year economic plan and review most of its leadership roles. All of them could be promoted or politically marginalized. For Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch, the repression had been worse under Trump than in Barack Obama's time, "because the leaders in Hanoi knew that the State Department under Trump was only interested in trade, not rights."

The Indonesian Ulema Council has to determine whether the vaccine is halal or not because a pig-based gelatin is used as a stabiliser in some vaccines. President Joko Widodo will be the first to receive a dose to boost public trust in vaccines.

South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic is raising fears that the number of births in the new year will decline further. Last month, President Moon Jae-in launched several policies aimed at addressing the low birth rate, including cash incentives for couples.

Due to a “painful sciatica” Francis did not celebrate Vespers nor recite the end-of-year thanksgiving Te Deum. Cardinal Re read the Pope’s homily, which highlights the acts of “closeness” of many people working for the common good in healthcare, education and public service.

"To live is above all to have received" is the first of a long series of debts of gratitude to people who have cared for us "for free". A "thank you" that "we must say continuously, that the “gratitude” that Christians share with everyone, grows in meeting Jesus".

The Vatican COVID-19 Commission and the Pontifical Academy for Life issued a statement. Refusing “the vaccine may also constitute a risk to others”. The statement reminds world leaders that the vaccine must be provided to everyone in a fair and equitable manner, giving priority to those who need it the most.

The objective of the papal decision is “a better organisation of the administration, supervision and surveillance of the economic and financial activities of the Holy See to ensure transparent and efficient management and a clear separation of responsibilities and functions.”

"Only the love of Jesus can transform our life, heal our deepest hurts and set us free from the vicious circles of disappointment, anger and constant complaint.” “His disarming love reminds us that our time is not to be spent in feeling sorry for ourselves, but in comforting the tears of the suffering. God came among us in poverty and need, to tell us that in serving the poor, we will show our love for Him”.

In a letter to Cardinal Béchara Raï and the Lebanese people, Francis also recalls the duty of the country’s politicians to seek public interest. “May you make the most of present events in order to rediscover your identity, which is to bring to the whole world the sweet fragrance of mutual respect, coexistence and pluralism."

Do not judge the Church "hastily on the basis of the crises caused by scandals past and present,” nor use categories like left and right, or “confuse crisis with conflict” that “helps to create or consolidate certain elitist attitudes and ‘cliques’”.

In the last Angelus of Advent today, Pope Francis called on people to arrive at Christmas with a "pure heart", so that Christmas may be an occasion for renewal, for fraternity for everyone, "let us look at our brother who suffers, the one who suffers is Jesus, it is Jesus in the manger ”.