Nirmala Carvalho

The extremists will respect the ban only if the police arrest those guilty of the murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. Accusations against Christians continue, while the police have already arrested seven people and continue their investigations.

In the "House of Peace," the love of God is experienced through work in contact with the suffering. The drama of the disease becomes an occasion of redemption. The religious of Mother Teresa are celebrating Christmas by praying for the persecuted Christians in Orissa.

Hers is the best-known face among the victims of the attacks against the Christians. After 45 days in the hospital, she is now healed. Her family, who are day laborers, have lost everything. Fears and hopes ahead of Christmas.

The husband of Asmitha Digal, a 25-year-old mother of two daughters, was killed by Hindu fundamentalists during the first days of the pogrom against Christians. The woman testifies to the violence she has suffered, but says that she will not give in to the logic of violence. A Christian activist denounces treatment as "second-class citizens."

More than a hundred organisations as well as professionals, students and ordinary citizens protest against violence peacefully and in silence. Activists promote long-term initiatives to defeat hatred. A Catholic priest launches message of “peace, love and unity.”

A woman has been cut into pieces and thrown into the forest. Another has disappeared. Both of them had returned to the village to try to harvest rice for their families. The government is incapable of guaranteeing security. So far, no arrests have been made for the violence in recent months.

Autopsies show that the nine victims at the Jewish Center in Mumbai "were tied up and tortured before they were killed." The citizens of India's financial capital are paying homage to the victims, and the eyewitnesses of the attacks are recounting how their friends and coworkers died.

Among the 195 victims of the massacre in India was a young man killed in the crossfire between the police and terrorists. Security forces have killed the last three extremists barricaded inside the Taj Mahal hotel, putting an end to a battle that lasted for more than 62 hours. About 300 people have been injured, but the number could rise over the next few hours.

Working for the hotel’s banqueting department, the young man describes the dramatic phases of the attack. He was working in the banquet hall during a party when the hotel was stormed. Along with security staff and other hotel personnel he got guests to safety. Now he mourns the death of a friend and colleague who perished during the attack with his wife and two children.

There is a health emergency in the refugee camps: measles and chickenpox are rampant among the youngest children. The nuns have begun a fund-raising campaign in institutes all over the country. Hindu fundamentalists confirm that they will oppose the observance of Christmas, and threaten new violence.

The prime minister of the government in exile tells AsiaNews about the historic meeting. Mistrust toward the current communist leadership, but great trust in the Chinese people. The remarks of the Dalai Lama.

A Carmelite nun talks about her daily life in the cloistered monastery of Andheri East near Mumbai, about the days spent in prayer, the needs of their run-down monastery and the living conditions of its eight residents, who are grateful to Benedict XVI for saying that “our vocation to a life of prayerful contemplation is important to the world.”