Paolo Fossati

On 1st September, police set fire to 19 houses. Archbishop Santos posted the story of what happened online. Three days later, he was arrested and released on bail. "I am not worried,” he said. “So many have shown me great support, especially the Lord who is my protector.”

Shinjiro Koizumi is among 13 new ministers brought in yesterday by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a cabinet reshuffle. Many of Japan’s nuclear plants are closed due to strict safety regulations introduced after the tragedy. At present, Japan can count on six operating reactors.

Fires have been raging in the archipelago for more than a month. They are often malicious and set in forests to make way for oil palm and acacia plantations. Activists denounce that small farmers are blamed for fires caused by large corporations.

People are also coming from the neighbouring State of Sabah, Kuala Lumpur, Brunei and Indonesia. For Mgr Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng, “we are one in the unity of Christ and one in the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit”.

Solar panels will appear on the roofs of parish churches, pastoral centres and schools. The country's bishops call for an immediate transition to safe, clean and affordable energy to fight climate change. Maasin is the first ecclesiastical territory where all churches use solar energy.

The Asian countries with the highest suicide rate are South Korea, India and Japan, UN agency reports. Hanging, self-poisoning with pesticides and firearms are the most common methods of taking one's own life. In Sri Lanka, a series of bans on pesticides led to a 70 per cent drop in the number of deaths.

This morning’s is the tenth test of the year. According to analysts, Pyongyang aims to strengthen its position in view of the resumption of nuclear negotiations. For the North Korean government, the US had "enough time" to find the "calculation method" requested by Kim in April.

In 2021, the Filipino Church plans to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first Christian proclamation in the country. President Duterte is against the celebrations, saying that Magellan “brought the cannon and the cross”. For the Bishop of Kalookan, the Christian faith the conquistadores brought inspired Filipinos “to dream of freedom and democracy". In his view, “God can indeed write straight even with the most crooked lines.”

With winds of up to 216 kilometers per hour, it is one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the eastern region of Kanto. Nearly 2 thousand people have found refuge in the structures set up for the evacuation of civilians. In the prefectures of Chiba and Kanagawa, about 920 thousand families have suffered temporary power outages.

The bishop of the South Korean military ordinariate led the first Eucharistic celebration at the JSA Roman Catholic Church, the closest Catholic church to North Korea. For the prelate, the church “is a miracle of love from God”. It will serve South Korean and US officers stationed in the area.

Since the 1970s, the conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and government forces has caused about 150,000 deaths and displace two million persons. The group’s dissolution is the result of peace deals with Manila. Ex rebels now run the new Bangsamoro autonomous region. For PIME Missionary, people want progress and development.

The US leader talked again about North Korea and Iran, suggesting that Washington might sign agreements with both. Talks with Kim Jong-un on denuclearisation stopped last February. Trump praises North Korea’s “tremendous potential".