For the sociologist Anna Kulešova, the main outcome of propaganda is not enthusiasm or support for war. Rather, it ‘constantly distances people from moral judgement’, because this is far more beneficial to the authorities.
Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong will visit North Korea for celebrations scheduled for tomorrow. The Kim regime's third military parade of the year is planned. North Korean leader wants to strengthen alliance with Beijing and Moscow. A meeting with the Russian president to discuss food and weapons is coming up. It would be the dictator's first foreign visit since the start of the pandemic.
Today's headlines: HoNg Kong storm damage estimates serious; Some Korean sect members arrested in Fiji; Japanese authorities mull too many tourists on Mount Fiji; Rice shortage hits Malaysia; Philippines and Australia sign anti-China agreement; In Bangladesh articles by "experts" with fake photos or questionable reputations to favor the re-election of Prime Minister Hasina; 10% of Russians suffer from serious depression.
Historian Valery Garbuzov, director of the Russian Institute for US and Canadian Studies, was fired for publishing an article in which he defined Putin's geopolitical program as "fragile, uncertain and eclectic", the result of a "post-imperial syndrome " which fuels the "bubble of illusions". He was attacked by the Russian media who called for "at least his expulsion".
Today's headlines: Russia tries to enlist Cubans for the war in Ukraine; China proposes a ban on clothes that 'hurt the nation's sentiment'; Japan joins moon race; Myanmar sentences a photojournalist to 20 years in prison; Bangladesh in throes of worst dengue epidemic ever recorded.
Today's headlines: violence is undermining local elections in the autonomous region of MIndanao in the Philippines; Pro-India candidate ahead of pro-Beijing candidate in Maldives presidential election; Chinese imports of Japanese fish products dropped by more than 20%; The UN food programme is running out of funds for Afghanistan; Indian government accused the country's largest publishing group of 'one-sided' reporting on Manipur.
Today's headlines: Aung San Suu Kyi has been refused outside doctor; Two giant pandas from Edinburgh Zoo will return to China by the end of the year; The president of Taiwan on official visit to eSwatini; Israel blocks the export of goods from Gaza; The border markets between Tajikistan and Afghanistan reopen; The Ukrainian Orthodox Churches adopt the Gregorian calendar instead of the Julian calendar.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in the storm over her husband's business activities with a St Petersburg company with unclear activities since the beginning of the war, despite the Estonian government's official endorsement of the sanctions against Moscow.
Before departing Ulaanbaatar, the pontiff blessed the House of Mercy where Mongolia’s small Church will welcome the marginalised. This will be the legacy of the pope’s historic visit and provide an opportunity to “reject certain myths” about charitable work. Christians do not engage in social outreach to proselytise; “only love can overcome selfishness and keep this world going.”
Fr. Gianni Criveller, PIME missionary and sinologist, comments on the words addressed by the pope yesterday to the Chinese people from Mongolia, with Card. Tong and Cardinal-designate Chow. "There is no contradiction between being good Christians and good citizens when there is freedom. Now it is up to Beijing to follow up with concrete steps on issues such as the permanent form of dialogue urged by Card. Parolin or the peace mission of Card. Zuppi."
Today's headlines: at least 40 injured in Taiwan in passage of a typhoon; Pakistan shop owners close in protest over high bills; The ASEAN foreign ministers summit gets underway in Indonesia; Israel wants to expel Ethiopian asylum seekers; Kyrgyzstan has repatriated women and children linked to ISIS from Syria; Latvia wants to require citizens of foreign nationality to take a language exam.
The small Church of Mongolia that is currently meeting Pope Francis is closely connected to the Diocese of Ningxia in China, home until three years ago of the only Mongolian (underground) bishop in the history of the Catholic Church. Known in Chinese as Ma Zhongmu, he was jailed for 11 years for refusing to join the Patriotic Association. After the Cultural Revolution, he sought out each one of his scattered flocks. He translated the Bible and the Roman Missal into Mongolian.
At the interfaith meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Francis stressed sharing differences for the good of all. “There can be no mixing, then, of religious beliefs and violence, of holiness and oppression, of religious traditions and sectarianism.” In his address, he also quoted from Buddha and Gandhi. “And to Chinese Catholics: I ask you to be good Christians and good citizens.” Inspired by Fr Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, he mentioned the desert of Ordos, home to ethnic Mongolians in the People's Republic of China.
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