Members of Delovaya Rossiya, one of the country’s most influential business organisations, have put forward 52 proposals for economic reform, including the abolition of the simplified tax system with a 6 per cent rate. This is a measure designed to fund the war, which would hit small businesses particularly hard.
Today's news: in Gaza, a hospital again under attack; In Vietnam first hearing of maxi-trial for "gun attack" in Central Highlands; Indian migrant workers going to Israel will not be entitled to Delhi's social protections; Fourth spill of treated water from Fukushima in February; Istanbul, a fee for foreign visitors to enter Hagia Sophia.
Today's news: Two of the three hostages featured in the Hamas video dead; North Korean hackers share clandestine money laundering networks with fraudsters and traffickers in Southeast Asia; An Iranian court handed down an additional 15-month sentence to Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi; Tajikistan and Uzbekistan 'do not recognise' the outcome of the vote in Taiwan.
The story of Fr Uminsky, suspended a divinis for refusing to recite the Victory prayer, is not an isolated case. Former collaborator of Kirill Sergej Čapnin, now a researcher in the USA, tells of many priests who are tired of blessing arms and would like to pass on to other national Orthodox Churches. And among them there are even those who - to overcome the obstacles placed by Moscow - try to enter the United States as clandestine immigrants from Mexico.
Today's news: Maldives calls for withdrawal of Indian troops from archipelago; New Pyongyang missile experiment, launches hypersonic solid-fuel medium range missile; First public appearance by Vietnamese Communist Party chief after days of health speculation; Work to restore the Baghdad-Kirkuk railway, closed for 20 years.
Economic uncertainties are testing living and working conditions in several parts of Central Asia, which was the explicit cause of the protests two years ago. Moscow fears that the West wants to wrest Astana from Russian influence but Kazakhstan remains an active member of Eurasian military and economic alliances.
Today's news: despite pro-life propaganda record number of women resorting to sterilisation in Russia; Vietnamese court sentences two former ministers to prison for corruption; At least two dead and 12 injured in an explosion in Kabul, the third in a few days; In Thailand the Israeli embassy launches campaign to remember hostages in the hands of Hamas in Gaza.
Today's news: Thai officials investigated for corruption, accused of sending migrants to Finland for payment; Clashes again Manipur, where the longest internet blockade of 2023 was recorded; North Korea is stepping up military cooperation with Russia, Seoul says; UN Security Council asks Houthis to stop attacks on ships in the Red Sea, China and Russia abstain.
Today's news: attacker who shot opposition leader in South Korea wanted to prevent him from becoming president; In Myanmar at least 34 people died in prison in 2023; Diplomatic dispute between the Maldives, India, and China continues; In Hong Kong a man wearing a T-shirt with pro-democracy slogans arrested.
An analysis of social and economic developments for 2024 in Moscow, reveals one rather obvious and very painful fact: the war will not end this year. The military-industrial sector will continue to attract labor, financial and material resources, increasingly affecting the balance books.
Today's news: in Bangladesh unsurprising victory for PM Hasina; Japan earthquake death toll rises to 161; Maldives government suspends three officials who insulted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media; Supreme Court in India intervenes on convictions of Gujarat riots in 2002; Citizenship process simplified in Russia.
In Russia, Christmas falls on 7 January following the Julian calendar, highlighting especially this year, the proclamation by the Moscow Patriarchate that it is the "one true Church”. Yet, the revival of patriotic faith is not the only definition of Russian Orthodoxy today. There is also the path of those who, like the exiled Protoiereus Andrey Kordochkin, pray with the words: “Give me back my mother!”
Officially emigrating for work, Nepalis have been recruited into the Russian army to fight. At least 10 Nepalis have already fallen in Russian regiments. For migrants, the promise of Russian citizenship is an incentive to join up. The Nepali government has decided to block permits and is asking Russia to repatriate its citizens sent to war.
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