Russia

In the 'ideological framework' of Putin's upcoming election campaign for re-election as president in 2024, the topic of the family is taking on an even more specific role. Experts at the Moscow Institute for Social Research say: 'This is where the difference between the ethical systems of the West and Russia can be seen. But there are also surveys that show opposite trends.

Today's news: Gaza and Israel conflict displaces at least 20,000 in Lebanon; South Korea rescues four North Korean defectors; Japan's nominal GDP rises from third to fourth place globally; Pakistan announces that it will not expel Afghans awaiting visas from the West; Tombstones of Stalinist victims disappear in Russia.

Today's news: The Philippines summons the Chinese ambassador over clashes in the South China Sea; In Indonesia, President Widodo's son to run as deputy in elections; In South Korea, number of elderly workerforce is increasing; Iranian journalists who covered death of Mahsa Amini sentenced to prison; Tatarstan wants to use child labour to assemble drones.

From the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in Beijing, the Russian president does not seem to have brought home any new concrete agreements, only a reaffirmation of Eurasia's challenge to the West. Beijing has increased trade with Moscow by 30% but still does not recognise the annexation of Crimea and other territories. The current Ukrainian quagmire is the ideal situation for China.

Kirill's appeal to all the heads of the Orthodox Churches against the ban on Russian jurisdiction of Orthodoxy in Ukraine sanctioned by the Kiev parliament has gone unanswered. While the sending of Metropolitan Tikhon to Crimea, the most contested front line, many are wondering whether this is yet another punishment or a possible ecclesiastic and political exaltation.

Today's news: more Israeli air raids on Gaza with dozens of victims, 850 arrests in the West Bank since the beginning of the war. Tension between India and Canada: starting today, the withdrawal of immunity for dozens of Ottawa diplomats in the Asian country. Drought alarm in Bali. The Kiev parliament approved the suspension of religious organisations linked to the Russian Federation.

Destroyed monuments and defaced gravestones: since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in the mass burial places of prisoners shot in the Soviet era or in the cemeteries of the concentration camps many symbols have started to be targeted. The cemetery in Levašovo, near St. Petersburg, where many Ukrainian and Polish victims of imprisonment on the Solovki Islands are buried also targeted.

The admission by Aksenov, who since the beginning of the conflict had always declared that war with Ukraine was far away, urged Russian tourists not to give up their trips to the Black Sea peninsula. Which again became a desert as described by some writers in the years following the Bolshevik revolution.

Today's news: The number of political prisoners in Russia up 15-fold in recent years; Pyongyang's escalation - also nuclear - to regional nation's meeting with the US in Jakarta; India accelerates in space race with the goal of putting an astronaut on the Moon by 2040; Dengue is on the rise in Vietnam.

Today's news: US President Biden meets Netanyahu tomorrow; Ahead of atatck on Israel, Hamas reportedly received millions of dollars in cryptocurrency from a crypto-exchange in Russi; Indonesian President Joko Widodo changes laws to have his son elected as vice-president.

In Kyrgyzstan, the Russian president attends a summit with Central Asian heads of state. He needed this summit to show the Western world that he was not totally isolated. To ease the burden of sanctions, Russia uses its enormous potential of energy resources.

Today's news: Hamas thanks Putin in a statement for 'his support over the years'; Tensions continue to rise between South and North Korea with a mutual display of powerful weapons and alliances; Australia has rejected the inclusion of Aboriginal peoples in the Constitution; India 'dreams' of the 2036 Olympics.