South Asia

Some 31 districts are affected. Food and drinking water are in short supply. Many residents have had to leave their flooded homes for makeshift shelters. Many have not received the 10 kilos of rice promised by the government. The Catholic Church is active in handing out supplies. Flood victims take on debt to eat.

Fr Reid Shelton Fernando released a statement and an ‘election prayer’ to underscore the great responsibility Christians have, as voters, to pick people who possess the qualities that will keep the people united and the country free.

Following an outcry against the proposal, the State’s Education Department issued a statement on Thursday, saying that “the decision to drop certain chapters has been put on hold. A review will be done, following which the deleted chapters will be uploaded to the website”.

The young woman’s “family and ancestors have been protecting nature” for a long time. She feels that “the lived experience which I have and the education which I have pursued along with research work has enabled me to understand the role of indigenous communities in combating climate crisis and I feel it is us youth who have to be the front-liners for climate action.”

For Human Rights Focus Pakistan president Naveed Walter, a “new wave of Islamisation has changed the school syllabus, the un-Islamic names of some cities and certain laws making them more rigid.”

A young lay person from northern China talks about the difficulties that followed the signing of the Agreement. Fr John understands Pope Francis' sense of mercy towards official bishops and priests. Repression has increased against other religious groups, in particular Protestants.

The Catholic charity gives women psychosocial kitchen gardening kits, which include seeds, as well as hygiene and health kits, which include hand washing and other tips against the coronavirus.

A private US company, Recorded Future, detected the espionage operation against the mail servers of the Vatican Secretariat of State, the Diocese of Hong Kong, and the Holy See’s Study Mission in Hong Kong, which acts as a quasi-nunciature. PIME’s mail server did not work for weeks. The AsiaNews website has been attacked but not disabled. The hacking is the work of RedDelta, an entity linked to the Chinese government. Recorded Future appears to have no links to the Trump administration. Espionage and hackers are an international problem to live with.

"Christians are seriously stressed and under pressure in Jharkhand. Accusations of conversion are used to put pressure on the fragile Dalit community,” said Sajan K George. “False conversion charges are often made to seize Dalits’ properties. Shankar Bhuiyan is being forced to disinherit his children.”

The National Peace Council marks the 37th anniversary of the start of the country’s civil war, just a few days before the 5 August national election by calling for unity between Sri Lanka’s various communities. The goal is to achieve a shared future and peaceful coexistence in a devolved political system that respects Sri Lanka’s pluralistic society.

Benedict XVI canonised her in 2008 celebrating the young nun’s “extreme physical and spiritual suffering”. Yesterday, Jinil Joseph was one of the few faithful present at her tomb. His miraculous recovery at the age of two was an element in her canonisation process.

The clergyman, who died in the US on Saturday from COVID-19-related complications, served the Church in Bangladesh for 60 years until 2016 when he returned to the United States because of health problems and death threats from radical Islamists. “By founding schools and health centres, and defending the persecuted Garo community, Fr Eugene became an indispensable reference in our life,” said Fr Hacha. A Muslim wants a road named after him in Modhupur.