The agreement aimed at resolving the serious dispute over the liturgy within the Syro-Malabar Church was implemented for the first time yesterday at the Cathedral Basilica of St Mary in Kochi, which had become the epicentre of the tensions.
A court in Colombo found the former police chief and the former defence secretary guilty of failing to prevent the 2019 massacres despite intelligence warnings. The Catholic Church reiterates that it remains unclear who actually is behind the massacre.
Students, lawyers, and activists were detained during Kashmir solidarity marches in Lahore and other cities. Human rights groups are calling for the protesters' release and an independent inquiry. For the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, repressing dissent undermines democracy.
The blast was likely caused by a build-up of methane gas. Rescue operations are still under way and further casualties are feared. Trade unions and human rights campaigners have denounced serious shortcomings in safety measures and are calling for stricter controls. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace states that the protection of miners is “a human rights obligation”.
The government reports that the number of taxpayers with incomes above Rs 100 crore has jumped from 142 to 576. Independent studies show that the richest 1 per cent hold approximately 40 per cent of the nation’s wealth, favoured, among other things, by the abolition of the wealth tax in 2016.
In Bhutan, the outgoing mayor of the capital, Ugyen Dorji, has secured a second term with 67 per cent of the vote. However, voter turnout was the lowest on record. This was due to low turnout among young people, rules requiring many to vote in their home villages, and the exclusion of the diaspora.
Heavy monsoon rains have submerged hundreds of villages in the worst natural disaster in recent years. The local diocese is mobilising to help everyone, without distinction, in the emergency and reconstruction efforts. For Bishop Hemron, “let us be instruments of God’s compassion”.
Human rights groups are shocked by the court’s decision. The girl had been rescued after her family filed a complaint. In court, she was threatened her with apostasy if she rejected Islam. Activist Ashiknaz Khokhar urges the authorities to vet documentary evidence to verify victims’ age.
A new report by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council details 257 incidents of sectarian violence, with 44 people killed in the first six months of 2026. Two years on from the change of government in the summer of 2024, there has been an increase in attacks on places of worship, acts of vandalism and attempts to seize land belonging to religious organisations.
The money was transferred abroad between 2023 and 2026 through fraudulent transactions while no imports arrived. Investigators reveal links to international money laundering and drug trafficking networks. The government was slow to respond despite being alerted as early as 2021.
The mobilisation led by the Cockroach Janta Party has forced the Modi government to make its first concessions. For Jesuit and activist Father Cedric Prakash, the Education minister's resignation represents just "the tip of the iceberg" of a protest movement bound to have an impact on national politics.
In Sri Lanka, on the day UNESCO dedicated to these plants, essential to local ecosystems, saw planting in some of the wetlands of the Western Province. Environmentalist Dinusha Nanayakkara, who works to protect this environment, talks about it.
He tendered his resignation to Modi following demonstrations led by the Cockroach Janta Party over irregularities in public examinations. The news comes the day after talks between the CJP and the government. Party leader Abhijeet Dipke said: “This is just the beginning”. Bishop Savio Fernandes tells AsiaNews: “A victory for the people of India”.
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