Listyo Sigit Prabowo has been arrested, along with two other high-ranking officers, on charges of ordering illegal wiretaps targeting the president and other public figures. The government has announced a review of regulations concerning electronic surveillance.
Two years after the military coup, Ashin Mandalarlankara, a Theravada Buddhist monk, speaks about his experience. Currently enrolled in Rome’s Angelicum university, he is studying interfaith dialogue and exchange with people from other religious traditions at the John Paul II Center. In his country, people are suffering and want the religious not to stop “at words but translate all this into concrete actions” for peace.
The island’s various ethnic groups often use English as a lingua franca, but not everyone masters it. Low levels of education and literacy (70 per cent) hinder the integration process. For this reason, some groups want local politicians not to speak English so as to allow for greater participation by women and Muslims.
A Taiwanese actress is involved in the latest incident after she was asked to pay a 27,000 baht bribe. Illegal activities by police have been known for some time but change still seems illusory, despite hopes raised by the 2014 coup. The police are now used against anti-government protesters.
A report by Myanmar Witness reveals that since the 2021 coup, attacks on social media have increased fivefold. Targeted “doxxing” is widespread. Many offensive posts have been removed, but the research is based only on a small fraction of online abuse.
The staple food has become too costly for many pockets. Bishop Alminaza, head of the Church People-Workers Solidarity organisation, reflects on the gap between economic growth data boasted by the Philippine government and the actual cost of living for the poorest people. He bemoans the fact that, “Worker migration because of unemployment here in the Philippines is accepted as a fact of life, because – again – this is not their economy.” And because of this, many farmers kill themselves.
The Cambodian prime minister addressed celebrations marking the centenary of the first Evangelical mission, saying that the kingdom “grants broad rights and freedoms". He urged Christians to contribute to "political stability” and “social order". Meanwhile, a well-known Christian activist is still serving six years in prison for supporting the opposition.
Today's headlines: Thai court sentences a man to 28 years in prison for lese majesty; at least 162 victims in Afghanistan of the exceptional cold wave; Tokyo announces Spring downgrade of Covid-19 to a common respiratory infection; India launches its first vaccine in the form of a nasal spray; Seoul and Pyongyang violate armistice by encroaching on hostile territory; warning Russia faces a medicine shortage by 2023.
Google and Spotify plan to cut jobs in Singapore, while Meta and Twitter have already done so. There are fears that middle and top-level jobs might be axed next in the city-state, home to several major companies. Still, “Technology will continue to undergird the growth of our economies,” says minister.
Nine religious leaders met at a Catholic university in the capital, including Card Ignatius Suharyo. The final communiqué was delivered to the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Today's headlines: Yemen and Lebanon sites included on Unesco's endangered heritages list; Taiwan's 71-year-old former vice-president Chen Chien-jen, a Catholic, will be the new prime minister; police arrest four student leaders for attempting to screen the BBC documentary critical of PM Modi; the Duma approves the law extending the genomic registration requirement to everyone.
A year after Dang Dinh Bach was convicted for "tax evasion", environmental groups want G7 countries, with which Vietnam signed a decarbonisation agreement, to press for the activist’s release. In 2022, Nguy Thi Khanh, who had worked with local authorities to promote the ecological transition, was also arrested.
Today's headlines: Pyongyang imposes a five-day lockdown for cases of unspecified 'respiratory illness'; Hanoi wants to open up the arms market to foreign companies; A cold wave hits north-east Asia halting transport halted and leaving one victim in Japan; Russia classifies the Andrei Sakharov foundation as an 'undesirable organisation'.
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