South East Asia

Low temperatures and fog have caused a pollution emergency in Thailand, especially in Bangkok. The situation is bad in 64 out of the country’s 76 provinces. In 2024, one million people sought medical attention due to air pollution, at a cost of US$ 90 million. People are urged not to burn replica money as a lucky charm for Lunar New Year.

Tet Nguyen Dan, to be celebrated on 29 January, is increasingly a source of anxiety due to financial pressures and social expectations. Psychotherapy institutes report an increase in requests of up to 30 per cent in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Psychologists highlight the conflict between traditional values and urban lifestyles.

Hundreds of LGBTQ+ couples got married today on the first day of a new marriage law. In a pastoral letter, Thai bishops outline the “three principles" of the Church on the matter. The prelates call for a response to the "challenges" posed by gender theory, which they see as a source of "confusion and conflict”.

A group of unidentified men close to the formally disbanded Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) attacked a military convoy that was escorting UN officials, killing two and wounding 12. The path towards the parliamentary election in the autonomous region on Mindanao is getting steeper, as the election set for May might be postponed to August.

In the diocese on the island of Java, the ordination of the new prelate at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral. During the homily the invitation to give attention to the “crisis of love” identified by Benedict XVI: “The smile in the Jubilee is a Holy Door,” he said. Also present at the rite was his friend Fr. Pat Min Seong, a deaf-mute priest from South Korea.

The event took place yesterday in the city of Pekalongan. Rescuers are looking for missing people and survivors but rescue operations are hampered by adverse weather conditions. The authorities have warned residents that the rains will continue in the coming days.

Beijing reportedly reached an agreement with the two Southeast Asian countries to eliminate the compounds where thousands of Chinese nationals are detained. China recently also announced a ceasefire between Myanmar’s military junta and one of the ethnic resistance militias, but the two sides have not provided any details.

To make cash, the Ministry of Economy is preparing a feasibility study. Paetongtarn Shinawatra talks about “bringing out of the shadows” an activity that would already involve between two and four million Thais. Criticism over moral aspects in a country where Buddhist faith condemns gaming and possible social consequences.

Hambali, who masterminded the attacks in Bali and against Christians, is currently held in Guantanamo. A s part of a policy of repatriating Indonesians incarcerated abroad, Indonesian authorities envisage bringing him home after his group said it was disbanding. Activists argue that helping jailed migrant workers come home and leniency towards a convicted terrorist are not the same.

Israel celebrates the release of Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari as part of the fragile truce. However, the fate of the foreign workers still being held hostage in the Strip remains a mystery. These include six Thai nationals and one Nepalese national about whose fate nothing has transpired even during negotiations in recent days. The families' fears that “everything may fall apart” before their return.

The annual festival began with the devotion to the image of the Baby Jesus found by the expedition of conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi in 1565. For Archbishop Jose Palma, it is a “true source of joy and hope”. In 2025, El Niño “is the hope,” said Ruben Labajo, bishop-elect of Prosperidad hope.”

At least 106 skeletal remains (out of 500 initially found) of Tamil labourers and Allied prisoners of war who died during the Second World War building the infamous railway between Thailand and Myanmar will be cremated. At the end of the rites, the ashes will be placed in a special funerary urn. This posthumous recognition highlights the victims’ fight against the cruelty of their captors as well as diseases.