Today's headlines: emergency landing in Nepal for a Shree Airlines plane; for Women's Day, the Pyongyang regime calls for more children for the army; three more Palestinian victims today in the West Bank from an Israeli raid. More than 14,000 Protestant Christians attend Spring Love Festival in Vietnam; more and more Japanese companies leave Russia.

The Babylon Movement denounces its unconstitutionality because it ignores the rights of minorities. The law was approved in 2016, but only recently became official with publication in the Gazette. Fines of up to 16,000 euro. In Iraqi Kurdistan, a thousand-year-old Assyrian site was vandalised with the inscription 'Allah Akhbar'.

The story of 13-year-old Haydar Karar, forced into carpentry eight hours a day, for seven days, since the age of eight. For a weekly wage of about 20 euros. Mohanad Jabbar, 14, works in a shop, but dreams of becoming an engineer. The areas once under Islamic State where exploitation is most widespread. The failure of government policies.

In his message to the faithful, the cardinal recalls that fasting is an occasion "of searching", "repentance" and "orientation towards God". It does not only embrace a "material dimension", but has a "theological and spiritual" value. His thoughts turn to the Chaldeans in the diaspora, who have a "desperate need for awareness and belonging" to their land.

A Custody delegation visited Iraq in the days of the episcopal ordination of the new Syrian Catholic bishop of Mosul, a country marked by the drama of the Islamic State. The visit to Baghdad Cathedral, theatre of the 2010 massacre. The statue of Our Lady in Basra, where Muslims also stop to pray.

Feb. 3 scheduled for episcopal ordination of Fr. Younan Hano. In the former capital of the Islamic caliphate, residents committed to rebuilding by working together. Commitment to peace and dialogue prevails, but economic element weighs. Need "time" to eradicate extremist ideology. The value of unity among churches and the relationship with the Chaldeans.