Middle East

by Dario Salvi | HOLY LAND – VATICAN

The Latin patriarch received his cardinal's biretta from Pope Francis. The presence of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch was a sign of progress in ecumenism. Christians in the Holy Land face the problems and challenges of the West (the family) and the East (the exodus). The patriarch expressed proximity to Card Sako and stressed Jerusalem’s role as a bridge with Asia’s Churches and faiths.


Today's news: official Riyadh delegation in the West Bank, an Israeli minister visits Saudi Arabia for the first time. Evergrande president under police control. A suicide attempt and the wounding of a protester during protests in Bangalore over a water dispute. Pyongyang ready to reopen borders to foreigners, closed since first phase of Covid-19 pandemic. Chinese holding company presents project to pump and distribute drinking water from the Kyrgyz-Uzbek basin.

| 27/09/2023
| ASIA TODAY
by Dario Salvi

A debate has opened in the country between those in favor and skeptics in the use of technology, in particular for the "speeding up" of the publications of sentences on religious matters. Beyond the dichotomy between tradition and modernity, Khamenei himself asks religious people to explore and support this process. Iranian government investments in the sector.

| 26/09/2023
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST

Today's news: further tragedy in the escape of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabach, at least 20 dead in the explosion of a fuel depot. 20 years later, there is still no compensation for the Iraqi victims of torture in US prisons, including Abu Grahib. North Korean athletes refuse photos with South Korean rivals at Asian Games. Manila removes in a "special operation" the floating barrier positioned by Beijing in a disputed area of the South China Sea.

| 26/09/2023
| ASIA TODAY

While Israel’s parliament is on recess for high holidays, one committee expedites one a bill advanced by Ben-Gvir and Levin to allow the police to use cameras for the identification and proactive or retroactive analysis of images. Activists and critics fear the law will be used in an abusive and twisted manner.

| 25/09/2023
| ISRAEL – PALESTINE

Today's news: Riyadh sets18-year jail term for high school student for tweets supporting political prisoners; At least 1400 migrant workers enter China every day from Myanmar through the Muse trade hub; Turkish, along with Arabic and Kurdish, is the third official language in Kirkuk; The Indian judiciary confiscates the property of a Sikh separatist leader; Taiwan wants to produce two new submarines by 2027 and equip subsequent ones with missiles; Seoul against the alliance between Pyongyang and Moscow.

| 25/09/2023
| ASIA TODAY
by Chiara Zappa

After the meeting with society's most vulnerable in the house of Mother Teresa's nuns, the speech at the Rencontres Méditerranéennes. "Just saying 'enough' to migration means turning a blind eye to the future: integration is tiring, but it prepares the future." The invitation to the Churches of the different shores of the Mediterranean: evaluate the opportunity of a joint Episcopal Conference.

| 23/09/2023
| VATICAN - FRANCE
Editor's choices
 
by Gianni Criveller
Father Gianni Criveller, a missionary who carried out his ministry for years in Greater China, is the new editor-in-chief of AsiaNews. In greeting readers, he writes that, while taking on a “precious legacy and demanding responsibility”, ...
| 01/10/2023
| EDITORIAL
 
A Human Rights Watch report highlights the conditions young workers face scrapping ships, one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Scrapping yards employ children as young as 13, violating international standards, polluting the sea, and covering ...
| 28/09/2023
| BANGLADESH
 
Jailed on 31 December 2020, Lai will go on trial under the national security law on 18 December after repeated postponements. His son Sebastian is concerned about his health. A group of 67 human rights organisations write to Biden asking him to bar Hong ...
| 26/09/2023
| HONG KONG – CHINA
 
by Santosh Digal
According to Philippine government estimates, by 2023 the number of migrants working abroad will reach 2 million. The Church remembers their sacrifices and envisages the creation of a personal prelature for their pastoral care in the world. Along with ...
| 25/09/2023
| PHILIPPINES
 
Bishop Yang Yongqiang of Zhouchun and Yao Shun of Jining are on the list of members released today a couple of weeks before the synod opens. They were picked by the local Church in agreement with the authorities and appointed by Pope Francis. ...
| 21/09/2023
| CHINA - VATICAN
 
by Dario Salvi
The cardinal relects on the the tumultuous weeks since the withdrawal of the presidential decree under pressure from self-styled leaders (in the pay of Tehran). A  "more subtle" threat hangs over the community, but with the same logic as Isis: drive ...
| 19/09/2023
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST
 
by Alessandra De Poli
In August, the UN Food and Agriculture Agency reported a 9.8 per cent price hike over July despite an overall drop in food prices. Rice is vulnerable to extreme climate events, like those that devastated Pakistan and China last year, but the recent increase ...
| 12/09/2023
| ASIA
 
The archbishop of Bologna continues the mission entrusted to him by Pope Francis. If, as some media reports suggest, he will meet Premier Li Qiang, this will be the first high-level meeting between a top Church official and the head of government of ...
| 12/09/2023
| CHINA – VATICAN
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”