United Arab Emirates

| UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

First pastoral letter by Bishop Martinelli, who urges the faithful not to be "slaves, but sons". The faith must be transmitted "no longer by convention, but with conviction" by communicating "the reasons why one believes". The call for an 'intercultural' path that allows the different Church realities present in the Gulf to interact, to get to know each other, and to train for cooperation.


Today's news: Arab diplomacy meets in Saudi Arabia to end the war in Gaza; Delhi aims to discontinue the visa-free policy to Myanmar and block entry to the north-east; A Houhti court sentences 13 people to death by public execution for homosexuality; Ulan Bator aims to launch the country's first satellite to strengthen communications; Outgoing president Ilham Aliev in the lead with counting almost complete.

| 09/02/2024
| ASIA TODAY
by mons. Paolo Martinelli

US attacks against Houthi targets in Yemen continue. Stalemate over negotiations between Israelis and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza. Five years after Francis' trip to the Gulf, Mgr. Martinelli speaks of a "dramatic moment" in the history of humanity and the region. The document signed with the imam "prophetic" in a peace perspective.

| 05/02/2024
| UAE - YEMEN - VATICAN

Today's news: in Gaza, a hospital again under attack; In Vietnam first hearing of maxi-trial for "gun attack" in Central Highlands; Indian migrant workers going to Israel will not be entitled to Delhi's social protections; Fourth spill of treated water from Fukushima in February; Istanbul, a fee for foreign visitors to enter Hagia Sophia.

| 17/01/2024
| ASIA TODAY
by Dario Salvi

US and British air raids against pro-Iranian rebels first act of a possible widening of the war. An operation in response to assaults on ships bound for the Red Sea by the rebels. Mgr. Martinelli: difficulties in reaching "a stable equilibrium", the "great concern" for the situation in the Holy Land remains. In Yemen "the nuns' work for the poor and sick continues".

| 13/01/2024
| GULF - GAZA

Today's headlines: Laos’s debt tops 112 per cent of its GDP. Chechnya starts to take in Palestinian refugees. Malaysia wants to attract more wealthy foreign retirees. All of Japan’s prefectures, except Tokyo, will see a population decline by 2050 over 2020. China blocks some flights between Russia and China.

| 23/12/2023
| ASIA TODAY
by Arundathie Abeysinghe

At the ongoing UN conference in Dubai, the Sri Lankan president proposed two initiatives: the establishment of the Forum of the Countries of the Global South to exert political weight in the dialogue with the countries of the North, and the creation of a university on the island to work exclusively on the issue of global warming.

| 05/12/2023
| SRI LANKA
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“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”