Today's headlines: as Pyongyang tests more missiles, Seoul warns of risk of exposure to radioactive materials. In Vietnam, US diplomats prevented from meeting Christian leaders. 150 asylum seekers died in Malaysia in 2022, while on the island of Nauru two migrants sewed their lips shut in protest.
On 19-21 November, economists and entrepreneurs under 35 from around the world will meet online. More than 40 countries will be connected, with live streaming from Assisi. Some 2,000 people have registered with at least 12 link-ups to 115 countries, four hours a day plus a 24-hour marathon on the second day, and contributions from more than 20 countries.
The meeting with the president of the German Bishops Conference, in all likelihood touched upon the assembly with "deliberative power" convoked by the Germans to address issues such as the separation of power in the Church, priestly life, women's access to ministry and to offices in the Church and sexual morality.
Except for Singapore, the only country in the region to have imposed sanctions on Russia, most SE Asian countries have not taken sides. The biggest concern is the rising cost of raw material. Several states have maintained relations with Russia, partly because of its propaganda, also relayed by China.
Bishop Peter Lee Ki-Heon, chairman of the Commission for Reconciliation, led a delegation to the Diocese of Lang Son-Cao Bang. Some 350,000 South Korean soldiers fought alongside US troops in the Vietnam War. This week, a court in Seoul awarded compensation to a Vietnamese woman wounded in a 1968 operation in which 70 civilians were killed.
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.
