by S. Khokhar and M. Manel Perera | ASIA – ISRAEL – GAZA

Asian members from Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka are part of the global humanitarian expedition. The son of Faisal Edhi, a leading figure in Pakistan’s humanitarian community, is among the people detained. As his fate remains unknown, his father has appealed to Pakistani authorities to obtain his release. For Asian activists, theirs is not just a "symbolic" participation.


A new report highlights coordinated online campaigns against voices critical of the government, whether media outlets or NGOs, following Prabowo Subianto’s accession to the presidency. Accounts linked to the military have spread accusations of being “foreign agents”, with consequences including violence, whilst major social media platforms have refrained from intervening.

| 19/05/2026
| INDONESIA

AsiaNews will host an evening of reflection to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. The event on May 21, in Milan will rediscover the testimony of Fr Robert Greene, a Maryknoll missionary imprisoned in Guangxi in the 1950s, and highlight the challenges faced by today’s Catholic communities in Beijing.

| 19/05/2026
| ITALY - CHINA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Since May, data on the grounds for court rulings relating to political and social repression, cases against military personnel, and those concerning defendants and convicts who are being sent to fight in the war in Ukraine have become inaccessible in Russia. In recent years, the figures had revealed an exponential rise in convictions for treason, espionage and collusion with foreign powers.

| 19/05/2026
| RUSSIA

Fourteen of 23 ministers have been named, with Interior and Defence still without office holder amid tensions between political parties. Two secret Israeli bases in Iraq were used to attack Iran. Pope Leo XIV met with Kurdistan's President Barzani. The newly elected Chaldean Patriarch Nona arrived in Baghdad, with his official inauguration on 29 May.

| 18/05/2026
| IRAQ
by Mathias Hariyadi

The blast occurred in the courtyard of St Paul's Church, Intan Jaya Regency, shortly after Sunday Mass. The injured are all civilians from the local community. Indonesian authorities have not yet clarified the origin of the device, delivered by a drone, nor identified those responsible. Meanwhile, fighting between separatists and Indonesian forces intensifies.

| 18/05/2026
| INDONESIA

An incentive plan has been launched to encourage residents to move from densely populated areas to new developments connected to metro stations. Some of the targeted areas are currently undergoing redevelopment. The capital's new master plan envisions development along a multipolar and multicentric structure, with the Red River as the main ecological and cultural axis.

| 18/05/2026
| VIETNAM
Editor's choices
 
by Nirmala Carvalho
The appeal made at the funerals of the three Baptist leaders killed in recent days during renewed clashes between the Kuki-Zo and Naga tribal groups: “I forgive those who killed my father in the name of the Lord and in the broader interest of peace.” ...
| 18/05/2026
| INDIA
 
One year on from the lightning war of May 2025, India and Pakistan continue to celebrate the conflict as a national victory. But behind the patriotic rhetoric, new military vulnerabilities are emerging, along with a growing arms race and unresolved tensions ...
| 11/05/2026
| INDIA - PAKISTAN
 
A new report by Human Rights Watch denounces the systems used by the People's Republic to promote Han Chinese identity starting in kindergarten. Tibetan is no longer used in teaching, while parents are forced to send videos to schools to prove Chinese ...
| 05/05/2026
| TIBET - CHINA
 
The pro-democracy leader has no direct access to her family or lawyers, even after she was moved to a specially built residence. Myanmar’s opposition and human rights groups are calling it yet another sham operation by General Min Aung Hlaing to ...
| 05/05/2026
| MYANMAR
 
by Giorgio Bernardelli
The Latin patriarch released a long pastoral letter on how to live as Christians in light of the "paradigm shift" that followed 7 October 2023, and the war in Gaza. Like the "New Jerusalem" in Revelation, the city could offer a way of being together ...
| 27/04/2026
| HOLY LAND
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”