A Lenten initiative from the country’s bishops, with a call to pray “that God may grant his peace to the world and to Myanmar, and that there may be mutual understanding and progress in unity”. In a country where civil society has been systematically dismantled, the importance of such gestures, which also draw the world’s attention to the suffering of the people of Myanmar.
The temporary suspension of hostilities until 23 March was agreed by Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, who are pushing for negotiations on the conflict that began on 26 February. The heavy toll of the bombings on the Afghan capital. The Taliban speak of violations. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, statements by the US intelligence chief regarding “potential threats” from Pakistani missiles are causing controversy.
On this World Day, which highlights the potential of people with this chromosomal condition, the story of an Indian boy and his family who have welcomed him for over forty years, striving to ensure that his differences do not become an obstacle. The importance of faith in his life. Today he brings joy to everyone he meets and his smile is a blessing.
More than 100 days after the environmental disaster, over 60,000 people in Sri Lanka are living in makeshift accommodation. ‘The relief centres don't even have drinking water,’ they complain. The effects of the disaster compound the historical discrimination suffered by the tea plantation workers’ community. A petition with 15 demands have been submitted to the president and the government.
Today’s headlines: Washington suspends sanctions on Iranian oil, whilst Tehran allows Japanese ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz; Eleven people have died and dozens have been injured in a factory fire in Daejeon, South Korea; Himalayan glaciers are melting at twice the rate seen in 2000; Hong Kong slips further down the global happiness index.
The death of the patriarch who had led the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1977 and the fiftieth anniversary of the episcopal consecration of the patriarch of Moscow: two stories celebrated in the ‘Russian world’ as ‘heroism of faith resisting heresy’. Yet they also reveal the continuity between present-day Russia and the Stalinist era.
