| VATICAN

Leo XIV spoke about World Refugee Day at today’s Angelus, urging everyone to “welcome those who are victims of persecution”. On the day's Gospel, he said the faithful should “respond to hatred with love, to arrogance with meekness”. Yesterday, he visited Pavia where he venerated the relics of Saint Augustine, saying that reason is not confined to the “logic of profit or domination”.


With the People's Republic of China missing from the tournament for 24 years, the "card master" has become a celebrity among fans. He is the only Chinese tasked with refereeing a World Cup match, but also an ambassador for giants like Lenovo and Hinsense. Tomorrow evening, he will referee the Ecuador-Curaçao match, with two Chinese assistants.

| 20/06/2026
| CHINA – FIFA 2026
by Vladimir Rozansky

By targeting the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, Moscow has struck the sacred site it has used for centuries as evidence of its "special spiritual mission", which it refused to cede to the Ukrainians until its complete evacuation. Now it will be necessary to rebuild the place, like after the Tatar-Mongol invasion, and the Great Patriotic War against the Nazis.

 

| 20/06/2026
| RUSSIAN WORLD

In a speech to the foreign press, the Taiwanese leader hailed 30 years of democracy on the island, starting with the 1996 elections. He urged the US to unfreeze the US$ 14 billion arms sale, which has already been approved by Congress. Opposition leader Cheng Li-wun, just back from a visit to the United States, said that Trump’s position on his return from Beijing is “fairly consistent” with that of her party.

| 19/06/2026
| TAIWAN – CHINA

The Supreme Court suspended the sentence of the Cambodian dissident and opposition leader and reduced it from four to three years; it also barred him from running for and holding office. Rong slammed the authorities for trying to exclude him from local elections in 2027 and the general election in 2028.

| 19/06/2026
| CAMBODIA

A report by Center for the Study of Organised Hate, a US-based think tank, documents how YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and Meta are profiting from hundreds of songs that incite violence against religious minorities in India, violating their own guidelines.

| 19/06/2026
| INDIAN MANDALA
by Shafique Khokhar

Husband and wife, caretakers of a gurdwara, were ambushed and shot dead. Investigators have not ruled out a religiously motivated murder. Concern amongst the Sikh and Hindu minority communities. Fr Shakeel Gulzar: an attack on peace, religious harmony and humanity.

| 19/06/2026
| PAKISTAN
Editor's choices
 
After eight years, the trial against the Sisters has ended. In 2018, far-fetched child trafficking charges were laid against them, sparking worldwide media coverage. The High Court's verdict declared them not guilty. For Bishop Mascarenhas, “after ...
| 18/06/2026
| INDIA
 
by Alessandra De Poli
In online scam centres across South-East Asia, thousands of young people are reduced to digital slaves in one of the forms of violation of human dignity also highlighted in the encyclical ‘Magnifica Humanitas’. On the border between Thailand ...
| 17/06/2026
| SOUTH EAST ASIA
 
by Arundathie Abeysinghe
The new sustainability rules are causing difficulties for many local exporters. The European Union is the largest market for the textile industry. From September, companies will have to comply with requirements across the entire supply chain: firms are ...
| 16/06/2026
| SRI LAKA - EU
 
by Andrea Ferrario
Once classified by the Communist Party as “spiritual pollution”, this genre now generates billions of yuan in revenue and has become part of the state's cultural promotion strategy, within a clear geopolitical vision. "The Wandering Earth" ...
| 11/06/2026
| RED LANTERNS
 
by fr. Gabriel Romanelli *
On the Feast of Corpus Christi, the small community of the Holy Family performed the Eucharistic blessing towards the four cardinal points from the church square. The parish priest said: “From here we also blessed the towns that no longer exist: ...
| 09/06/2026
| GAZA
 
by Gregory
Stored gelignite reportedly caused a massive explosion that killed at least 55 people in a village in Shan State. The catastrophe has put the spotlight on the TNLA, a controversial militia that struck a deal with China. Meanwhile, according to the United ...
| 02/06/2026
| MYANMAR
 
by Chow Hang-tung *
In a message written from prison, the lawyer on trial alongside Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho for the 4 June vigils in Victoria Park speaks of the importance of resilience in remembering the 1989 massacre in Beijing, whilst the Hong Kong authorities cover ...
| 01/06/2026
| HONG KONG - CHINA
 
by Shafique Khokhar
In his encyclical, Pope Leo XIV singles out Pakistan's first female prime minister as a public figure who promoted the greatness of humanity. A Muslim, she was assassinated in 2007 in Rawalpindi. Pakistani Catholics expressed gratitude towards her ...
| 28/05/2026
| PAKISTAN – VATICAN
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”