Today's news: At least 71,000 children have been displaced by war in Yemen while drones reach Riyadh. Pakistan thwarts an Afghan Taliban attack in Gulistan. Hanoi and Pyongyang plan to strengthen defence cooperation. Singapore's population hits a new record high.
Pope Francis’s first day in France a visit to the Pavillon d’Honneur where he asked, “What does it mean to be human?” He spoke out against dehumanisation and a view of humanity tied to efficiency, noting that AI is incapable of answering questions about “meaning”. At the Élysée Palace, he said not to consider “the prospect of war” as “inevitable;” urging instead “dialogue and diplomacy.”
Putting aside the rhetoric and panda diplomacy, the only outcome of the visit is the extension of the tariff truce until 10 January. Between now and then, the APEC summit will be held in Shenzhen and the G20 in Miami. Regarding Taiwan, China is asking the United States to oppose independence. Japan is unhappy about references to the wartime anti-Japanese unity.
Two of the three election commission members raised concerns at least 14 times over ten months regarding voter registration, deletions, and the digital management of electoral rolls. An investigation sparked a swift reaction from the opposition and young people.
Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah addressed the General Assembly on the tragedy of the 26 August floods, which left over 1,400 dead and thousands missing. He proposed a climate resilience mechanism for the Himalayas involving India and China, and called on the international community to reassess its priorities: “We are being hit by a climate emergency that we did not cause and by wars that we did not start.”
Indicators are in the red, entrepreneurs are operating at a loss, and families are resorting to loans even to pay for weddings. High fuel costs are leading to illegal logging, and people are increasingly forced to forgo necessities. Despite warnings from the IMF, the banking lobby holds 90 per cent of account holders in a stranglehold.
It has been 24 years since the killing of seven employees of the organisation linked to the diocese. An armed group stormed the building, targeting one of the symbolic centres of Christian activism. Fr Khalid: their voices “have not been silenced”, their memory “is a call for peace and justice”.
Today’s headlines Pakistan foils another Taliban attack on the border; Cambodia hands down seven years’ imprisonment for four supporters of the Candlelight Party; Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey discuss a defence agreement following Houthi attacks; Four new airport projects in Tajikistan
Despite its vast reserves, Ashgabat has never managed to find enough buyers. China has been the largest buyer of Turkmen gas for over fifteen years, whilst Europe is reviving the idea of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline to bypass Moscow. But the Turkmen government is looking instead to the TAPI pipeline to India (via Afghanistan)
While Xi Jinping visits Washington (where the issue of human rights remains taboo), Chinese authorities informed the family of Shi Tingfu that he had died in prison from a “heart attack”. The long-time activist had been detained in 2024 for reporting on protests by a group of farmers. For the CHRD, the denial of medical care constitutes a form of torture in China today.
Each summer the French Dominican friar and official at the Dicastery for Christian Unity completes a new stage of an uninterrupted pilgrimage on foot that has now taken him from Rome all the way to Antioch. He reflects on the pilgrimage as a synthesis of life, the hospitality received in monasteries and mosques, and the encounters along the way. “Patriarch Bartholomew told me: ‘Go all the way to Jerusalem’.”
Six years after Umar Khalid’s arrest, screenings of the documentary have been cancelled in Hyderabad and Bangalore. The Indian film certification board never approved the film, thereby claiming that public screenings are illegal. Khalid remains in prison without trial in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots.
Education Minister Ja Htoi Pan spoke to AsiaNews. Five years after the 2021 coup, 6.3 million young people lack access to a basic education. There is an urgent need for safety. “We provide schools with safety drills and air-raid shelters." Aung San Suu Kyi remains a beacon of “hope for the people”.
With the Bothekoshi Valley impassable, the only open trade route with China now runs through the Korala Pass at an altitude of 4,650 metres. Beijing is pushing for major infrastructure projects there as well. Until now, Kathmandu has preserved the environment and identity of the plateau, a region some identify with the mythical Shangri-La.
In a new book, Swiss aid worker Kathi Zellweger recounts her unique experience of 25 years of travelling to and staying in Pyongyang, which began in 1995 when she delivered humanitarian aid with Caritas Hong Kong during the famine. ‘The resilience I have seen amongst the most vulnerable gives me hope even in the face of today’s new restrictions’.
More than the deposits themselves, the expertise acquired in mining institutes has ensured China's control over a large share of global production, a disadvantage the West will need years to overcome. To counter the lucrative wages offered by US companies, Beijing is pre-emptively withholding passports from qualified personnel.
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