A year ago, violence broke out between ethnic Meitei and Kuki, tearing apart the northeastern state, with at least 220 deaths. In a situation that remains tense and painful, Archbishop Linus Neli called for three days of fasting and prayer. “[W]e know only too well the present scenario of ethnic segregation,” but we “pray for the day when people of all ethnicities and religious communities can live together”. To this end, we urge “positive action from the State Government and other authorities”.
A year after his first historic visit to Beijing, the cardinal and a group of aides held meetings in local churches in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two metropolises in southern China on, like Hong Kong, the Pearl River Delta. He also encouraged meetings among the laity to feel “that we belong to one family”.
The "Dambana ng Paghilom" is in the Laloma Cemetery in Caloocan City. Diplomats, men and women religious, as well as victims’ families attended the site’s ceremonial blessing. A woman says she was forced to sign a waiver, saying that her bullet-ridden husband had died of "pneumonia”.
This move follows the imposition of compulsory military service in February on men up to 35 years and women up to 27. In the last three months, 100,000 men have applied for expatriation and many others have fled to Thailand to avoid the draft.
There are 9 million uninhabited houses, almost 14% of the country's residential building stock. A phenomenon destined to increase as the population ages. It is affected by people moving from the outlying prefectures to Tokyo, but also by the elderly dying or going into nursing homes. Buildings are not maintained, exposed to collapse and arson.
There is still deep disagreement between Lebanon and Brussels over the presence of more than two million people in the country without official documents. The country of the cedars demands their repatriation, while Europe only wants to avert migration to its shores, offering money in exchange. On the table is an aid plan for one billion euros over four years.
