Increasingly frequent heatwaves are reducing the income and increasing the expenses of millions of informal workers. To tackle this crisis, parametric insurance is becoming more widespread, offering automatic compensation when temperatures exceed certain pre-set thresholds.
The judges have ruled that disclosing the sex of the unborn child is a discriminatory and harmful practice, as well as being unconstitutional. The ruling comes at a time when the scourge of selective abortion, leading to the elimination of female foetuses, remains widespread. In the country, although abortions are formally permitted only to save the mother’s life, 1.58 million are performed annually, putting the health of many mothers at risk as well.
Speaking at a seminar organised in Samarkand by the Asian Development Bank, the Deputy Minister of Transport from Tashkent recalled how, during the Soviet era, Central Asia was part of a single country where logistics chains functioned effectively. The challenge now is to overcome today’s borders through new digital infrastructure.
Iran accuses Prime Minister-designate al-Zaidi of being too close to US positions. Iraqi officials say Tehran is trying to exercise a veto and pressure Iraqi Shias. A visit by US officials is expected to oversee the formation of the new Iraqi cabinet. Israel is rumoured to have set up a secret base in the west of the country.
The Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue issued a message of good wishes to the world’s Buddhists on the occasion of the feast of Vesak. May goodness break “the cycle of suspicion” and open “paths where none seemed possible,” it reads. May “prayer, contemplation, and inner transformation” be “deepest sources” for a peace that believers can build together rather than be “passive observers”.
With 255 votes in favour, the process to impeach the vice president, blocked by the Supreme Court due to a procedural flaw, reached again the quorum. Today, however, the Duterte clan saw a loyalist elected to lead the Senate, which will examine the charges. The country’s Catholic bishops call for a process that transcends political manoeuvring.
