The unexpected success of "Dear You”, a film produced on a small budget and in a local dialect, is reviving interest in China about the important role played by letter writing, which for over a century migrants used to send money and news to their families back home. These letters played a decisive role in China's current economic development, but were often accompanied by expressions of nostalgia and pain, written by local scribes. Beijing, however, is giving them a patriotic twist.
On the occasion of the centenary of the unification by Pope Pius XI of two different Italian institutes into PIME in 1926, the Archdiocese of Lucca commemorated two of its great missionaries, Father Allegrino Allegrini and Father Fedele Giannini, who carried out their ministry in the Land of the Rising Sun. For Cardinal Tagle, their story shows that God leads the mission, even through unexpected paths.
The measure levies penalties in social media starting 1 July, aimed at organisations, household businesses, and individuals. Fines are imposed for content that, among other things, deemed to cause panic, obstruct state agencies, and reveal state secrets. The latest crackdown on press freedom comes in the wake of similar action taken in late 2025, following Tô Lâm rise to power.
The girl had just won first place in her class exam and was about to celebrate her achievement, but was instead raped and murdered. Police arrested 34-year-old neighbour Sohel Rana and his wife. The pain of her classmates and the calls for justice (or revenge) reverberate across a shocked nation. For advocate Singha, child abuse “reflects a deep social failure” in society.
In Lebanon, the first assembly of the “khouriyètes”, the affectionate term for the wives of married priests. A “virtuous revolution” for the Maronite Church, promoted by the bishops of Antelias and Batroun and supported by the patriarch. A message of encouragement from Cardinal Mario Grech: “Be faithful to your vocation”.
Today’s headlines: in India, the BJP has taken down the social media accounts of a satirical campaign critical of the government; Vietnam is interested in buying Indian missiles as a countermeasure against China; Uproar in South Korea over a Starbucks employee who downplays the atrocities of the dictatorship era; Zelensky claims responsibility for an attack on Russian military headquarters in Kherson, leaving 100 dead or injured.
