by Arundathie Abeysinghe | SRI LANKA – CHINA

The largest foreign investment in the history of Sri Lanka has been on hold since the start of the year. Differences between the government over local market share have stopped the Sinopec project in Hambantota. The economic recovery plan has raised fears that it will damage the country’s oil sector and energy security.


The Pakistani government has decided to strengthen alternative justice mechanisms in the tribal province on the border with Afghanistan, promoting the traditional jirga system and integrating it into the national legal framework. In the past, relations with the provincial administration had been tense after the latter tried to independently involve the Afghan Taliban in security talks. Meanwhile, attacks continue in the region.

| 02/07/2025
| PAKISTAN
by Lisa Bongiovanni

According to data from the International Energy Agency, ASEAN countries will have 300 million units installed in 2040, compared to 37 million today. Meanwhile, India is set to overtake China as the world's largest consumer of air conditioning. The challenge of sustainability lies in renewable energy sources, but also in new systems such as the “cold coils” being tested in Singapore.

| 02/07/2025
| ASIA
by Vladimir Rozanskij

According to data from the country's Hydrometeorological Agency, the phenomenon has increased more than tenfold in the last thirty years as a result of climate change and intensive access to water sources. The dust worsens air quality and accelerates glacier melt. Urgent measures are needed, such as those taken by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which are planting a million shrubs at the bottom of the Aral Sea.

| 02/07/2025
| TAJIKISTAN

Thanks to the collaboration of the bishops of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, “A call for climate justice and the common home” was presented 10 years after Laudato Si’ and the Paris Agreement. The document warns against “false solutions" like “green capitalism" and urges rich countries to pay their ecological debt. For FABC President and Archbishop of Goa Ferrão, COP30 should be a “moral turning point".

| 01/07/2025
| VATICAN – ASIA

India’s highest court will have reserved positions for Dalits and other disadvantaged groups, except for justices. “The Supreme Court has delivered several landmark judgments on affirmative action, it had to apply it,” said Chief Justice Gavai, a Dalit.

| 01/07/2025
| INDIA

The Pheu Thai leader stepped aside after she was suspended by the Constitutional Court to consider if her phone call with former Cambodian PM Hun Sen was an ethical violation. In the meantime, a court case involving her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, got underway. The People's Party led by Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut is calling for parliament to be dissolved to give voters the power to choose; meanwhile, a cabinet reshuffle was approved this morning. The post of defence minister is vacant.

| 01/07/2025
| THAILAND
Editor's choices
 
by Giorgio Bernardelli
The report drafted for the late pope by a group of economists led by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz has been released. The study calls for a new global initiative for the most indebted poor countries but also lays out the rules for fairer finance ...
| 20/06/2025
| VATICAN
 
Maryam Marof Arwin, founder of the Purple Saturdays Movement, spoke to AsiaNews about often inhumane conditions of Afghan refugees in Iran, which got worse following Israel’s recent strikes. At least one Afghan has died so far from an airstrike. ...
| 20/06/2025
| IRAN - AFGHANISTAN
 
by Alessandra De Poli
On 19 June, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Burmese democratic leader will turn 80 in prison, where she has been held since the military coup in February 2021. Despite her enforced silence, her son Kim Aris tells AsiaNews how his mother ...
| 17/06/2025
| MYANMAR
 
by Dario Salvi
The Archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan of the Latins tells AsiaNews of his concern over the escalation in recent hours. The cardinal, who participated in the conclave that elected Pope Francis, was appointed by the Pope precisely to keep alive the Christian ...
| 13/06/2025
| IRAN - VATICAN
 
In Hong Kong, the NGO that reported on spontaneous worker protests and workplace accidents in mainland China has been forced to cease operations. It was founded in 1994 by activist Han Dongfang, who tried to set up an independent trade union in Tiananmen ...
| 13/06/2025
| HONG KONG - CHINA
 
The ceremony took place today in Fujian province. Leo XIV, in his first choice regarding the Church in China, formally appointed Lin Yuntuan alongside Ordinary Bishop Cai Bingrui (the last Chinese bishop appointed by Francis in January). The Holy See ...
| 11/06/2025
| CHINA – VATICAN
 
by Alessandra De Poli
New data from the International Labour Organisation and UNICEF indicate a drop of 22 million child workers in four years. However, 138 million children remain trapped in this scourge, particularly in agriculture and the informal economy. Expert Insaf ...
| 11/06/2025
| ASIA
 
by Gregory
The Trump administration’s immigration restrictions have had a devastating impact on people from Myanmar’s, disproportionately affecting refugees and students. Many of them, who have waited years in refugee camps, are now seeing their dreams ...
| 07/06/2025
| MYANMAR
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”