by Vladimir Rozanskij | RUSSIA - FRANCE

The team that participated in the European Championships consisted only of refugees from Chechnya. They fled with their families at the time of the Putin war against Chechen separatists. It is now normal in sports for national teams to be multi-ethnic. Moscow attacks.


Hun Manet, eldest son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, criticised the Cambodia Daily for citing an investigation linking him to illegal logging in a protected area bordering Laos. An independent investigation found that the logging in pristine forests is linked to a government-connected tycoon, known as “Oknha Chey”.

| 20/03/2023
| CAMBODIA

Cui Maohu falls after anti-corruption agency started investigating his work in his native Yunnan. In June 2022 he was appointed head of the National Religious Affairs Administration, the executive arm of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China. His is the third disciplinary action against a high-ranking official after China’s parliament ended its annual meeting a few weeks ago.

| 20/03/2023
| CHINA
by Arundathie Abeysinghe

There are 300 manufacturing companies that employ 350 thousand workers and produce garments for dozens of major international brands. Trade unions: the companies 'have also closed entire facilities without even paying the paltry compensation recommended by the government'. The industry accounts for more than 50 per cent of total national export revenue.

| 20/03/2023
| SRI LANKA
by mons. Michel Sabbah *

In Nazareth, the Latin Patriarchate celebrated the pastor emeritus, whom John Paul II chose as the first Arab leader of this community. His message: 'I ask God for new eyes that see God and man, see lost peace and know that security exists only in people's hearts'. Pizzaballa: "Voice of truth and hope. His vision remains a guide for Jerusalem'.

| 20/03/2023
| HOLY LAND
by Vladimir Rozanskij

The 'president's gift' is part of presidential propaganda. The latest initiative that reintroduces it is the granting of 30 new buses to some cities. There is no control over the destination of these funds. In 2023 they will reach the sum of EUR 43 million.

| 20/03/2023
| TAJIKISTAN

Today's headlines: Hunt underway in India for a Khalistani separatist leader; China-Cambodia hold naval exercises; Thai PM Preyuth back in political polls: Former Australian soldier arrested for alleged crimes in Afghanistan; Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza's condition worsens.

| 20/03/2023
| ASIA TODAY
Editor's choices
 
This is the government's likely response to the effects of the rapidly aging population on the welfare system. Survey: 74% of respondents want retirement under 55; only 6% accept it over 61. Reform to raise the retirement age to 65 under consideration: ...
| 18/03/2023
| CHINA
 
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to send all asylum seekers crossing the English Channel to Rwanda. At least 250 girls from a Kabul school have moved to Kigali via Doha after the Taliban came back to power in August 2021. Rwanda’s government ...
| 15/03/2023
| AFGHANISTAN - RWANDA
 
by Giorgio Bernardelli
The text was officially made public today. It contains the reflections of Asian Bishops' Conferences brought to the assembly held last October in the Thai capital. Nine emerging challenges have been identified in Asian societies, from the role of ...
| 15/03/2023
| ASIA
 
by Dario Salvi
The Vicar of Anatolia recounts a situation "still in full emergency" and with a strong psychological impact. The earth continues to tremble and the toll - between Syria and Turkey - has exceeded 55,000 dead. The work of Caritas in cooperation with the ...
| 15/03/2023
| TURKEY
 
From Korea to Kazakhstan, from the victims of Typhoon Yolanda to the Rohingya, from Mother Teresa to Matteo Ricci, Pope Francis has paid constant attention to Asia over the past ten years. On the tenth anniversary of his election we present ten excerpts ...
| 12/03/2023
| ECCLESIA IN ASIA
 
Raised in the Catholic community in Shek Lei, Tang currently serves as secretary general of the International Domestic Workers Federation. She moved to the UK in September 2021, but recently travelled to Hong Kong to visit her husband who has been in ...
| 09/03/2023
| HONG KONG – CHINA
 
As people avoid going out and travelling, the local market place lies empty. Many fear “worse days ahead " amid the prevailing "pessimism”. Given the current political situation, hope for a just peace is virtually nil. Christians are "part ...
| 03/03/2023
| ISRAEL – PALESTINE
 
by Steve Suwannarat
Accused of conspiring with foreign forces, for the chair of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, he was convicted in “An act of sheer vindictiveness by the Hun Sen regime.” The upcoming Cambodian elections in July, the first without ...
| 03/03/2023
| CAMBODIA
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”