With the passing of the Women Farmers’ Empowerment Bill, Maharashtra has introduced legislation guaranteeing equal access to financial support and public services for millions of women workers. Until now, they had been excluded because they did not own the land and were considered labourers.
Today’s headlines: A fire in Fujian, the ‘shoe capital of China’, claims 28 lives; Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to launch his own AI-generated avatar; Hotels and restaurants in Japan struggle to cope with over tourism; Pakistan also wants to act as a mediator in Libya.
The House of Representatives passed the “Act on Promoting a Peaceful Society”. Both royalists who led the 2008 protests and supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin who laid siege to downtown Bangkok are expected to benefit from this cross-party measure. Those convicted of the controversial crime of lèse-majesté are excluded.
He was arrested a year ago under the local national security law imposed by Beijing, modelled on Hong Kong’s, on charges of “subversion”. The former primary school teacher was a member of the Legislative Assembly since the times of Portuguese rule and has called for free elections for the post of chief executive, judicial independence, and administrative transparency.
Thousands of people took to the streets to demand the postponement of the 2027 census until the National Register of Citizens is updated. For the majority Meitei, this is a tool against illegal immigration from Myanmar, while for the Kuki-Zo minority, it risks becoming a means of political and social exclusion. The ethnic conflict that broke out in 2023 remains unresolved, exacerbated by competition for land and cross-border routes.
Buddhist monks and farm workers are taking to the fields to defend the rights of livestock farmers in the disputed area of the Eastern Province. The land has come under the scrutiny of rice farmers. In 1974, the area was designated a ‘grazing area’, partly to ensure the balance of the ecosystem. Converting the land would also deprive elephants of their habitat, raising the risk of attacks on villages.
Lawmakers in Tashkent have approved a bill replacing the current letters o', g', ch and sh to standardise the spelling of Uzbek words in international digital systems, thereby preventing problems with electronic payment systems, machine translation and online dictionaries.
In a pastoral letter to the faithful linked to the Lefebvrists but opposed to the break caused by the illegal episcopal ordinations in Écône that led to the schism, Bishop Ayuban offers specific pastoral support, opening the way to more opportunities of celebrating the Tridentine Mass. “Let us act with pastoral prudence, doctrinal clarity, and brotherly charity,” he writes.
The local Church celebrated with gratitude the significant anniversary of the religious profession of one of the Discalced Carmelite nuns from the monastery that has stood on Bukit Hill since 1938. Her testimony on the diocesan website: “We discover God’s hand in the work we do and in the sisters with whom we live”
The bombings in the Syrian capital, coinciding precisely with Macron’s visit and his meeting with Trump in Turkey, have reignited doubts about the extent to which the former jihadist-turned-president truly controls the country. The army is ‘absorbing’ more than sixty militias but without dismantling the local power bases, while international players pursue different objectives regarding the ‘new Syria’.
Today’s headlines: Seven Rohingya school girls and their teacher die in Bangladesh landslide. New US strikes against Iranian targets, prompt Iranian retaliation on American bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar; Pakistani aircraft that went missing yesterday off the coast of Karachi located; South Korea’s delivery riders loose long legal battle against a leading delivery firm.
“Bethlehem van Java” is a walking route through the key sites in the history of the local Church. The first event, held at the end of June, saw over 70 participants gather in Muntilan. The next is scheduled for November and is expected to attract a larger number of the faithful. It is a way of embracing the faith of those who came before us and promoting evangelisation.
For Khalil Sayegh, nothing suggests Hamas plans to lay down its arms. The visit of Patriarchs Pizzaballa and Theophilus is a positive sign for a population haunted by a humanitarian tragedy amid international silence. The situation is "bad” with "daily violations and killings" by the Israeli military.
Several recently dismantled networks moved around 133 million dollars through online platforms based in Cambodia. The Vietnamese government has stepped up its crackdown, but the ban on gambling continues to fuel an illegal market linked to money laundering, online fraud and human trafficking.
Today, Washington and Beijing clash over tariffs, Taiwan, and technology. Yet Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other leading figures of the American Revolution also found inspiration in the thoughts of Confucius and the meritocratic system of the Chinese empire. This forgotten story speaks to a different beginning in relations between the two powers.
According to official licence statistics, as many as 30,000 are aged between 70 and 79. This reflects not only the ageing population but also the financial difficulties faced by those who lost their jobs during the Covid pandemic. And with pensions insufficient to cover their expenses, many make ends meet by working as taxi drivers.
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