Some 200 people arrested in Phnom Penh for online fraud

At the general audience, Francis retraces the stages of the trip to Budapest and Slovakia, "a pilgrimage of prayer, a pilgrimage to the roots, a pilgrimage of hope." Roots "not as museum exhibits, not ideologized and instrumentalized for interests of prestige and power, to consolidate a closed identity. No." "Violence against women is an open sore. It’s everywhere."

In southern Vietnam’s largest city, 1,500 children have been orphaned by COVID-19. “Many don't even know their parents are dead,” says a social worker. Government has taken steps to deal with the emergency.

Ali Kaliora, leader of a terrorist group affiliated with the Islamic State, was killed by a joint task force of the police and the army. Four people managed to escape. The area has long been the scene of violence between Christians and Muslim extremists.

The construction of the largest battery manufacturing plant in Southeast Asia is underway in cooperation with South Korea. With the largest nickel deposits in the world, domestic processing will enable Indonesia to double the value of its nickel exports, says a geologist.

Cambodia extends vaccination campaign to children under six. The aim is to immunize 91 per cent of the population and reopen the tourism sector. China and the UAE plan to vaccinate three-year-old. Hong Kong lawmakers turn to Pfizer for a third jab after no antibodies detected from Chinese vaccine.

Conceived in anti-Chinese terms, Trump had rejected it in 2017. Japan is skeptical. The Chinese would have to meet the pact's high standards, especially on the environment, labor rights and state-owned enterprises. Taiwan also wants to join the CPTPP. Consumption languishes in China, Xi still relies on exports for recovery from pandemic.

‘The Congregation for Religious is examining the religious congregations and associations created in this period.” Among the latter, many have been placed under external control. Positions of governance in lay groups are a “call to serve” that runs up against a hunger for power and disloyalty.

Juan Macababbad, vice president of the Union of Peoples' Lawyers in Mindanao, defended the victims of the 2018 Lake Sebu massacre. According to Global Witness, the Philippines ranked third in the world in 2020 for this type of murder with 29 activists killed defending their land.

Declining cases, more than 20% of the adult population vaccinated with two doses. An app has been set up to check the vaccination certificates of foreign visitors. Operators in Bali hope for recovery after a year and a half of paralysis.

Telecom company Telenor pulls out of the country refusing to spy on its customers for the ruling military junta. For now, the military regime will not get a seat at the UN General Assembly.

Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his government plan to appeal last week’s High Court ruling overturning a discriminatory law that grants citizenship to children of mixed couples only if the father is Malaysian. For civil society groups, the government’s appeal is a “betrayal of rights”.

Christians “are weavers of dialogue where hostility is growing; models of fraternal life where society is experiencing tension and hostility; bringers of the sweet fragrance of hospitality and solidarity where personal and collective selfishness too often prevails, protectors and guardians of life where the culture of death reigns.”

“Judgement and prejudice only increase distances. Hostility and sharp words are not helpful. Marginalizing others accomplishes nothing. Segregating ourselves and other people eventually leads to anger. The path to peaceful coexistence is integration,” said Francis. What is more, “Bombarded by virtual messages, we risk losing our real roots,” he added. “To grow disconnected from life, or to fantasize in a void, is not a good thing; it is a temptation from the evil one. God wants us to be firmly grounded, connected to life.”

"How many generous persons suffered and died here in Slovakia for the name of Christ! Theirs was a witness borne out of love of him whom they had long contemplated. To the point that they resembled him even in their death. I think too of our own time, in which there is no lack of opportunities for bearing witness.”