A legal expert and politician, he was one of dictator Ferdinand Marcos's closest aides, designing and implementing martial law. But he was also a key figure in the 1986 crisis that ultimately brought down the regime. Still at the centre of politics, he served as legal advisor to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. even as he approached his 100th birthday. A divisive figure, he was for some, a symbol of political skill, for others, an emblem of elite impunity.

A new, large-scale mining facility, 75 per cent owned by Chinese companies, began operations this week in the hills of southern Guinea. It is expected to have a major impact on the global mining industry, not least because of the quality of the extracted material, which is more suitable for low-carbon steel production.

Through a chirograph, the pope gave a new legal form to the network of port chaplaincies to continue this service with "enthusiasm and generosity." Meanwhile, Cardinal Czerny, in his message for World Fisheries Day, laments that “many fishermen face storms far beyond the seas: low income, job insecurity, poor working conditions, being far from their families.”

Reform Rabbi and human rights activist Jeremy Milgrom begins by reading every day the names of Palestinian victims to denounce Israel's moral, political, and religious decline. Israeli society has become fragmented, marked by extremism, the misuse of biblical texts, and fear. Milgrom describes how the balance of power is changing in Israeli society and calls for a revival of the tradition of mercy to hear “the cry of the oppressed” before it is too late.

Indonesia is the world's largest producer of this raw material and the crossroads of discussions on its environmental sustainability. Over the last year, prices have fallen by more than 17%, but operators in the sector are optimistic about the biofuel market. Forty-one per cent of Indonesian plantations are owned by small farmers.

Tension is high in the capital of Bangladesh and other areas, with violence targeting vehicles and public spaces during the days of protests called by the Awami League against Yunus's ‘illegal government’. There have been about twenty attacks as of last night, with patrols and roadblocks. The leaders of the party excluded from the elections deny any involvement and speak of a government manoeuvre to discredit it. Offices and schools are closed today.