The year begins with elections in Bangladesh, Thailand and Nepal, but also with the Vietnamese Communist Party Congress. The Philippines will hold the rotating presidency of ASEAN, while Shenzhen will host the APEC summit. Japan will host the 20th edition of the Asian Games. Anniversaries include 500 years of the Mughal Empire in India and 50 years since the death of Mao Zedong.
Leo XIV on the first day of 2026: “Without desiring good, there would be no point in turning the pages of the calendar”. At Mass on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: “The world is not saved by sharpening weapons but by striving to understand and forgive”.
The list includes Japan's first female prime minister, Nepal's Generation Z, and Field Marshal Munir in Pakistan. We also have Zohran Mamdani, who today speaks to India from his post as mayor of New York; Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, still in prison for daring to challenge Erdoğan, Cambodia’s first Khmer bishop since the Pol Pot years and Pope Francis’s legacy in Asia.
Today's news: Thailand has released 18 Cambodian soldiers, while the truce between the two sides holds. In Japan, more than three million people suffer from alcohol-related disorders. For the first time in Israel's history, population growth dropped below 1 per cent in 2025. Archaeologists in Pakistan discovered an ancient civilisation dating back to the 6th century BC.
Many young doctors avoid psychiatry due to social stigma and family expectations. Cultural myths and fears over marriage prospects discourage especially female students. Meanwhile, suicide and mental health disorders are on the rise in the Northern Province, amid poverty and isolation.
The chairman of Yemen’s Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council declares a state of emergency and cancels a defence pact with the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia carries out airstrikes against ships carrying weapons for the separatists. Already caught up in a conflict with pro-Iranian rebels, Yemen is a risk of further violence and chaos. In the background, Israel recognises an independent Somaliland, ostensibly as part of its war against the Houthis (and Tehran).
