Authorities say content likely originated from a China-based platform and sought to inflame tensions against the city-state’s Indian community, a key pillar of Singapore’s multicultural society.
The death of a shopkeeper hit by a police bullet has sparked unrest in Rawalakot. At the root of the tensions is the decision by the Islamabad government to outlaw the Joint Awami Action Committee, a group calling for improved public services and local political reforms. Despite the crackdown, a protest march has been announced and is expected to begin tomorrow.
Graduations taking place in recent weeks in Russia have been marked not only by officials and members of Putin’s party, as has been the case for years, but also by “SVO veterans,” participants in the war in Ukraine. Authorities are increasingly recruiting young people from technical institutes to train them as drone operators.
Indian bishop and theologian Felix Machado addressed the international consultation on ecumenism in Asia in Chang Mai. “[W]e are called to seize every opportunity to extend the hand of reconciliation, in order to heal the wounds,” he said.
On his second day in Spain, Leo XIV led the Mass in Plaza de Cibeles, attended by more than a million people. Processions should not be a “remnant of folklore,” he said, but be “the presence of the Risen Lord." Jesus “is not confined to the church, but comes out to meet us.” People should abandon a "comfortable, private faith" to “go forth into the paths of life.” Last night, during the vigil with young people, he told them to “be the sparks of a new humanity.”
In the capital, where he began his long apostolic journey to Spain, Leo XIV urged “everyone to set aside divisive and polarizing narratives" and appreciate complexity rather than “identity-based approaches that [. . .] fill the world with ‘ghosts’.” He cited the examples of Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila, as well as the fruitful dialogue that took place at the time of the Islamic presence in Andalusia. He stressed that “religious freedom” is essential to reach out to others.
