To reduce dependence on China, India has initiated direct contacts with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The Indian Ministry of Mines has engaged state-owned IREL and Midwest Advanced Materials, a private firm, to explore potential large-scale exports from Myanmar. Meanwhile, India’s government has decided to exempt mining projects from mandatory public consultations, effectively excluding local communities from vetting mining projects.

Five kilometres from the border with Israel, the institute founded under the Ottoman Empire in 1881 for Christian girls is fighting for survival. Fr Youssef Nasr: Catholic schools welcome around 190,000 students, 20% of the total and 30% of private schools. Non-Christians account for 30%, although in some areas the figure exceeds 60%. The economic challenge for survival and post-war ethnic tensions.

Already 38 clerics linked to the Moscow Patriarchate have been found ‘guilty’ of treason by the courts in Kiev. Many are asking to be transferred to Russia, but there are no signs of a particularly favourable welcome there: in the ‘hybrid war’ of Ukrainian politics, the presence of ‘loyal’ metropolitans, bishops and priests in the country is a factor that cannot be ignored.

According to Japan’s National Police Agency, more than 40,000 lonely deaths at home were reported in the first half of this year. More than one case in four is discovered after more than a week. The causes include an aging population, weakening relationships, and a reluctance to seek help. “A person told me that [. . .] he has only one friend left, whom he talks to twice a year,” says Father Marco Villa, head of a counselling centre in Koshigaya. Loneliness is the country’s greatest tragedy.

New guidelines from the state education department are designed to curb marginalisation and discrimination based on ethnicity and caste. Strict confidentiality regarding caste affiliation is required, especially for scholarship recipients. For Fr Devasagaya Raj, Catholic schools should do more to promote the Gospel values of equality.

Only 53 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot in the former Portuguese colony, despite shuttles carrying casino workers to vote at the urging of local government leader Sam Hou-fai. In July, 12 candidates were barred, and a former lawmaker arrested on "national security" grounds under legislation imposed by Beijing. Even among those who did vote, many returned a blank or spoilt ballot paper.