Travel remains difficult with people still gripped by fear after Friday’s devastating quake in the country’s central regions. In addition to the aftershocks, people face ongoing military operations. “It's like shooting a wounded person,” said Sister Valentina Pozzi, the mother superior of the institute founded by Fr Carlo Salerio, which today has 380 local members. “It is a miracle that there were no victims among the sisters we were able to contact,” she told AsiaNews.
In Varanasi, the celebrations for the end of Ramadan are blocked due to closures related to a Hindu holiday. Meat, fish and poultry shops have had to close; only a few vegetarian markets are available. Protests also break out in Meerut over the ban on street praying.
Pope Francis has approved his canonisation, together with that of Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan, killed in the Armenian genocide. A lay catechist, To Rot was killed in 1945 for defending marriage against the Japanese who, in order to ingratiate themselves with local tribes, promoted polygamy.
Jeyakumari Balendran writes to the president, the fifth since her son was detained, asking for information on his fate. Conscripted by the LTTE, he was last seen in a picture taken when he was in a rehab camp. For 17 years, Tamil families have been seeking justice for the thousands of missing. Relatives told AsiaNews that they want an “international inquiry” right away.
The announcement over the weekend by President al-Sharaa, who confirms the commitment to build ‘a new state’. He should remain in office for five years and lead the country to the writing of the new Constitution and the first post-Assad political elections. The Kurds have rejected the new government, denouncing the lack of (real) involvement of minorities.
A Taipei emergency team waited in vain for two days without being allowed to enter the country, devastated by an earthquake. The perverse interweaving of political issues and rescue operations for people under the rubble. No entry even for foreign journalists. A ceasefire is essential so that aid does not also become a weapon of war.
