While Xi Jinping visits Washington (where the issue of human rights remains taboo), Chinese authorities informed the family of Shi Tingfu that he had died in prison from a “heart attack”. The long-time activist had been detained in 2024 for reporting on protests by a group of farmers. For the CHRD, the denial of medical care constitutes a form of torture in China today.
Almost a hundred residents of the Hồng Hà district challenged police during a meeting held to discuss a US$ 28 billion urban planning scheme. The affected area is home to 247,000 people, and the potential resettlement of some of them remains a central issue in the public consultation process.
Education Minister Ja Htoi Pan spoke to AsiaNews. Five years after the 2021 coup, 6.3 million young people lack access to a basic education. There is an urgent need for safety. “We provide schools with safety drills and air-raid shelters." Aung San Suu Kyi remains a beacon of “hope for the people”.
Today’s headlines: Xi welcomed by Trump; US announces two-month extension of trade truce; Pakistan: raids on ten targets linked to drone launches in Afghanistan; Protests in Delhi following a gang rape near a girls’ boarding school; In Israel, the Electoral Commission excludes (at first instance) Arab parties.
With the Bothekoshi Valley impassable, the only open trade route with China now runs through the Korala Pass at an altitude of 4,650 metres. Beijing is pushing for major infrastructure projects there as well. Until now, Kathmandu has preserved the environment and identity of the plateau, a region some identify with the mythical Shangri-La.
In 2026 – for the first time – the United States did not admit a single asylum seeker from countries at risk of persecution. From Iran to Myanmar to China, violence against Christians continues: according to Open Doors, 4,849 have been killed, whilst more than 224,000 have been forced to flee their homes.
Each summer the French Dominican friar and official at the Dicastery for Christian Unity completes a new stage of an uninterrupted pilgrimage on foot that has now taken him from Rome all the way to Antioch. He reflects on the pilgrimage as a synthesis of life, the hospitality received in monasteries and mosques, and the encounters along the way. “Patriarch Bartholomew told me: ‘Go all the way to Jerusalem’.”
Six years after Umar Khalid’s arrest, screenings of the documentary have been cancelled in Hyderabad and Bangalore. The Indian film certification board never approved the film, thereby claiming that public screenings are illegal. Khalid remains in prison without trial in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots.
According to a report by Aon, a 2.5 per cent wage increase for entry-level jobs is accompanied by a 3.2 per cent drop in the number of workers employed in such roles. The number of recent graduates finding their first job within six months is also down. While AI is altering the first rung of the career ladder, it is not eliminating future talent.
According to anthropologist Arkhipova, passivity in the face of a dictatorial regime is not linked to any particular ‘slavery genes’ but to a human mechanism of cognitive dissonance, which justifies every action taken by the authorities in order to safeguard one’s own peace of mind. To the extent of doubting whether the drone strikes are actually coming from Ukraine.
The official celebration was held today with thousands of pilgrims from across Asia, on the liturgical feast day of the friar who bore the stigmata. Masses are celebrated at the church on the 23rd day of every month for those bearing the burden of illness or adversity. For Archbishop Garcera, the church is a global centre “for prayer, healing, and spiritual pilgrimage.”
Leo XIV, speaking about Gaudium et Spes at his weekly general audience, warned that we risk losing the “transcendent value of the human person.” Technical progress, he stressed, has to be “guided by charity”. On the eve of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, he called for action to protect and support children and adolescents.
The resolution was adopted by an assembly of around a thousand elders in the Hisar district. Although it has no legal force, it threatens couples and their families with social ostracism. Legal experts and human rights organisations have criticised the move. The gender imbalance caused by selective abortion is the real crux of the matter.
In a new book, Swiss aid worker Kathi Zellweger recounts her unique experience of 25 years of travelling to and staying in Pyongyang, which began in 1995 when she delivered humanitarian aid with Caritas Hong Kong during the famine. ‘The resilience I have seen amongst the most vulnerable gives me hope even in the face of today’s new restrictions’.
More than the deposits themselves, the expertise acquired in mining institutes has ensured China's control over a large share of global production, a disadvantage the West will need years to overcome. To counter the lucrative wages offered by US companies, Beijing is pre-emptively withholding passports from qualified personnel.
More than 60 countries have gathered in Singapore for the first Global Cooling Pledge Assembly to address extreme heat while simultaneously curbing the growth of energy consumption (and emissions). In South Asia, this problem already results in the loss of millions of workdays and disproportionately affects the most vulnerable groups.
A note titled “A Journey of Hope” was released today. In it the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith, for Promoting Christian Unity, and for Interreligious Dialogue review the 60 years since the conciliar declaration on interreligious dialogue was issued. Despite identity-based tensions, “humility, courage, and discernment” must be nurtured. Openness to dialogue with new religious movements is possible.
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