According to a study by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the region is rapidly aging. The declining workforce and the spread of the informal economy risk accentuating existing inequalities. But greater investment in care services could create millions of jobs and new opportunities for inclusive development.

The Vietnamese leader pledged support for joint efforts to bring peace to Gaza. He promised to work closely with his country’s former enemy in various areas in line with both sides' needs and priorities. Among Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have joined the new body.

With the golem mired in the swampy mud of "serving, praying, and giving birth”, it is impossible to trust sociological surveys with increasingly less accessible statistical data. As the rift between Russia’s optimistic majority and a significant pessimistic minority persists, the prevailing view is that "everything will remain as it is today”. Kirill voices an apocalyptic perspective while the fight continues against the "demon" Bartholomew.

Viktor Erofeev, a critical anti-war voice since Crimea, presented his latest work. In Russia, repressing guilt has become automatic. The collapse of the Soviet Union is one example and the Orthodox Church, which never apologised for collaborating with the atheist regime, is another. Khrushchev words about Russia's wars in Georgia and Ukraine appear prophetic; meanwhile, the opposition abroad is failing.

The Mongolian government – which has always balanced between China and Russia, its two large neighbours – has in recent months entered into “strategic partnership” agreements with each of the major Western economies.  Under the presidency of Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, Mongolia is seeking to use international relations as a way out of economic and social stagnation.

Leo XIV received the president of Mongolia in audience. The Holy See and the Chinggis Khan National Museum in Ulaanbaatar plan to expand cooperation in archival research, joint studies, and conferences, the result of growing diplomatic ties boosted by Pope Francis's trip in 2023.