Nepal's anti-corruption commission has indicted 55 former politicians and officials and the state-owned China CAMC Engineering of inflating the costs of Pokhara International Airport, built with a Chinese loan as part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, but currently without regular international flights. The investigation is testing the new caretaker government, which does not want to jeopardise ties with Beijing.
A fire ripped through a seven-storey building in the heart of the capital, home to a subsidiary of a Japan-based company that sells and services drones. The fire’s effects were exacerbated by the burning of lithium batteries stored in the building. Nineteen people were rescued from the top floor terrace where they had fled to escape the toxic fumes.
The conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has reignited, with new airstrikes and hundreds of thousands of displaced people on both sides. Domestic Thai political tensions are behind the military crisis. PM Anutin Charnvirakul's government, in difficulty and on the verge of parliament’s dissolution, is exploiting nationalist rhetoric to bolster support. Meanwhile, Cambodia is drawing militarily closer to Vietnam.
SRM University in Chennai fired Lora Santhakumar for posting comments on her WhatsApp status critical of Operation Sindoor. First suspended on 8 May, she was fired a few days ago. Over this period, she was the target of online attacks and death threats from far-right groups.
Despite being an increasingly popular destination, the number of families living there permanently has fallen from 2,000 to 250. It takes three hours to reach the mainland on boats that transport fish. There is a lack of healthcare facilities, electricity and clean water. The difficult coexistence with tourist activities, which are fundamental to the economy but disrupt the life of the fishing community.
AsiaNews met the prelate in Awali, at the headquarters of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, during a reportage in the Gulf countries. There are many challenges for a Church that is ‘growing’, from the catacombs in Saudi Arabia to the repercussions of the war between Israel and Hamas in the region. The solidarity of the population, close to the suffering of the inhabitants of the Strip.
