At a school, university students had organised the screening of “Banolata Express”, a current box office success in Bangladesh. The show was halted to avoid unrest. Islamist leaders oppose the return of cinema to the city. The incident has sparked a wide debate about cultural and religious identities. For Rumeen Farhana, there is a risk of “leading our next generation into darkness.”
The investment for the MWSIP totals around 0 million, partly funded by the ADB. It is 96 km long and forms part of a wider project to transform one of the island’s driest regions by channelling water from the Mahaweli River. Once completed, it will irrigate 43,000 hectares of land during the Yala and Maha seasons.
According to a study conducted in Uzbekistan by the UN in collaboration with the local anti-corruption agency, only 22.5% of men believe that women can be competent leaders. This confirms a gender imbalance in access to resources and power that reinforces the social, political, and economic marginalization of women..
Malaysia’s Refugee Registration Document framework, a programme for asylum seekers held in the country’s immigration detention centres, became operational on 1 June. So far, some 4,000 people have been registered, mostly Rohingya who fled Myanmar. The programme, the government stressed, is not aimed at granting citizenship.
On the eve of the anniversary of the 1989 massacre, local authorities have told families that Wanan Cemetery, the resting place of many victims of the 4 June massacre, is off-limits. This is one of the latest acts of cruelty to erase the memory of the events of 37 years ago. Zhang Xianling, 89, told Radio Free Asia that in an unprecedented move, police are at her home.
At the general audience, Leo XIV urged the faithful to become witnesses of his love on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Traditional processions are a “courageous testimony of faith" and a reminder that God is among his people. The pontiff also called on the faithful to pray for the Middle East. In his catechesis on the “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, he said that, “the rite interrupts our frenetic activities, leading us back to what is essential.”
