Syria

| ASIA TODAY

Today's headlines: Senior doctors in South Korea join trainee doctors’ protest. India's foreign exchange reserves reach their highest level in two years. Iran is beset by a severe nursing shortage with more than 3,000 emigrating abroad a year. Thailand is considering legalising casinos. The Chinese are quietly occupying Siberia, raising concerns among local Russians.

by Dario Salvi

The situation is still critical and Antioch a "ghost town". Caritas' contribution in guaranteeing food, accommodation, psychological support, education and schooling. Bishop Bizzeti: "It will take at least 10 years to understand whether the region will be able to recover, but I am optimistic".

| 06/02/2024
| GATEWAY TO THE EAST

Today's news: Two of the three hostages featured in the Hamas video dead; North Korean hackers share clandestine money laundering networks with fraudsters and traffickers in Southeast Asia; An Iranian court handed down an additional 15-month sentence to Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi; Tajikistan and Uzbekistan 'do not recognise' the outcome of the vote in Taiwan.

| 16/01/2024
| ASIA TODAY

Today's news: despite pro-life propaganda  record number of women resorting to sterilisation in Russia; Vietnamese court sentences two former ministers to prison for corruption; At least two dead and 12 injured in an explosion in Kabul, the third in a few days; In Thailand the Israeli embassy launches campaign to remember hostages in the hands of Hamas in Gaza.

| 13/01/2024
| ASIA TODAY

Syrian Orthodox Mar Maurice Amsih accuses the "occupation forces" of targeting an "innocent" community. In the raids of the last few days, he accuses, at least 10 civilians have died, dozens have been wounded and there has been serious material damage. Turkish Defence Minister confirms cross-border operations to kill soldiers. Sdf: in 2023 almost 800 attacks by Ankara's army.

 

| 03/01/2024
| SYRIA - TURKEY
by Fady Noun

The elimination of IRGC General Razi Mousavi in Syria is a new step in an increasingly regional conflict. The departure of Russian troops from Syria has left a vacuum that gives Iran “room for manoeuvre”. Lebanese civilians are fleeing the south, especially Christian villages. For many, Christmas Mass was but the calm before the storm.

| 28/12/2023
| LEBANON - IRAN - ISRAEL

Today's news: Israeli raid in Damascus kills Iranian general Mousavi. Russian dissident Aleksej Naval'nyj has been tracked down, secretly moved to a camp for lifers. Eighteen dead in Indonesia nickel smelter fire, President Widodo calls for more security. Malaysia at risk of flooding, as in 2014: displaced 25,000 people.

| 26/12/2023
| ASIA TODAY
Editor's choices
 
Sister Regina, of the Sisters of Repair, offers her testimony. “Without humanitarian aid, children and the elderly are suffering in the forests because the roads are blocked by the military. Conscription is used to provide human shields to force ...
| 28/03/2024
| MYANMAR
 
by Dario Salvi
The conflict with Hamas and the question of hostages is one of the "sensitive issues", but not the only one. From Jerusalem - the day after Pope Francis' letter to the Christians of the Holy Land - the patriarchal vicar for Israel recalls the tensions ...
| 28/03/2024
| ISRAEL - PALESTINE
 
Plans for the structure were announced earlier this year, but a government committee has now approved its budget. The project includes a series of parallel and feeder roads to connect some of India's main military bases to the border. The government ...
| 27/03/2024
| INDIA – MYANMAR
 
by Giorgio Bernardelli
In a place where 1,832 people are already in prison on political grounds, the new law implementing Article 23 only “cloak[s] injustice with a veil of institutional legitimacy,” wrote a few months ago Chow Hang-tung, jailed for remembering ...
| 21/03/2024
| RED LANTERNS
 
The scientific journal Lancet relaunches a statistical study according to which by 2100 only six countries in the world would exceed the replacement threshold of 2.1 children per woman. But already by 2050 India, Bangladesh and Pakistan would see their ...
| 21/03/2024
| INDIA
 
For days, rumours pointed to a possible resignation, which is now confirmed. Vietnam’s Communist Party welcomed the "resignation" of the 53-year-old leader due to "shortcomings that negatively impacted” public opinion. The country’s ...
| 20/03/2024
| VIETNAM
 
Every lawmaker spoke in support of the new legislation implementing Article 23, which imposes life in prison in case of insurrection and grants police exceptional powers. Set to come into force this Saturday, the bill’s quick approval highlights ...
| 19/03/2024
| HONG KONG
 
On the ninth anniversary of his death, a Eucharistic celebration marked the end of the local investigation towards the beatification of the young man who died protecting others during a deadly Islamist attack in Youhanabad. “We pray for this grace ...
| 15/03/2024
| PAKISTAN
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”