Displaying items by tag: Asia

The 23 March election will be unique in Israel's modern history. One of the most important variables is the number of people in isolation or tested sick with Covid, who will forgo their right to vote at the last minute, in spite of stringent measures to protect their health. Also, an outbreak of infection in specific areas (Arab or Haredi communities) could sharply reduce turnout and affect votes for specific parties. Three of the top four parties are right-wing. Many are concerned about Israel's lack of progress toward peace with the Palestinians. They blame it on Israel's right-wing leaders and the Israelis who have shifted rightward because of the persistent ‘Palestinian failure to accept Israel's overtures for peace’, which has led to increased terrorism. Today most Israelis do not see the Palestinians as truly wanting peace. See

With limited space and a lack of options for hydro-electricity and wind power, Singapore faces logistical challenges in the push towards renewable energy. Environmental advocacy groups have long accused the country of failing to do enough to address climate change, even as rising sea levels have become a growing threat. Climate Action Tracker said Singapore’s efforts to combat climate change have been weak. It is now investing in a huge floating solar farm at sea. Oceans are the ‘new frontier’ in electricity production, says Shawn Tan, the firm carrying out the project. The solar farm has 13,000 solar panels laid out at sea between Singapore and Malaysia, capable of producing up to five megawatts of electricity - enough energy to power 1,400 residential flats year-round. Meanwhile, Pentagon scientists are currently testing solar satellites to beam energy to anywhere on Earth.

To boost international travel, China has launched a digital health certificate programme for citizens with an encrypted QR code that gives authorities a traveller’s health information. QR health codes on smartphone apps are already required to gain entry to domestic transport and many public spaces. The apps track a user’s location and produce a ‘green’ code if a user has not been in close contact with a confirmed case or has not travelled to a virus hotspot. But the system has sparked privacy concerns and fears it marks an expansion of government surveillance. The certificate, launched on 8 March, shows a user’s vaccination status and test results via China’s social media platform WeChat. It will ‘help promote world economic recovery and facilitate cross-border travel’, a foreign ministry spokesman said. Bahrain has introduced a vaccine passport; the USA, UK and EU are considering similar permits.

A video from Pakistan shows Tabitha, a Christian nurse, who was beaten by fellow nurses and staff after accusations of blasphemy. The hospital where she worked issued an order that medical staff could not receive tips or deal with money from patients. Tabitha reminded a Muslim co-worker of the order when she saw she was collecting money from a patient. When Tabitha mentioned it to her superior, she was dragged off into a closet, tied and beaten up. Blasphemy accusations are highly inflammatory in Pakistan and often lead to mob violence and vigilante killings. The life of a blasphemer is much like the story The Scarlet Letter, but instead of wearing the letter A for adulterer, they walk through life with an invisible B for blasphemer. Police investigated and found the accusations to be false. However, the family remains in hiding due to threats associated with the accusations.

Myanmar's military fired the country's ambassador to the UN after he called for the army to be removed from power. The security forces are intensifying their crackdown on protesters with live ammunition, killing many. A police major resigned in a show of solidarity with anti-coup protesters, saying, ‘I don’t want to continue serving under the current military regime.’ He had been with the Special Branch since 1989. See Christians in the country are asking for help because they have lived under military leadership for decades. They don’t want it back. But the church is not all aligned. Some think they need to be peaceful; others are more activist in nature. Please pray for the safety of Christians in Myanmar. Asian Access said, ‘If you have any way of connecting with people there, sending them words of encouragement is a huge help. You could even send messages to asianaccess.org. We could send those messages along, and say, “People are praying for you, they care about you”.’

Handicap International’s involvement in Thai refugee camps gives children the opportunity to be a cared-for child. Being a child in poverty and stress is particularly challenging if you are disabled. Since 1984, Thailand has sheltered people fleeing Myanmar’s violence in camps along the border. Some refugees were born in the camps and have never set foot outside. Most are Karen, a mixed people group without a shared language or religion. Since the 1940s, ongoing conflicts between Karen separatists and the Burmese army have forced many to flee. 400,000 Karen people are homeless. Camp conditions are extremely poor; in the past cholera and malaria have occurred. Children suffer from chronic malnutrition and respiratory infections. There is no electricity, phone signal, healthcare, or education.

Pope Francis is making a monumental trip to Iraq in order to bring healing to the war-torn society. As the very first pope to set foot on Iraq's soil, he plans to meet with key Christian and Muslim leaders to address issues faced by both groups. This event is being heralded by the Iraqi government as a ‘historic event, symbolising a message of peace to Iraq and the whole region.’ Peace indeed is needed for the small remnant of Christians left in Iraq. Christian communities were scattered by the Daesh onslaught in 2014, further shrinking the country’s already dwindling Christian population. Their struggle to endure will get a boost from the historic visit in March, his first foreign trip since the coronavirus pandemic and a sign that ‘You’re not alone, there’s someone who is thinking of you, who is with you’.

Acknowledging a need to restrain the abuse of ‘blasphemy’ laws and protect victims of false accusation, forced marriages to Muslims and forced conversions, the government has appointed a special assistant to the prime minister on religious harmony and Middle East. It is hoped this appointment will end the social structure where Christians are inferior to Muslims, confined to low-paid menial jobs such as street sweeping and latrine cleaning. A significant government statement affirmed that minorities living in Pakistan are ‘not second-class citizens’, and guarantees they will be protected under the rights and privileges enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution. Also, there is now a grievance helpline set up to report false accusations of ‘blasphemy’.

Pastor Michael travelled to Turkey in 1999 as a relief worker, following the devastating earthquake that killed 17,000 people. He and his family settled there, and he has been pastor of Yalova Lighthouse Church since 2003. Earlier in February he was detained by the authorities and held for 30 hours, then given ten days to leave the country, an order deferred while his case proceeds. An appeal against the deportation order is to be heard in Ankara. Since 2019, about 70 overseas Christian leaders have been similarly expelled from Turkey as ‘threats to national security’. Hostility towards Christians has worsened as secularism gives way to Islam with the rise of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Its founder, President Erdogan, is outspoken about his desire to recreate the Ottoman Empire.

Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan has warned of an attempted military coup, after the country's armed forces said he and his cabinet must resign. The army ‘must obey the people and elected authorities’, he told thousands of supporters in the capital Yerevan. His opponents held a rival rally. The military's top brass was angered by the PM's sacking of a commander. Mr Pashinyan has faced protests after losing last year's bloody conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh - an enclave internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenians since a 1994 truce. During the six weeks of fighting late in 2020, Azerbaijan not only recaptured areas around the enclave but also took the key town of Shusha inside it. Under the Russian-brokered deal that emerged shortly afterwards, Azerbaijan keeps the areas it has captured.